What does a quality assurance chemist do?
Quality Assurance Chemists generally offer pay of around $54K per year and require strong skills in analysis and instrumentation and general knowledge of chemistry, attention to detail, and various organizational skills. Also, they must be able to investigate and analyze problems whenever they crop up. This career choice requires a bachelor's or advanced degree in chemistry, depending on the industry, and will often be offered in pharmaceutical fields, where standard duties consist of the measurement and testing of lab materials and products according to industry standards.
Quality assurance chemist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real quality assurance chemist resumes:
- 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.
- Perform routine and complex testing for in-process and finish products using HPLC.
- Implement GLP quality systems crucial in the start-up and set-up of laboratory.
- Coordinate any additional testing as needed, such as packaging, chemistry or microbiology.
- Ensure ISO rules and regulations regarding that govern production standards and management are comply with.
- Save the company money by making pre-shipment lab batch to check viscosity of raw materials.
- Enter results using LIMS data management system and assist plant operators with validating the integrity of plant solutions and reactor operations.
- Perform troubleshooting of HPLC instrumentation.
- Identify compounds using FTIR spectrophotometry.
- Validate data using EPA regional supplements for validation.
Quality assurance chemist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Quality Assurance Chemists are proficient in Lab Equipment, R, and HPLC. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Quality Assurance Chemists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Lab Equipment, 15%
Performed scheduled calibrations of lab equipment, and maintained the supporting documentation.
- R, 5%
Participate in the preparation of deviation reports as necessary for submission to R &D Management.
- HPLC, 5%
Performed troubleshooting of HPLC instrumentation.
- Analytical Methods, 4%
Developed and validated analytical methods to determine the vitamin and mineral levels in the premixes produced as well as customer-supplied samples.
- ISO, 4%
Authorized as Deputy Laboratory Manager, participated in annual audit, and maintained ISO 17025:2005 accreditation.
- Test Results, 4%
Recorded test results for customer products based on company standards for calibration and standardization in Ross database.
"lab equipment," "r," and "hplc" are among the most common skills that quality assurance chemists use at work. You can find even more quality assurance chemist responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a quality assurance chemist to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "chemists and materials scientists need to evaluate the results of experiments to ensure accuracy in their research." Quality assurance chemists often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "work in qa lab to analyze quality of drug content on medical device to make sure medical device complies with fda. "
Communication skills. Many quality assurance chemist duties rely on communication skills. "chemists and materials scientists must be able to convey information clearly in reports and presentations for both technical and nontechnical audiences.," so a quality assurance chemist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways quality assurance chemist responsibilities rely on communication skills: "corresponded with the manufacturer via webex, email, and phone communication to troubleshoot problems. "
Math skills. quality assurance chemists are also known for math skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to quality assurance chemist responsibilities, because "chemists and materials scientists regularly use calculus, algebra, statistics, and other math for calculations." A quality assurance chemist resume example shows how math skills is used in the workplace: "applied usp and/or laboratory-specific methodologies in preparation of samples for both qualitative and quantitative testing. "
Problem-solving skills. A big part of what quality assurance chemists do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to quality assurance chemist responsibilities because "chemists’ and materials scientists’ work involves posing questions during research and finding answers through results." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical quality assurance chemist tasks: "executed routine and non-routine maintenance and qualifications of various instruments, including hplcs, dissolution baths, and spectrophotometers. "
Time-management skills. Another common skill required for quality assurance chemist responsibilities is "time-management skills." This skill comes up in the duties of quality assurance chemists all the time, as "chemists and materials scientists usually need to meet deadlines and must be able to prioritize tasks while maintaining quality." An excerpt from a real quality assurance chemist resume shows how this skill is central to what a quality assurance chemist does: "stored used samples and raw analytical data in an orderly manner and met all analytical results report deadlines. "
The three companies that hire the most quality assurance chemists are:
- Kelly Services3 quality assurance chemists jobs
- Houston Methodist3 quality assurance chemists jobs
- American Pacific Corporation2 quality assurance chemists jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable quality assurance chemist resume templates
Build a professional quality assurance chemist resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your quality assurance chemist resume.
