Quality Control Scientist
Impact: Product quality, regulatory compliance, public safety
Ensures the quality and integrity of products through rigorous testing, analysis, and adherence to regulatory standards.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Moderate
- Team vs solo
- 60% Team / 40% Solo
- Client facing
- Rarely
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- Minimal
- Schedule flexibility
- Structured
- Remote work
- Limited Remote
- Typical work hours
- 40-45 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $90,000
- Entry-level
- $60,000 - $75,000
- Senior
- $120,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 7% (average)
- Demand
- Growing
- Freelance potential
- Low
- Salary growth potential
- Moderate to 60-100% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $30,000 - $60,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Analytical Chemistry
- GMP
- GLP
- Chromatography
- Spectroscopy
- Data Analysis
- Quality Assurance
Soft skills
- Attention to Detail
- Problem-Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Communication
- Organization
- Adaptability
Technical complexity: High
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Bachelor's Degree
- Licensing
- No
- Years to mid-career
- 3-5 years
- Years to senior
- 7-10 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Junior QC Scientist
- QC Scientist
- Senior QC Scientist
- QC Manager
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 20% to some routine tasks can be automated, but complex analysis requires human oversight
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Growing
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.6/10
- Meaning
- 3.5/10
- Work-life balance
- 3.4/10
- Prestige
- 6.5/10
- Social perception
- High