Architecture and Engineering · Holland code ICR
Validation Engineers
Design or plan protocols for equipment or processes to produce products meeting internal and external purity, safety, and quality requirements.
Also called: Quality Assurance Engineer, Quality Engineer, Quality Management Systems Engineer, Supplier Quality Engineer, Corporate Quality Engineer, Product Quality Engineer, Reliability Engineer, Validation Specialist.
O*NET 17-2112.02
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $102,440
- Middle half earn $83,600 to $129,250. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree
- 90% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 4 of 5
- Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
- US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034
- +11% · Much faster than average
- 351,100 jobs in 2024, projected 389,600. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Industrial engineers".
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- 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.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Reading Comprehension4.1 / 5
- Writing4.0 / 5
- Speaking4.0 / 5
- Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
- Active Listening3.9 / 5
- Monitoring3.9 / 5
Knowledge areas
- 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 ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic64
- Investigative76
- Artistic8
- Social7
- Enterprising17
- Conventional68
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- test engineer · DE Prüfingenieur/Prüfingenieurin · FR ingénieur d’essais/ingénieure d’essais
- quality engineer · DE Qualitätsingenieur/Qualitätsingenieurin · FR ingénieur qualité/ingénieure qualité
- compliance engineer · DE Compliance-Ingenieur/Compliance-Ingenieurin · FR responsable qualité conformité réglementaire
- flight test engineer · DE Flugtest-Ingenieur/Flugtest-Ingenieurin · FR ingénieur d’essais en vol/ingénieure d’essais en vol
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Quality control and planning engineers (2481)35,700 employed
- Quantity surveyors (2453)45,300 employed
- Engineering project managers and project engineers (2127)79,700 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €61,714 |
| Germany | €59,529 |
| Ireland | €56,877 |
| Austria | €55,374 |
| Netherlands | €53,595 |
| Sweden | €43,567 |
| France | €41,515 |
| Spain | €35,735 |
| Italy | €33,649 |
| Portugal | €26,072 |
| Poland | €14,380 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.14. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (17-2112).
Related careers
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