Compare different quality assurance chemists
Quality assurance chemist vs. Chemist, development
A development chemist is responsible for delivering products that are specially created for a customer. You will be responsible for conducting qualitative and quantitative chemical analyses for process or quality control. Other tasks that you will perform include researching chemical substances, conducting laboratory experiments, and evaluating the effects of chemical compounds in different situations. Additionally, you will be responsible for determining chemical properties by analyzing compounds and helping resolve quality issues. As a development chemist, you are also responsible for evaluating safety procedures in laboratories and maintaining laboratory equipment.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, quality assurance chemist responsibilities require skills like "lab equipment," "test results," "gc," and "ms." Meanwhile a typical chemist, development has skills in areas such as "laboratory equipment," "technical support," "analytical procedures," and "gc-ms." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Chemists, development really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $85,660. Comparatively, quality assurance chemists tend to make the most money in the finance industry with an average salary of $84,734.The education levels that chemists, development earn slightly differ from quality assurance chemists. In particular, chemists, development are 2.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a quality assurance chemist. Additionally, they're 2.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Quality assurance chemist vs. Environmental chemist
Environmental chemists are chemistry experts who conduct research or experiments about the effects of chemicals on the environment and human activities. These chemists are required to monitor the source and extent of pollution and contamination, especially the compounds that can affect human health. They are involved in the analytical testing of new products developed in the lab while ensuring the safety of their workplace by issuing safety guidelines. Environmental chemists are also required to express ideas effectively to a non-scientific audience.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that quality assurance chemist responsibilities requires skills like "lab equipment," "r," "test results," and "icp." But an environmental chemist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "laboratory equipment," "icp-ms," "environmental samples," and "pcb."
Environmental chemists may earn a lower salary than quality assurance chemists, but environmental chemists earn the most pay in the internet industry with an average salary of $63,523. On the other hand, quality assurance chemists receive higher pay in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $84,734.environmental chemists earn similar levels of education than quality assurance chemists in general. They're 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for quality assurance chemists in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Betsy Smith
Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Elmira College
Quality assurance chemist vs. Chemist
Chemists are generally responsible for observing and investigating chemical substances to create new and safe compounds essential for practical applications. They are often grouped depending on a particular area of specialization to focus and understand the complexities of the matter. A chemist usually takes time performing research and conducting experiments to test and further improve the quality and usage of a specific chemical substance. Chemists are expected to write on their observations and findings to establish scientific results.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a quality assurance chemist is likely to be skilled in "icp," "food safety," "wet chemistry," and "corrective action," while a typical chemist is skilled in "chemistry," "sample preparation," "analytical techniques," and "troubleshoot."
Chemists make a very good living in the manufacturing industry with an average annual salary of $75,495. On the other hand, quality assurance chemists are paid the highest salary in the finance industry, with average annual pay of $84,734.chemists typically earn similar educational levels compared to quality assurance chemists. Specifically, they're 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Quality assurance chemist vs. Research and development chemist
A research and development chemist primarily works at laboratories to conduct extensive tests and experiments aiming to develop new products and technologies. Although the extent of their duties may vary, it typically revolves around conducting research and studies, observing chemical reactions, maintaining records and databases, collaborating with fellow experts, and identifying the strengths and weaknesses of existing components or mixtures. They can find employment in different areas, such as manufacturing companies, private laboratories, government agencies, and even education.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between quality assurance chemists and research and development chemists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a quality assurance chemist might have more use for skills like "lab equipment," "food safety," "corrective action," and "data validation." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of research and development chemists require skills like "laboratory equipment," "synthesis," "d chemist," and "technical support. "
Research and development chemists enjoy the best pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $82,941. For comparison, quality assurance chemists earn the highest salary in the finance industry.research and development chemists reach similar levels of education compared to quality assurance chemists, in general. The difference is that they're 4.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 3.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of quality assurance chemist
Updated January 8, 2025
