How To Become A Quality Assurance Chemist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a quality assurance chemist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Betsy Smith

Quality Assurance Chemist is a specific type of laboratory chemist whose primary duties are to measure and inquire about lab materials and products according to industry-specific standard procedures. Their jobs are typically in the pharmaceutical or manufacturing fields. They are responsible for monitoring, inspecting, and proposing measures to correct or improve a company's final products.

To become a Quality Assurance Chemist, you must have a bachelor's degree in chemistry or a closely related field like biology or biochemistry. However, it would be best if you develop the necessary laboratory skills for fulfilling the required duties.

According to BLS, the graduates who approach this field end up laying claim to annual earnings at $53,626. The current median pay for a Quality Assurance Chemist ranges from $45,905 to $59,847 in the U.S. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon your experience and skills.

What general advice would you give to a quality assurance chemist?

Dr. Betsy Smith

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Elmira College

I would advise students just graduating to be flexible and open-minded in their job search. Chemistry is a challenging major, and students who succeed in it have learned how to learn, so they shouldn't assume that pure chemistry is the only thing they can do. One growing field is biomedical research, and chemistry majors are often qualified for jobs in that area. If you have other strengths like writing, there are often jobs that can combine them as a technical writer or work for a science journal. There are jobs out there that might be perfect for you that you haven't heard of until you see an ad for it, so be open to different possibilities.

ScoreQuality Assurance ChemistUS Average

Salary

4.6

Avg. Salary $59,242

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.25%

Asian 18.18%

Black or African American 7.92%

Hispanic or Latino 9.41%

Unknown 4.60%

White 59.64%

Gender

female 39.94%

male 60.06%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a quality assurance chemist

Explore quality assurance chemist education requirements

Most common quality assurance chemist degrees

Bachelor's

82.6 %

Master's

10.9 %

Associate

4.0 %

Start to develop specific quality assurance chemist skills

Skills	Percentages
Lab Equipment	14.91%
R	5.08%
HPLC	5.07%
Analytical Methods	3.93%
ISO	3.75%

Complete relevant quality assurance chemist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New quality assurance chemists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a quality assurance chemist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real quality assurance chemist resumes.

Research quality assurance chemist duties and 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.

Prepare your quality assurance chemist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your quality assurance chemist resume.

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