What does a senior quality control chemist do?
Senior quality control chemist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior quality control chemist resumes:
- Help achieve FDA approval of the first generic unit dose nasal spray drug product.
- Help management with audit duties for FDA, NSF or USP.
- Perform FTIR on raw materials and confirm identity.
- Maintain compliance with GMP, DEA, safety and training requirements.
- Monitor the cleanliness of production machinery and surrounding areas with GMP compliance.
- Work in compliance with cGMP's and implementing GLP standards in the laboratory.
- Participate in the smooth transition of notebooks to paperless documentation and records keeping via LIMS.
- Carry out validation, qualification, and remediation of PCR and immunoassay methods for pipeline and commercial products.
- Train in corrective action root cause analysis, laboratory investigations (OOS events), and creation of certificates of analysis.
- Develop and qualify HPLC quantitative assays.
- Authore laboratory investigation reports and CAPA reports.
- Develop and validate stability indicating methods using HPLC.
- Conduct investigations of laboratory deviations and OOS results.
- Participate in internal and FDA laboratory inspections, all pass inspections.
- Document new methods in accordance with company requirements and ISO regulations.
Senior quality control chemist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Senior Quality Control Chemists are proficient in QC, HPLC, and GMP. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Senior Quality Control Chemists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- QC, 9%
Assist management with coordinating activities involving Materials Dept., Manufacturing and QC laboratory.
- HPLC, 6%
Developed and validated stability indicating methods using HPLC.
- GMP, 5%
Delivered materials in compliance with cGMP, safety and regulatory in a GMP manufacturing plant.
- Test Methods, 4%
Provided training on SOP's, test methods, and sample preparation for new hires and other employees.
- OOs, 4%
Lead laboratory investigations (e.g., root cause analysis, OOS, OOT, CAPA, etc.)
- Laboratory Instruments, 4%
Performed preventive maintenance and calibration for laboratory instruments.
"qc," "hplc," and "gmp" are among the most common skills that senior quality control chemists use at work. You can find even more senior quality control chemist responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a senior quality control chemist to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "chemists and materials scientists need to evaluate the results of experiments to ensure accuracy in their research." Additionally, a senior quality control chemist resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "completed training for: application of fda gmps to analytical laboratories, batch record reviews, and principles of good documentation. "
Communication skills. Many senior quality control 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 senior quality control chemist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways senior quality control chemist responsibilities rely on communication skills: "recognized subject matter expert in handling 3rd party contract lab communication, processing and data review. "
Math skills. This is an important skill for senior quality control chemists to perform their duties. For an example of how senior quality control chemist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "chemists and materials scientists regularly use calculus, algebra, statistics, and other math for calculations." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a senior quality control chemist: "developed and qualified hplc quantitative assays. ".
Problem-solving skills. For certain senior quality control chemist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a senior quality control chemist rely on this skill, as "chemists’ and materials scientists’ work involves posing questions during research and finding answers through results." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what senior quality control chemists do: "performed usp protocols such as content uniformity and dissolution testing. "
Time-management skills. A commonly-found skill in senior quality control chemist job descriptions, "time-management skills" is essential to what senior quality control chemists do. Senior quality control chemist responsibilities rely on this skill because "chemists and materials scientists usually need to meet deadlines and must be able to prioritize tasks while maintaining quality." You can also see how senior quality control chemist duties rely on time-management skills in this resume example: "completed process validation for new and marketed products meeting tight deadlines, which resulted in launch/continue product on market. "
The three companies that hire the most senior quality control chemists are:
- Novartis2 senior quality control chemists jobs
- Ani Pharmaceuticals1 senior quality control chemists jobs
- EMD Millipore
1 senior quality control chemists jobs
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Senior quality control 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.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between senior quality control chemists and chemist, development. For instance, senior quality control chemist responsibilities require skills such as "qc," "oos," "laboratory instruments," and "analytical techniques." Whereas a chemist, development is skilled in "product development," "technical support," "gc-ms," and "pet." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Chemists, development earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $85,660. On the other hand, senior quality control chemists are paid more in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $87,121.The education levels that chemists, development earn slightly differ from senior quality control chemists. In particular, chemists, development are 3.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a senior quality control chemist. Additionally, they're 1.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior quality control 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.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that senior quality control chemist responsibilities requires skills like "qc," "oos," "laboratory instruments," and "analytical techniques." But a research and development chemist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "product development," "synthesis," "d chemist," and "technical support."
Research and development chemists earn a lower average salary than senior quality control chemists. But research and development chemists earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $82,941. Additionally, senior quality control chemists earn the highest salaries in the manufacturing with average pay of $87,121 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Research and development chemists tend to reach similar levels of education than senior quality control chemists. In fact, they're 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior quality control chemists in the next 3-5 years?
Senior quality control 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.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from senior quality control chemist resumes include skills like "qc," "laboratory equipment," "capa," and "ich," whereas a chemist is more likely to list skills in "chemistry," "lab equipment," "product development," and "sample preparation. "
Chemists earn the best pay in the manufacturing industry, where they command an average salary of $75,495. Senior quality control chemists earn the highest pay from the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $87,121.When it comes to education, chemists tend to earn lower degree levels compared to senior quality control chemists. In fact, they're 5.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.9% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior quality control chemist vs. Associate chemist
An Associate Chemist performs and analyzes chemical tests and procedures. They maintain the stock of drugs and ensure that they are stored in a secure place.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior quality control chemists and associate chemists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior quality control chemist might have more use for skills like "gmp," "analytical techniques," "laboratory equipment," and "drug products." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of associate chemists require skills like "lab equipment," "product development," "sample preparation," and "laboratory practices. "
In general, associate chemists earn the most working in the energy industry, with an average salary of $82,523. The highest-paying industry for a senior quality control chemist is the manufacturing industry.associate chemists reach lower levels of education compared to senior quality control chemists, in general. The difference is that they're 6.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 3.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of senior quality control chemist
Updated January 8, 2025











