How to hire a senior associate quality assurance

How to hire a senior associate quality assurance, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior associate quality assurance hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a senior associate quality assurance job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new senior associate quality assurance
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a senior associate quality assurance do?

Post a senior associate quality assurance job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the senior associate quality assurance you need to hire. Certain senior associate quality assurance roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A senior associate quality assurance's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, senior associate quality assurances from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of senior associate quality assurances.

   Type of Senior Associate Quality Assurance	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Associate Quality Assurance		$29-47
   Quality Lead	A quality assurance (QA) lead is responsible for organizing and managing the testing of products prior to its release. Your duties will include defining testing standards and strategies, establishing formal QA processes, and overseeing all aspects of QA, such as using best practices and establishing metrics... Show more	$30-61
   Quality Assurance Team Leader	A quality assurance (QA) team leader is a professional who is responsible for managing a team of engineers from the quality assurance department of an organization to participate in the overall QA planning and activities. QA team leaders are required to play the key role as a member of the project management team to ensure that the product exceeded user expectations... Show more	$36-60

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • QA
   • GMP
   • Oversight
   • Quality System
   • CAPA
   • FDA
   • Qa Support
   • SQL
   • Drug Products
   • Management System
   • Quality Standards
   • QC
   • Cucumber
   • Qa Management

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Coordinate, oversee and manage the repetitive patient documentation and medical necessity process for all patients meeting the repetitive patient description.
   • Assist with the start up of Sydcor, teaching an offsite facility the value of internal/external customers and ISO compliance.
   • Implement test automation framework which involves completing system integration, regression, performance, functionality and load testing.
   • Conduct regression testing, testing of new features and enhancements to existing software to ensure system compatibility, integrity and performance.
   • Coordinate, oversee and manage the repetitive patient documentation and medical necessity process for all patients meeting the repetitive patient description.
   • Authore combined quality system manual for AS9100 and repair stations for the Valencia facility and Connecticut facility.

   More senior associate quality assurance duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your senior associate quality assurance job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A senior associate quality assurance can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, senior associate quality assurances' average salary in alabama is 36% less than in washington.
   • Seniority. Entry-level senior associate quality assurances 38% less than senior-level senior associate quality assurances.
   • Certifications. A senior associate quality assurance with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a senior associate quality assurance's salary.

   Average senior associate quality assurance salary

   $77,556yearly

   $37.29 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior associate quality assurance salary

   $61,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 31, 2026

   Average senior associate quality assurance salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$102,069	$49
   2	Virginia	$92,583	$45
   3	Connecticut	$91,829	$44
   4	New York	$86,656	$42
   5	Minnesota	$86,615	$42
   6	New Jersey	$86,486	$42
   7	Massachusetts	$85,022	$41
   8	District of Columbia	$84,785	$41
   9	Pennsylvania	$80,482	$39
   10	Ohio	$76,029	$37
   11	Utah	$75,981	$37
   12	North Carolina	$75,056	$36
   13	Illinois	$74,490	$36
   14	Texas	$74,352	$36
   15	Arizona	$72,798	$35
   16	Indiana	$70,467	$34
   17	Wisconsin	$69,992	$34
   18	Georgia	$69,293	$33
   19	Nebraska	$68,637	$33
   20	Missouri	$66,999	$32

   Average senior associate quality assurance salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Biogen	$98,725	$47.46	9
   2	Santander Private Banking International	$98,389	$47.30
   3	Publicis Sapient	$95,384	$45.86
   4	Tonix Pharmaceuticals	$93,169	$44.79	2
   5	Alkermes	$93,095	$44.76	5
   6	Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings	$93,062	$44.74	6
   7	Extreme Networks	$90,357	$43.44	2
   8	Tandem Diabetes Care	$87,571	$42.10	1
   9	Discover	$84,296	$40.53
   10	Amgen	$83,749	$40.26	19
   11	Pfizer	$83,705	$40.24	13
   12	EMD Millipore	$83,548	$40.17
   13	Regeneron	$82,425	$39.63	11
   14	Nostrum Laboratories	$82,380	$39.61
   15	Amicus Therapeutics	$81,851	$39.35
   16	Replimune	$81,556	$39.21
   17	SCOR Global Life USA Holdings, Inc.	$81,164	$39.02
   18	Cerus	$79,893	$38.41
   19	MSCI	$79,346	$38.15
   20	ValueMomentum	$79,337	$38.14

4. Writing a senior associate quality assurance job description

   A job description for a senior associate quality assurance role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a senior associate quality assurance job description:

   Senior associate quality assurance job description example

   As part of the IT Quality team, ensure the delivery of technically robust and compliant GxP computerized systems (CS) that withstand audits, both internal and external. The Sr. IT Quality Associate II is expected to have working-level knowledge of CS at the enterprise level, including the quality systems supporting the implementation and management of enterprise systems (i.e., change management, exceptions management, risk management). The Sr. IT Quality Associate II is expected to have foundational understanding of regulatory expectations for CS and be able to provide quality oversight and guidance to IT teams to support implementation of and management of enterprise computer systems. This role works with peers locally and globally, to ensure practices are consistent with requirements and expectations set forth within the governing QMS.
   What You'll Do
   
   Drive the deployment of new GxP computerized systems through review and approval of life cycle deliverables in compliance with the governing regulations and procedures.
   
   Ensures a state GxP audit readiness through compliant approval of Software Development Life Cycle (SLDC) documentation, validation testing, evaluation of IT Controls procedures, and continuous improvement activities
   
   Perform and manage all supporting quality related activities associated with computerized systems including periodic reviews, exception management (deviation / CAPA), change management, risk management, etc. for assigned systems in alignment with noted KPIs.
   
   Working with senior members of the team, represent ITQ on cross-functional teams in support of SDLC activities for GxP applications - either enterprise platforms or functional specific applications.
   
   Support all Global Quality initiatives, including Data Integrity, Computerized Systems, and IT QMS implementation / remediation.
   
   Who You Are
   
   You are an experienced member of a QA organization with a BA/BS in Engineering or Life Sciences and a minimum of ten (10) years related QA experience and/or training with 5 years in a CSV / Quality role. You are passionate about compliance, have a keen eye for detail and are a strong communicator.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find senior associate quality assurances for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior associate quality assurance job on Zippia to find and recruit senior associate quality assurance candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit senior associate quality assurances, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview senior associate quality assurance candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new senior associate quality assurance

   Once you've found the senior associate quality assurance candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new senior associate quality assurance. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a senior associate quality assurance?