Validation Specialist

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Validation Specialist tests and documents the validity and accuracy of manufacturing systems and equipment. Tests processes and manages process validations. Provides technical support and implements operating procedures. May create documentation to show that a manufacturing or production process has consistent results and meets quality standards.

Job Outlook

There were 273 Validation Specialist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 2957 in the United States.

We do not have this data at this time.

Salary

Many new Validation Specialist jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $92,763.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $91,289.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Validation Specialist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $79,298.

Education and Experience

Posted Validation Specialist jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education Level	Percentage
Associate's Degree	0%
Bachelor's Degree	65.34%
Master's Degree	25.43%
Doctoral Degree	3.04%
Other	10.48%

Posted Validation Specialist jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of Experience	Percentage
0 to 2 years	21.62%
3 to 5 years	40.34%
6 to 8 years	30.37%
9+ years	7.66%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Validation Specialist positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

Operations (33.99%)
Communication (30.27%)
Problem Solving (30.23%)
Management (29.76%)
Investigation (24.52%)
Detail Oriented (20.6%)
Quality Assurance (18.94%)
Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (17.62%)
Mathematics (17.11%)
Microsoft Office (15.18%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

Good Manufacturing Practices (57.08%)
Pharmaceuticals (50.73%)
Qualification Protocols (IQ/OQ/PQ) (36.92%)
Auditing (27.51%)
Change Control (25.25%)
Computer System Validation (22.72%)
Cleaning Validation (9.18%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

Title 21 Of The Code Of Federal Regulations (20.43%)
Risk Analysis (22.53%)
Validation Protocols (22.57%)
Corrective And Preventive Action (CAPA) (29.84%)
Project Management (21.23%)
Quality Management Systems (23.6%)
Chemistry (25.02%)
Biotechnology (16.26%)
Data Integrity (15.46%)
Biology (22.19%)
Standard Operating Procedure (9.95%)
Process Validation (12.32%)
Laboratory Equipment (20.28%)
Data Analysis (21.84%)
Continuous Improvement Process (12.85%)
Technical Writing (11.59%)
Life Sciences (12.17%)
Computer Science (11.13%)
Instrumentation (16.91%)
Medical Devices (10.52%)
Automation (10.14%)
Process Improvement (9.18%)
Sterilization (18.02%)
Regulatory Compliance (10.02%)
Calibration (6.85%)
Industry Standards (10.21%)
Microbiology (17.75%)
HVAC (17.98%)
Traceability Matrix (6.85%)
Risk Management (7.73%)
Biopharmaceuticals (6.85%)
Manufacturing Processes (8.76%)
Systems Development Life Cycle (6.69%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

Hygrometers (13.85%)
Ultrafiltration (13.81%)
Validation Master Plan (3.6%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Validation Specialist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Computer Systems Validation Specialist
Quality Assurance Validation Specialist
Validation Associate
Validation Lead
CSV Consultant
Technology Implementation Specialist
Validation Analyst
Validation Consultant
Model Validation Analyst

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Validation Specialist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Grifols (367)
Merck & Co. (95)
Kelly Services (64)
Katalyst Healthcares & Life Sciences (61)
Actalent (53)
Wells Fargo (47)
Oxford Global Resources (47)
Beacon Hill Staffing Group (38)
Synchrony (32)
Validation & Engineering Group (32)

North Carolina

Grifols (23)
Oxford Global Resources (11)
Cone Health (9)
Merck & Co. (9)
Validation & Engineering Group (9)
Wells Fargo (8)
Quality Chemical Laboratories (8)
Pfizer (7)
Thermo Fisher Scientific (7)
NavitsPartners (6)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!

Textiles Master's Degrees

All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.

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