Public Sector Courses

Public Sector: Overview

Public Sector deals with goods and services by and for the government, whether national, regional or local/manicipal and is a part of economic and administrative work.

The organization of the public sector can take several forms, including:

• Direct administration funded through taxation
• Publicly owned corporations (manufacturing, "state-owned enterprises")
• Partial outsourcing (e.g. for IT services) is considered a public sector model.

Expected Salary

Range of typical starting salaries: £19,600 - £29,000

Range of typical salaries in first management roles within the public sector: £24,000 - £40,000

Typical salary at senior level/with experience (e.g. after 10-15 years in the role): £50,000 +

Average Starting Salaries by Location:

£20,000 to £25,000 for jobs outside London

£22,000 to £35,000 in London

£35,000 to £50,000+ once further experience and training has been acquired

Training

Major employers run various training programmes, which allow you to learn about all aspects of the organisation and provide experience through projects and other hands-on work. These training programmes meet the requirements of the professional institutions. The specific professional institution for quality assurance (QA) managers is the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI).

A mentoring system is often available to allow new graduates to access the advice and professional support of more senior colleagues who will regularly review progress against agreed objectives and specific training plans to gain professional status.

If working for a smaller company you may find that you need to take responsibility for arranging and funding your own development and training. The CQI awards a Diploma in Quality, a dedicated course, which is recognised nationally by industry and government and consists of six independent modules. Further information on qualifications and training are listed on the Underoak website

Underoak lists many short courses to aid you in your career progression. These may be funded individually or through your company (please check the prices with the trainer, as sometimes they often offer a lower price for self funded training). To search these courses, simply type the relevant key words and click on 'request further information'f to send your enquiry direct to the trainer.

Related Careers

• Operational researcher
• Production manager
• Regulatory affairs officer
• Statistician
• Water quality scientist
• Actuary, consultancy
• Economist
• Management consultant
• Market researcher (qualitative/quantitative)
• Quality assurance manager
• Statistician
• Systems/business analyst
• Transport planner

Core Skills

International Organisation for Standardisation

European Organization for Quality

Job Sites

Select

ABRS

CW Jobs

Average working hours per week

Variable – Averaging at 37 hours per week.

Job Spotlight

Quality Assurance Manager:

The Role

Quality assurance (QA) aims to ensure that the product or service an organisation provides is fit for its purpose and meets customer expectations. A quality assurance manager co-ordinates the activities required to meet this aim.

The QA manager monitors and advises on how the quality management system is performing and publishes data and reports regarding company performance against set indicators.

Quality assurance managers liaise with managers and staff throughout the organisation to ensure that the QA system is functioning properly. Where appropriate, the QA manager advises on changes and their implementation and provides training, tools and techniques to enable others to achieve quality.

Since maintaining quality demands constant change to meet customer expectations, quality assurance (QA) managers employ a variety of measures to place quality at the heart of an organisation. These include management systems such as ISO 9000, philosophies, such as Total Quality Management, and methodologies such as Continuous Improvement.

Typical work activities

• Promoting quality achievement and performance improvement throughout the organisation
• Setting QA compliance objectives and ensuring that targets are achieved
• Maintaining awareness of the business context and company profitability, including budgetary control issues
• Assessing suppliers' and own company's product specifications and customer requirements
• Working with purchasing staff to establish quality requirements from external suppliers
• Ensuring compliance with national and international standards and legislation
• Considering the application of environmental and health/safety standards
• Agreeing standards and establishing clearly defined quality methods for staff to apply;
• Defining quality procedures in conjunction with operating staff;
• Setting up and maintaining controls and documentation
• Identifying relevant quality-related training needs;
• Collating and analysing performance data and charts against defined parameters
• Ensuring tests and procedures are properly understood, carried out and evaluated and that product modifications areinvestigated if necessary;
• Supervising technical staff in carrying out tests and checks
• Writing technical and management system reports;
• Bringing together staff of different disciplines and driving the group to plan, formulate and agree comprehensive quality procedures;
• Persuading reluctant staff to change their way of working to incorporate quality methods;
• Liaising with customers' auditors and ensuring the execution of corrective action and compliance with customers' specifications;
• Establishing standards of service for customers or clients;
• Preparing clear explanatory documents such as customers' charters;
• Monitoring performance through gathering relevant data and producing statistical reports.

Salary

£30,000 to £35,000 depending on the location

Experience

A minimum of experience is required for a senior managerial position however for junior positions the candidates are expected to have training, knowledge and skills.

Career Development

Career development prospects are good. Quality assurance (QA) managers can remain within the quality function, which is becoming increasingly senior and seen as central to the activities of the whole organisation, with appointments being made at all stages of management up to board level.

However, work in QA can also lead to management jobs in other areas of the business, such as production, health and safety and technical sales, and in areas such as human resources and customer relations.

Your immediate progression may depend on the size and type of the organisation for which you work and also may depend on the training and experience you have. Underoak lists training to help you learn while you work in order to further be trained in the quality management sector which will benefit you in quick promotions and progression with in the section.