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

What is a quality assurance scientist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dennis Province Ph.D.

If you have an eye for detail and can pick out even the slightest flaws in a product, then perhaps you have what it takes for a career as a quality assurance scientist. As a quality assurance scientist, you will monitor and inspect a company's product and its production process in order to propose ways to correct flaws or improve the final product.

Some of your responsibilities as a quality assurance scientist include preparing and implementing different quality assurance policies and procedures in the company. You will ensure that employees throughout the cmopany observe regulations relating to safety standards. From quality performance checks, you will assess the company's products and recommend improvements to the products and operations.

You need an accute attention to detail as well as interpersonal communication skills. To qualify for a position as a quality assurance scientist, you generally need a high school diploma or a GED, but a bachelor's or associate's degree can give you an advantage as a candidate. Certification in quality assurance is preferable. The average hourly salary for this position is approximately $30, amounting to annual earnings of more than $67,000.

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

Dennis Province Ph.D.

Professor, Harding University

You never know where you will end up later in life and what skills you will need in the future. Open your mind and become a lifelong learner. Be a student of life and learn from others at every step of the journey. Employers are always looking for workers that show initiative. Decide where you want to work and what you think you might want to do and have the courage to contact someone, and let them know! Most jobs or opportunities are found and decided with an informal conversation. Employers want the best people and those tend to be type that take the initiative.

ScoreQuality Assurance ScientistUS Average

Salary

5.3

Avg. Salary $68,108

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.6

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.05%

Asian 15.18%

Black or African American 9.09%

Hispanic or Latino 16.13%

Unknown 6.10%

White 52.45%

Gender

female 52.16%

male 47.84%

Age - 35

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 - 35

Stress level

5.6

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a quality assurance scientist

Explore quality assurance scientist education requirements

Most common quality assurance scientist degrees

Bachelor's

76.6 %

Master's

14.6 %

Associate

6.1 %

Start to develop specific quality assurance scientist skills

Skills	Percentages
GMP	7.94%
FDA	5.74%
ISO	5.33%
Data Analysis	5.26%
Microbiology	5.14%

Complete relevant quality assurance scientist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New quality assurance scientists 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 scientist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real quality assurance scientist resumes.

Research quality assurance scientist duties and responsibilities

Manage a LIMS system for electronic entering, maintaining and retrieval of sample data and quality management.
Manage investigation reports for equipment maintenance and calibration OOS.
Evaluate all microbiology standard operating procedures for compliance to applicable regulations; GMP, USP, EP, and JP.
Record results using the LIMS system and release final batches.

Prepare your quality assurance scientist resume

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

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