How to hire a validation manager

How to hire a validation manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step validation manager hiring guide:

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

What does a validation manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The validation manager hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   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 validation manager 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 validation manager that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of validation managers.

   Type of Validation Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Validation Manager	Industrial production managers oversee the daily operations of manufacturing and related plants. They coordinate, plan, and direct the activities used to create a wide range of goods, such as cars, computer equipment, or paper products.	$47-78
   Director Of Quality	In the manufacturing industry, a director of quality is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing the daily operations in a quality assurance department. They work to ensure that products adhere to the company's quality standards and industry regulations by conducting research and assessments, developing quality test systems, and reviewing reports... Show more	$47-87
   Vice-President Of Quality	A vice president of quality is responsible for monitoring the quality performance and delivery of the company outputs and deliverables to serve customers and clients. Vice presidents of quality analyze the production and operational processes to ensure that everything adheres to the internal guidelines and regulations... Show more	$43-86

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Project Management
   • QC
   • FDA
   • Cleaning Validation
   • Regression
   • Regulatory Agencies
   • Process Validation
   • QA
   • Risk Assessments
   • Validation Program
   • System Validation
   • GMP
   • Quality System
   • Gamp

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage the CSV project that validate 76 within 17 months saving $1.0 MM out of $8.8MM.
   • Implement a regression process, and manage the execution of the regression testing.
   • Manage an SSD validation team responsible for testing and debugging the next generation PCIe SSD's.
   • Manage QA disposition and review of commercial stability material and conduct investigations on out-of-specification/anomalous results.
   • Coordinate site training requirements, deliver GMP and technical specific training, create and manage associated metrics.
   • Perform computer and control system validation for QC analytical instrumentation and manufacturing process systems.

   More validation manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your validation manager job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A validation manager salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a validation manager in Montana may be lower than in Massachusetts, and an entry-level validation manager usually earns less than a senior-level validation manager. Additionally, a validation manager with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average validation manager salary

   $127,882yearly

   $61.48 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level validation manager salary

   $99,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average validation manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Massachusetts	$149,314	$72
   2	California	$149,119	$72
   3	New York	$148,247	$71
   4	Washington	$145,872	$70
   5	Connecticut	$138,283	$66
   6	Arizona	$137,794	$66
   7	Maryland	$134,212	$65
   8	Texas	$131,956	$63
   9	Utah	$131,436	$63
   10	Virginia	$130,777	$63
   11	Michigan	$125,122	$60
   12	Colorado	$121,157	$58
   13	Rhode Island	$121,007	$58
   14	New Jersey	$119,814	$58
   15	Minnesota	$118,725	$57
   16	Florida	$116,822	$56
   17	Oregon	$115,800	$56
   18	North Carolina	$115,785	$56
   19	Pennsylvania	$115,203	$55
   20	Illinois	$115,014	$55

   Average validation manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$169,852	$81.66	22
   2	Apple	$148,371	$71.33	70
   3	Palo Alto Networks	$143,736	$69.10	1
   4	First Republic Bank	$136,831	$65.78
   5	NIO	$135,194	$65.00
   6	Boehringer Ingelheim	$134,748	$64.78
   7	Lucid Motors	$134,730	$64.77	7
   8	FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies	$133,545	$64.20	5
   9	Anika	$132,764	$63.83
   10	Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	$131,756	$63.34
   11	Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.	$131,562	$63.25	12
   12	Sanofi US	$131,527	$63.23
   13	Citi	$130,041	$62.52	1
   14	Contract Pharmacal	$129,758	$62.38
   15	Meridian Medical Technologies	$129,469	$62.24
   16	Catalent Pharma Solutions	$129,336	$62.18	14
   17	Nitto Avecia	$129,315	$62.17
   18	Parexel International	$129,152	$62.09
   19	JSMN Intl Inc	$129,002	$62.02
   20	Patel Consultants	$128,900	$61.97

4. Writing a validation manager job description

   A good validation manager job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a validation manager job description:

   Validation manager job description example

   Red Lion Road-PA002
   
   Position Title: Validation Manager, Commercial
   
   Reports to: Director of Validation
   
   Location: Philadelphia, PA
   
   This position is responsible for site packaging equipment qualification and product packaging validation, utilizing established validation process, approach, and protocol and report standards. Also responsible for new product cleaning assessments, cleaning validation, validation of cleaning and sterilization systems, and Environmental Monitoring.
   
   This position provides technical and project support to Validation, Business Unit, Project Management, Engineering, Quality Assurance, and to our Customers to remain in a state of compliance.
   
   The successful candidate will have supervisory responsibilities and be capable of manage multiple projects under limited supervision. Collaborates with and serves as a back up to the Validation Manager, Infrastructure.
   
   ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
   
   The Validation Manager, Commercial will lead the business beyond of the normal scope of task-based project validation. Knowledge, experience, personal drive, and creativity will motivate this individual to present new ideas to senior management that will affect the direction of the organization over the next years. The job duties and responsibilities associated with this position are as follows:
   
   * Site validation management of packaging equipment qualification and product packaging validation.
   * Cleaning and Sterilization system validation
   * New product and cleaning validation assessments
   * Cleaning Certifications and/or Cleaning Validation, if required
   * Environmental Monitoring program management
   * Participate in daily business meetings and report against validation commitments
   * Coordinate department resources to ensure validation tasks are managed and on track to meet project commitment dates
   * Utilizes the established validation process, approach, and protocol and report standards
   * Use of SmartSheets to manage information, resources, track projects, and deliverables.
   * Innovation of validation processes and tasks
   * Participate in global Validation Center of Excellence and harmonization
   * Evaluate validation trends in the pharmaceutical and contract packaging industries
   * Lead gap assessments and remediation
   * Support Regulatory, Customer and Internal Audits
   * Collaborate with Director, Validation and Validation Manager, Commercial to evaluate business needs and determine Validation strategy for equipment, processes, cleaning, serialization, etc
   * Review and approve Validation templates and validation related protocols and reports.
   * Review and approve Requirements Specifications and Engineering Studies
   * Support Change Control and CAPA process
   * Serve as a back up to the Validation Manager, Infrastructure
   * Limited travel may be required (less than 5%)
   
   SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:
   
   * Lead a group of up to five or more team members.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find validation managers 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 validation manager job on Zippia to find and recruit validation manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with validation manager candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   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 validation manager

   Once you have selected a candidate for the validation manager 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.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new validation manager. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

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 validation manager?