Quality Specialist Jobs in Virginia
Quality Specialist jobs in Virginia are concentrated in Northern Virginia, Richmond, and Hampton Roads, where defense contractors, federal health agencies, and large manufacturing operations drive steady demand for quality assurance, regulatory compliance, and process improvement professionals at every level from entry-level inspector to senior quality engineer. Employers like Leidos, Northrop Grumman, and Booz Allen Hamilton maintain deep quality functions across Virginia, and the state's pharmaceutical and food manufacturing sectors add consistent openings for quality specialists focused on GMP compliance and supplier auditing. Demand is especially strong for candidates with ISO, AS9100, and FDA quality systems experience. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Showing 5 of 40+ Quality Specialist jobs
Position Summary
The Senior Quality Operations professional provides senior-level quality oversight for GMP manufacturing, laboratory, material, and validation activities. The role performs real-time batch record review, reviews and approves raw materials and Certificates of Analysis (COAs), evaluates validation protocols, deviations, and laboratory documentation, and partners with cross-functional teams to ensure documentation accuracy, data integrity, inspection readiness, and timely disposition decisions.
Responsibilities:
- Real-time batch review: Provide on-the-floor quality oversight and perform real-time review of executed batch records, logbooks, and supporting documentation to identify and resolve discrepancies promptly and support compliant, timely batch disposition.
- Raw material approval: Review and approve raw material documentation, specifications, sampling and test results, supplier information, and release or rejection decisions in accordance with approved procedures and GMP requirements.
- Certificate of Analysis review: Review and approve supplier and laboratory Certificates of Analysis (COAs) for completeness, accuracy, traceability, specification compliance, and alignment with approved material requirements.
- Validation documentation: Review and approve validation protocols, executed protocol packages, reports, and associated supporting records for facilities, utilities, equipment, processes, cleaning, computerized systems, and analytical methods, as applicable.
- Deviations and investigations: Review, assess, and approve deviations and investigations; ensure clear problem statements, scientifically sound root-cause analysis, appropriate product-impact assessments, and effective corrective and preventive actions.
- Laboratory document review: Review and approve laboratory documents, including test methods, specifications, worksheets, notebooks, analytical data, instrument records, investigations, stability documentation, and controlled procedures.
- Disposition support: Evaluate manufacturing, laboratory, and material records to support release, rejection, quarantine, or other disposition decisions, escalating quality risks and unresolved issues as appropriate.
- Quality systems: Support change controls, CAPAs, document control, training, supplier quality, risk assessments, and other quality-system activities; monitor commitments through closure and verify effectiveness when assigned.
- Compliance and data integrity: Ensure records comply with current GMP, good documentation practices, ALCOA+ principles, approved procedures, and applicable regulatory requirements; identify trends and recommend improvements that strengthen right-first-time performance.
- Cross-functional leadership: Serve as a Quality Operations subject-matter resource, provide guidance and training, participate in audits and regulatory inspections, and collaborate with Manufacturing, QC, Validation, Engineering, Supply Chain, and other functions to resolve quality issues and maintain inspection readiness.
Qualifications and Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in life sciences, chemistry, engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, or a related discipline; an advanced degree is a plus.
- Six or more years of progressive experience in Quality Assurance, Quality Operations, Manufacturing Quality, QC review, or a related function within a GMP-regulated pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or compounding environment.
- Demonstrated experience performing real-time batch record review and providing quality oversight in manufacturing or laboratory operations.
- Experience reviewing and approving raw material records, Certificates of Analysis, validation protocols and reports, deviations, investigations, and laboratory documentation.
- Strong working knowledge of current GMP, good documentation practices, data-integrity expectations, risk management, and applicable FDA and compendial requirements.
- Ability to evaluate complex records, identify compliance and product-quality risks, make independent quality decisions, and communicate clear, defensible conclusions.
- Experience with electronic quality management systems, document management systems, laboratory systems, enterprise resource planning systems, and Microsoft Office applications preferred.
- Strong technical writing, organization, problem-solving, prioritization, collaboration, and mentoring skills, with the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, cross-functional GMP environment.
Pay: From $90,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
Work Location: In person
Position Summary
The Senior Quality Operations professional provides senior-level quality oversight for GMP manufacturing, laboratory, material, and validation activities. The role performs real-time batch record review, reviews and approves raw materials and Certificates of Analysis (COAs), evaluates validation protocols, deviations, and laboratory documentation, and partners with cross-functional teams to ensure documentation accuracy, data integrity, inspection readiness, and timely disposition decisions.
Responsibilities:
- Real-time batch review: Provide on-the-floor quality oversight and perform real-time review of executed batch records, logbooks, and supporting documentation to identify and resolve discrepancies promptly and support compliant, timely batch disposition.
- Raw material approval: Review and approve raw material documentation, specifications, sampling and test results, supplier information, and release or rejection decisions in accordance with approved procedures and GMP requirements.
- Certificate of Analysis review: Review and approve supplier and laboratory Certificates of Analysis (COAs) for completeness, accuracy, traceability, specification compliance, and alignment with approved material requirements.
- Validation documentation: Review and approve validation protocols, executed protocol packages, reports, and associated supporting records for facilities, utilities, equipment, processes, cleaning, computerized systems, and analytical methods, as applicable.
- Deviations and investigations: Review, assess, and approve deviations and investigations; ensure clear problem statements, scientifically sound root-cause analysis, appropriate product-impact assessments, and effective corrective and preventive actions.
