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Advanced ManufacturingTop JobColorado Talent Pipeline Report-aligned occupation with strong annual openings, growth, and wage signals.Green JobOccupation aligned to O*NET green economy classifications.

Quality Assurance Engineer

Design or plan protocols for equipment or processes to produce products meeting internal and external purity, safety, and quality requirements.

Annual openings

438

BLS median wage

$109,750

Typical education

Bachelor's degree

10-year growth

+11%

Career requirements

What does this career require?

The education, credentials, and on-the-job competencies Colorado employers expect for this role.

Typical education

Bachelor's degree

Credential requirement

No specific credential listed yet

Credential detail

No credential is required. Some manufactured goods must meet special quality requirements, such as Aerospace Manufacturing meeting AS 9100 Certification standards. In those cases, those certifications will be valued.

Work experience

No previous work experience is required. However, jobs as a specialist can help you gain experience for this job.

Employer competency information

  • Feedback from employers identified the following competencies as being critical to success: Effective communication with peers when a problem is found, the ability to read blueprints, and the use of hand and precision tools.
Salary/Demand information crosses multiple jobs in multiple industries.
Are you focused on details and great with numbers? Do you work until the job is done? Become a Quality Assurance Engineer and you’ll spend your days crafting tests that check every inch of a product or machine in order to make sure they meet various standards and expectations. You’ll be involved with the manufacturing process from the first stage to the last, always making sure the product is at its highest quality.
You’ll work in a variety of environments, from the laboratory to your office to the production floor, designing and implement tests of quality and standards. Your job will be to conduct tests on everything from the raw materials that will make a product to the finished item just before it leaves the facility. You’ll analyze the data and work with other engineers and designers to make improvements, keeping in mind time, budget, and resource limits.

Is this work a fit?

What the work actually feels like

How people in this career tend to spend their time, the interests it draws on, and a look at a typical day.

Work style

  • With kids/peopleOccasionally
  • On a computerOccasionally
  • Outdoors / on-siteOccasionally
  • With your handsOccasionally

Interests it draws on

  • Engineering and Science
  • Engineering

Automation exposure

Moderate exposure

Some routine tasks may shift as tools improve, but the role is likely to adapt.

A typical day

  1. Study product characteristics or customer requirements to determine validation objectives and standards.
  2. Analyze validation test data to determine whether systems or processes have met validation criteria or to identify root causes of production problems.
  3. Develop validation master plans, process flow diagrams, test cases, or standard operating procedures.
  4. Prepare detailed reports or design statements, based on results of validation and qualification tests or reviews of procedures and protocols.
  5. Maintain validation test equipment.
  6. Conduct validation or qualification tests of new or existing processes, equipment, or software in accordance with internal protocols or external standards.