QA Manager

ROLE OVERVIEW

The Quality Assurance Manager is responsible for designing, leading, and continuously improving the quality assurance program supporting Guitar Center and Music & Arts CSC operations. This role will eventually lead a team of Quality Assurance professionals. It will also establish consistent standards for evaluating customer interactions, identifying performance trends, and translating quality insights into measurable improvements in customer experience, sales effectiveness, service delivery, compliance, and overall operational performance.

This role balances people leadership, quality program governance, analytics, and cross-functional partnership. The Manager owns quality methodologies, scorecards, sampling plans, calibration practices, reporting, and action-plan follow-through while ensuring evaluation standards are objective, reliable, and aligned with business priorities. The position partners closely with Operations, Training, Sales, Customer Service, Data Operations, Human Resources, and other business leaders to connect quality findings with coaching, process, technology, and policy improvements.

The Quality Assurance Manager serves as the organization's subject matter expert for contact quality and performance consistency. This role is accountable for building a high-performing Quality Assurance team, strengthening leader confidence in quality data, and ensuring insights are converted into sustainable actions that improve customer outcomes, associate effectiveness, and business results.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Team Leadership and Development

• Lead, coach, motivate, and develop a team of Quality Assurance professionals to achieve individual, team, and organizational goals.
• Establish clear performance expectations for evaluation accuracy, productivity, timeliness, communication, and professional conduct.
• Conduct regular coaching sessions, performance reviews, calibration feedback, and development planning discussions.
• Identify individual and team skill gaps and implement training initiatives that strengthen evaluation quality, data interpretation, business acumen, and communication effectiveness.
• Support recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, cross-training, and succession planning efforts for Quality Assurance team members.
• Foster an objective, collaborative, and accountable work environment that supports continuous learning, professional growth, and performance excellence.

Quality Assurance Strategy and Program Management

• Own the CSC quality assurance framework, including standards, policies, procedures, governance, and program documentation.
• Design, maintain, and continuously improve evaluation scorecards, quality definitions, sampling methodologies, and review workflows aligned with business priorities.
• Ensure the quality program evaluates customer interactions across phone, email, chat, and digital channels and supports sales, service, retention, compliance, and customer experience objectives.
• Establish quality goals, evaluation accuracy thresholds, service levels, audit schedules, and workload priorities for the Quality Assurance team.
• Review and evolve the quality program as business processes, products, technology, customer expectations, and organizational priorities change.
• Oversee interaction selection and evaluation distribution to promote fair, representative, and consistent assessment across teams, channels, and customer contact types.
• Partner with leadership to establish annual quality priorities, program roadmaps, and measures of effectiveness that demonstrate business impact.

Quality Monitoring, Evaluation, and Calibration

• Oversee the monitoring and evaluation of customer interactions for adherence to customer experience, sales, service, process, documentation, and compliance standards.
• Lead regular calibration sessions with Quality Assurance, Operations, Training, and business leaders to strengthen scoring consistency and resolve interpretation differences.
• Conduct audits of completed evaluations to verify accuracy, consistency, documentation quality, and alignment with established standards.
• Maintain a clear review and appeal process and ensure quality feedback is delivered in a timely, constructive, and actionable manner.

Reporting, Insights, and Continuous Improvement

• Analyze quality results to identify behavioral trends, recurring defects, process breakdowns, customer friction points, and root causes affecting performance.
• Develop and present dashboards, reports, and executive-level insights that connect quality performance with customer, associate, operational, sales, and financial outcomes.
• Translate quality findings into practical recommendations for coaching, training, process, knowledge, policy, technology, and customer experience improvements.
• Partner with business leaders to create action plans, assign accountability, monitor progress, and validate whether corrective actions produce sustained improvement.
• Identify systemic risks and emerging trends, escalate concerns appropriately, and recommend preventive actions before issues expand.
• Measure the impact of quality initiatives and continuously refine scorecards, reporting, calibration practices, and program priorities based on results.

Collaboration and Communication

• Partner with Operations, Sales, Customer Service, Training, Workforce Management, Data Operations, Human Resources, Technology, and other cross-functional business partners to support organizational objectives.
• Communicate quality priorities, performance trends, evaluation standards, process updates, and program changes clearly and effectively to leaders and associates.
• Serve as a trusted resource and subject matter expert for quality assurance practices, customer interaction standards, and performance improvement strategies.
• Build confidence in the quality program by maintaining transparent methods, consistent standards, accurate reporting, and constructive business partnerships.

Additional Responsibilities

• Perform other duties and special projects as assigned.