- Laboratory document review: Review and approve laboratory documents, including test methods, specifications, worksheets, notebooks, analytical data, instrument records, investigations, stability documentation, and controlled procedures.
- Disposition support: Evaluate manufacturing, laboratory, and material records to support release, rejection, quarantine, or other disposition decisions, escalating quality risks and unresolved issues as appropriate.
- Quality systems: Support change controls, CAPAs, document control, training, supplier quality, risk assessments, and other quality-system activities; monitor commitments through closure and verify effectiveness when assigned.
- Compliance and data integrity: Ensure records comply with current GMP, good documentation practices, ALCOA+ principles, approved procedures, and applicable regulatory requirements; identify trends and recommend improvements that strengthen right-first-time performance.
- Cross-functional leadership: Serve as a Quality Operations subject-matter resource, provide guidance and training, participate in audits and regulatory inspections, and collaborate with Manufacturing, QC, Validation, Engineering, Supply Chain, and other functions to resolve quality issues and maintain inspection readiness.
Qualifications and Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in life sciences, chemistry, engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, or a related discipline; an advanced degree is a plus.
- Six or more years of progressive experience in Quality Assurance, Quality Operations, Manufacturing Quality, QC review, or a related function within a GMP-regulated pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or compounding environment.
- Demonstrated experience performing real-time batch record review and providing quality oversight in manufacturing or laboratory operations.
- Experience reviewing and approving raw material records, Certificates of Analysis, validation protocols and reports, deviations, investigations, and laboratory documentation.
- Strong working knowledge of current GMP, good documentation practices, data-integrity expectations, risk management, and applicable FDA and compendial requirements.
- Ability to evaluate complex records, identify compliance and product-quality risks, make independent quality decisions, and communicate clear, defensible conclusions.
- Experience with electronic quality management systems, document management systems, laboratory systems, enterprise resource planning systems, and Microsoft Office applications preferred.
- Strong technical writing, organization, problem-solving, prioritization, collaboration, and mentoring skills, with the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, cross-functional GMP environment.
Pay: From $90,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
Work Location: In person
See All 40 Quality Specialist Jobs in Virginia
Find roles in Virginia that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Quality Specialist JobsQuality Specialist Jobs by City in Virginia
Where Virginia roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Quality Specialist Job Market in Virginia
A snapshot from current Virginia openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Manufacturing
- Construction & Real Estate
- Healthcare & Medical Services
What Virginia Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in quality specialist jobs across Virginia.
- Bachelor's degree in engineering, life sciences, or a related technical field required
- ASQ Certified Quality Auditor or Quality Engineer credential preferred
- Experience with ISO 9001, AS9100, or FDA 21 CFR quality management systems
- Proficiency with statistical process control tools and root cause analysis methods
- Demonstrated ability to write and manage corrective and preventive action documentation
- Familiarity with defense or government contractor quality standards such as DCMA requirements
Quality Specialist Jobs in Virginia: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a quality specialist in Virginia?
Most quality specialist roles in Virginia require a bachelor's degree in engineering, science, or a related technical field, though associate degrees combined with relevant experience are accepted in manufacturing and defense settings. Virginia does not issue a state license specific to quality specialists, but employers strongly favor candidates who hold ASQ credentials such as the Certified Quality Technician, Certified Quality Auditor, or Certified Quality Engineer. Defense and government contractors in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads typically require security clearance eligibility as an additional qualification.
Which companies hire quality specialists in Virginia?
Employers hiring quality specialists in Virginia right now include University of Virginia, ABB, and ICF, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. Virginia's concentration of defense primes, federal health contractors, and regulated manufacturers means quality roles here tend to require familiarity with government quality standards alongside standard industry certifications.
Which Virginia cities have the most quality specialist jobs?
Richmond, Charlottesville, and Reston are the Virginia cities with the most quality specialist openings. Northern Virginia leads because of its dense cluster of defense contractors and federal agencies, Richmond draws openings from pharmaceutical manufacturing and financial services quality functions, and Hampton Roads supports quality roles tied to naval shipbuilding, aerospace, and logistics operations concentrated around the region's major military installations.
Are there remote quality specialist jobs in Virginia?
Yes, but they're rare. Quality specialist work is largely hands-on, requiring on-site inspections, lab access, and direct oversight of production or compliance processes, so most Virginia openings are on-site or at most hybrid. About 35% of quality specialist openings tied to Virginia are remote or hybrid as of September 2026, and those positions tend to be in quality systems management, documentation review, or supplier auditing roles where daily physical presence is not required.
How can I get hired as a quality specialist in Virginia with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is a quality technician or quality inspector role, which large Virginia manufacturers and defense contractors use to bring in candidates who are still building their credentials. Employers like Huntington Ingalls Industries in Newport News and pharmaceutical manufacturers in the Richmond area regularly hire entry-level quality inspectors who move into specialist roles after gaining floor experience. Earning the ASQ Certified Quality Technician credential before applying gives candidates a measurable edge, and lateral moves from production supervisor, lab technician, or supply chain coordinator roles are common stepping stones into quality functions at Virginia employers.
Where can I find and apply to quality specialist jobs in Virginia?
You can find and apply to quality specialist jobs in Virginia on Migrate Mate, which lists current Virginia openings from employers across Northern Virginia, Richmond, and Hampton Roads. Find roles that fit your experience and apply directly.
See All 40 Quality Specialist Jobs in Virginia
Find roles in Virginia that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Quality Specialist Jobs