Quality assurance scientist vs quality assurance specialist

The differences between quality assurance scientists and quality assurance specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a quality assurance scientist has an average salary of $68,108, which is higher than the $63,443 average annual salary of a quality assurance specialist.

The top three skills for a quality assurance scientist include GMP, FDA and ISO. The most important skills for a quality assurance specialist are GMP, patients, and FDA.

Quality assurance scientist vs quality assurance specialist overview

	Quality Assurance Scientist	Quality Assurance Specialist
Yearly salary	$68,108	$63,443
Hourly rate	$32.74	$30.50
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	106,373	83,505
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	38	44
Years of experience	-	4

What does a quality assurance scientist do?

In a manufacturing setting, a quality assurance scientist specializes in utilizing scientific procedures in ensuring that products adhere to a company's quality standards and policies. Their responsibilities include developing quality control procedures, conducting experiments and analysis, identifying areas needing improvement, implementing solutions in problem areas, and maintaining detailed records of results. Furthermore, as a quality assurance scientist, it is essential to keep an active communication line with the quality assurance team, coordinating every step of the way for an efficient and safe workflow.

What does a quality assurance specialist do?

A quality assurance specialist is an individual who is responsible for monitoring, inspecting, and proposing measures to correct and improve a company's product. Quality assurance specialists need to outline quality assurance policies and procedures, making sure that quality standards are assured. It is important that a quality assurance specialist should have strong attention to detail and is excellent in data collection. This work may require a minimum of bachelor's degree and certification to get certified.

Quality assurance scientist vs quality assurance specialist salary

Quality assurance scientists and quality assurance specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Quality Assurance Scientist	Quality Assurance Specialist
Average salary	$68,108	$63,443
Salary range	Between $49,000 And $93,000	Between $41,000 And $97,000
Highest paying City	Central Islip, NY	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New York	Rhode Island
Best paying company	Lantheus	Apple
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Pharmaceutical

Differences between quality assurance scientist and quality assurance specialist education

There are a few differences between a quality assurance scientist and a quality assurance specialist in terms of educational background:

	Quality Assurance Scientist	Quality Assurance Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Biology	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Quality assurance scientist vs quality assurance specialist demographics

Here are the differences between quality assurance scientists' and quality assurance specialists' demographics:

	Quality Assurance Scientist	Quality Assurance Specialist
Average age	38	44
Gender ratio	Male, 47.8% Female, 52.2%	Male, 42.8% Female, 57.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 15.2% White, 52.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	11%

Differences between quality assurance scientist and quality assurance specialist duties and responsibilities

Quality assurance scientist example 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.
Investigate when non-conformance results (OOS, OOT) are observed and document findings.
Operate sophisticated computer-control instrument like HPLC, GC-MS.

Quality assurance specialist example responsibilities.

Manage all NDT relate gauges to ensure calibrations requirements are meet.
Provide employee training and manage all NDT certification records per ASNT SNT-TC-1A.
Lead the HACCP team to ensure full compliance with regulatory and industrial food safety standards.
Manage product and environmental sampling for chemical and microbial analysis to meet HACCP requirements.
Lead cross functional project team to build user-friendly windows base customer support applications which interface with the OmniPlan/OmniPlus mainframe application.
Execute quality processes in tissue banking and medical device, FDA requirements 21 CFR 1271 and 21 CFR 820.

Quality assurance scientist vs quality assurance specialist skills

Common quality assurance scientist skills

GMP, 8%
FDA, 6%
ISO, 5%
Data Analysis, 5%
Microbiology, 5%
CAPA, 4%

Common quality assurance specialist skills

GMP, 6%
Patients, 5%
FDA, 5%
CAPA, 4%
Corrective Action, 4%
CFR, 4%

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Quality Assurance Scientist
Quality Assurance Scientist vs Quality Assurance Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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