Quality Assurance Salary Benchmarking in Medtech
We’re pleased to share our Quality Assurance Medtech Salary Benchmarking Report, featuring 2026/27 industry data on compensation trends & salary benchmarks from Senior Consultant, Hayley Shayestehroo.
The Quality Assurance market is now moving into a more established phase. The rapid salary growth seen across 2021 and 2022 has moderated, hiring activity has become more considered, and benefits are increasingly aligned with recognised market standards.
For employers, this creates a new challenge. With many organisations offering broadly comparable salaries and benefits, simply increasing compensation is no longer enough to differentiate. Attracting and retaining strong talent increasingly depends on a well-rounded and carefully considered employee proposition.
With salary growth moderating and benefits converging around market norms, employers must focus on the wider employee proposition to differentiate their offering and attract and retain high-quality talent.
US Quality Assurance
Salary Benchmark
A practical compensation guide for hiring Quality Assurance professionals across US medical-device, diagnostics and medtech companies.
Indicative base salary benchmarks for permanent hires. Figures are recruiter market estimates informed by current public compensation data and live US hiring activity.
- Base salary
- