How to hire a senior quality control associate

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

Here's a step-by-step senior quality control associate 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 quality control associate job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new senior quality control associate
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a senior quality control associate do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a senior quality control associate, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a senior quality control associate to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a senior quality control associate that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of senior quality control associates.

   Type of Senior Quality Control Associate	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Quality Control Associate		$29-52
   Quality Assurance Scientist	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... Show more	$23-44
   Quality Control Supervisor	A quality control supervisor specializes in carrying out and implementing systems and procedures that ensure product quality within an organization. They are primarily responsible for devising priorities and standards, managing schedules to abide by the production timeline, monitoring activities, coordinating with production and quality control personnel, assessing employee performance, and thoroughly discussing new systems for all staff... Show more	$22-41

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • QC
   • GMP
   • Laboratory Equipment
   • Test Methods
   • Analytical Methods
   • FDA
   • Data Entry
   • Microbiology
   • Data Review
   • Method Validation
   • Lims
   • HPLC
   • SME
   • ICH

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Identify discrepancies, participate in quality investigations and CAPA, and manage DMS in Trackwise tool.
   • Support method development and revisions for streamlining of HPLC standard test method for final product testing ..
   • Execute GMP release and stability testing of active ingredients and drug products to support clinical phase projects.
   • Conduct flow cytometry seminars for FDA auditors.
   • Demonstrate strong commitment to cGMP resulting in successful FDA audits.
   • Support testing for lab investigations, OOS and deviation testing.

   More senior quality control associate duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your senior quality control associate job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A senior quality control associate salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, senior quality control associates' average salary in missouri is 44% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level senior quality control associates earn 44% less than senior-level senior quality control associates.
   • Certifications. A senior quality control associate with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a senior quality control associate's salary.

   Average senior quality control associate salary

   $83,117yearly

   $39.96 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior quality control associate salary

   $62,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 18, 2026

   Average senior quality control associate salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$117,793	$57
   2	New York	$105,361	$51
   3	Wisconsin	$95,894	$46
   4	Massachusetts	$95,601	$46
   5	Virginia	$94,400	$45
   6	Connecticut	$94,023	$45
   7	North Carolina	$88,183	$42
   8	New Mexico	$84,888	$41
   9	Minnesota	$84,429	$41
   10	South Carolina	$82,818	$40
   11	Georgia	$82,699	$40
   12	Louisiana	$82,225	$40
   13	Indiana	$79,810	$38
   14	Arizona	$79,629	$38
   15	Colorado	$79,567	$38
   16	Alabama	$78,493	$38
   17	Pennsylvania	$77,260	$37
   18	Iowa	$76,714	$37
   19	Ohio	$75,737	$36
   20	Oregon	$75,526	$36

   Average senior quality control associate salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Genentech	$103,946	$49.97	6
   2	Boehringer Ingelheim	$103,311	$49.67	11
   3	FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies	$103,146	$49.59	19
   4	AstraZeneca	$101,661	$48.88	4
   5	Sarepta Therapeutics	$99,306	$47.74
   6	10x Genomics	$93,990	$45.19	1
   7	Caliber Home Loans	$88,617	$42.60
   8	Planet Pharma	$84,195	$40.48	6
   9	Advanced Biologics	$84,185	$40.47	3
   10	Fujifilm Holdings America Corporation	$84,145	$40.45	18
   11	PACT Pharma	$82,255	$39.55
   12	Adaptive Biotechnologies	$82,078	$39.46
   13	Synechron	$81,488	$39.18	3
   14	Alkermes	$80,776	$38.83	6
   15	Amgen	$80,347	$38.63	7
   16	Jazz Pharmaceuticals	$78,662	$37.82
   17	FUJIFILM Medical Systems USA	$78,518	$37.75	36
   18	Humana	$78,494	$37.74	14
   19	Creative Financial Staffing	$78,276	$37.63
   20	Eureka Therapeutics	$77,862	$37.43

4. Writing a senior quality control associate job description

   A senior quality control associate job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a senior quality control associate job description:

   Senior quality control associate job description example

   Job Description100% remote
   Shift: 8AM - 5PM, 7AM -4 PM (PST working hrs - required; readily available)
   Sitting anywhere in the US
   Option to extend contract
   
   *** requires all staff, staff augmentation external workers, and certain other external workers, in the United States and Puerto Rico to be vaccinated from COVID 19 as a condition of assignment at ***. In accordance with applicable law, *** will provide reasonable accommodations to staff augmentation external workers who qualify on the basis of a medical reason or a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance. Such accommodation may not pose an undue hardship to ***, its operations, or its staff.
   
   Job Details:
   The Thousand Oak Quality Control organization supports the manufacture of *** products by testing in-process, release, and stability samples. The QC organization also supports the broader network as needed. In addition to testing, the organization supports the templating and logging of information into our Laboratory Information Management System (SM LIMS) and the use of the Laboratory Method Execution system (LMES), this also included other quality systems used to manage our information and processes (deviations, change control, etc).
   This Role will be supporting the QC organization in generating metrics, supporting QC s existing dashboards and data collection tools. The preferred candidate must possess the skills to clearly capture and articulate the client s processes, partner with the client to identify process improvement, and translate strategies into information solutions. Role varies between client focused and application focused
   
   Basic Qualifications
   " Bachelor s degree and 3 years of data analytics experience
   OR
   " Associate s degree and 6 years of data analytics experience
   OR
   " High school diploma / GED and 8 years of data analytics experience
   Preferred Qualifications
   " Intermediate to Expert level working knowledge of Excel required (pivot tables/charts, lookups, connection to data sources, some VBA)
   " Three or more (3+) years SQL experience strongly preferred (Oracle, DataBricks)
   " Intermediate or better level proficiency in Office 365 applications in general
   " SmartSheet experience preferred (building reports/dashboards, workflows, DataMesh)
   " SharePoint experience preferred (developing site pages, site administration, Power Automate)
   " Tableau experience preferred (building reports/dashboards, Data Prep flows, site administration)
   " Tibco Spotfire experience preferred
   " Ability to deliver high quality results in a timely manner
   " Excellent written and verbal communication
   " Demonstrated ability to work under minimal direction
   " Ability to adapt to changing business needs
   " Ability to multi-task and function in a dynamic environment
   " Ability to solve difficult, non-routine analysis problems, applying statistical analysis as needed

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right senior quality control associate for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with senior quality control associates they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit senior quality control associates who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior quality control associate job on Zippia to find and recruit senior quality control associate candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting senior quality control associates requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   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.

   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 quality control associate

   Once you have selected a candidate for the senior quality control associate position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new senior quality control associate. 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.)

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