Bench chemist vs quality assurance chemist

The differences between bench chemists and quality assurance chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a quality assurance chemist has an average salary of $59,242, which is higher than the $57,401 average annual salary of a bench chemist.

The top three skills for a bench chemist include analytical methods, HPLC and wet chemistry. The most important skills for a quality assurance chemist are lab equipment, R, and HPLC.

Bench chemist vs quality assurance chemist overview

	Bench Chemist	Quality Assurance Chemist
Yearly salary	$57,401	$59,242
Hourly rate	$27.60	$28.48
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	3,038	66,457
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	-	-

Bench chemist vs quality assurance chemist salary

Bench chemists and quality assurance chemists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Bench Chemist	Quality Assurance Chemist
Average salary	$57,401	$59,242
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $84,000	Between $42,000 And $82,000
Highest paying City	-	East Windsor, NJ
Highest paying state	-	Virginia
Best paying company	-	Clariant
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between bench chemist and quality assurance chemist education

There are a few differences between a bench chemist and a quality assurance chemist in terms of educational background:

	Bench Chemist	Quality Assurance Chemist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of California, Berkeley	University of Southern California

Bench chemist vs quality assurance chemist demographics

Here are the differences between bench chemists' and quality assurance chemists' demographics:

	Bench Chemist	Quality Assurance Chemist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 58.2% Female, 41.8%	Male, 60.1% Female, 39.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 18.2% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 18.2% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between bench chemist and quality assurance chemist duties and responsibilities

Bench chemist example responsibilities.

Test developmental compounds to ASTM standards and manage certification submissions.
Prepare ASTM samples and test physical properties.
Perform USP testing on a wide variety of pharmaceuticals to guarantee product quality.
Analyze intermediates and products through analytical data such as LCMS, NMR, etc.
Maintain detailed notebooks containing results and transmit those results via LIMS to the proper plant personnel.
Perform final release testing on batch samples to establish conformance to company, third party, or FDA specifications.

Quality assurance chemist example responsibilities.

Plan, manage, and maintain laboratory's SPC and TQM programs.
Assist FDA and ISO audits as required.
Operate, programme and troubleshot four HPLC instruments as well as two GC instruments.
Analyze liquid and solid generic pharmaceutical products for quality assurance using HPLC and GC methods.
Operate multi-samplers, high-performance liquid chromatography units and titration units.
Generate in excel and LIMS final reports for clients.

Bench chemist vs quality assurance chemist skills

Common bench chemist skills

Analytical Methods, 12%
HPLC, 10%
Wet Chemistry, 10%
Method Development, 9%
GC, 8%
GMP, 8%

Common quality assurance chemist skills

Lab Equipment, 15%
R, 5%
HPLC, 5%
Analytical Methods, 4%
ISO, 4%
Test Results, 4%

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Bench Chemist vs Quality Assurance Chemist

Updated January 8, 2025

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