Validation Engineers

What the job really is

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

At a glance

• Sector: Architecture & Engineering
• O*NET-SOC code: 17-2112
• O*NET job zone: 4 — considerable preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• 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.
• Prepare validation or performance qualification protocols for new or modified manufacturing processes, systems, or equipment for production of pharmaceuticals, electronics, or other products.
• Create, populate, or maintain databases for tracking validation activities, test results, or validated systems.

Tools and technology

Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2, Amazon Web Services AWS CloudFormation, Amazon Web Services AWS software, Ansible software, Apache Cassandra, Apache Kafka, Apache Maven, Apache Subversion SVN, Apache Tomcat, Atlassian JIRA, Bash

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Industrial Engineers
• Quality Control Systems Managers
• Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
• Manufacturing Engineers
• Mechanical Engineers
• Electronics Engineers, Except Computer
• Automotive Engineers
• Mechatronics Engineers

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 4 (considerable preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Validation Engineers — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.