Architecture & Engineering
Validation Engineers
Also called: Corporate Quality Engineer, Product Quality Engineer, Quality Assurance Engineer, Quality Engineer
US median pay
$102,440
per year, 2025
Job growth 2025–35
+12.4%
faster than average
Openings a year (US)
23,100
365,100 employed
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Preparation 4/5 · Considerable preparation
What this job is
Design or plan protocols for equipment or processes to produce products meeting internal and external purity, safety, and quality requirements.
What they do day to day
- Study product characteristics or customer requirements to determine validation objectives and standards.
- Analyze validation test data to determine whether systems or processes have met validation criteria or to identify root causes of production problems.
- Develop validation master plans, process flow diagrams, test cases, or standard operating procedures.
- Prepare detailed reports or design statements, based on results of validation and qualification tests or reviews of procedures and protocols.
- Maintain validation test equipment.
- Conduct validation or qualification tests of new or existing processes, equipment, or software in accordance with internal protocols or external standards.
- Communicate with regulatory agencies regarding compliance documentation or validation results.
- Prepare, maintain, or review validation and compliance documentation, such as engineering change notices, schematics, or protocols.
- Recommend resolution of identified deviations from established product or process standards.
- Design validation study features, such as sampling, testing, or analytical methodologies.
Skills and knowledge that matter most
Skills
- Complex Problem Solving3.8/5
- Systems Evaluation3.1/5
- Systems Analysis3.1/5
- Social Perceptiveness3.1/5
- Operations Monitoring3.1/5
- Judgment and Decision Making3.1/5
- Time Management3.0/5
- Quality Control Analysis3.0/5
Knowledge
- Engineering and Technology4.3/5
- Production and Processing4.2/5
- English Language3.8/5
- Customer and Personal Service3.7/5
- Mathematics3.6/5
- Design3.6/5
Importance rated by people working in the job (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important).
Education and preparation
Preparation level 4 of 5 — Considerable preparation. Usually a bachelor's degree and several years of related experience.
Typical entry education (BLS): Bachelor's degree.
Highest education of people in this job:
- Bachelor's degree90%
Who this job suits
Mostly Investigative
Ideas, research and solving problems
Conventional
Organising data, details and procedures
Realistic
Hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
Based on the Holland (RIASEC) interest profile for this occupation.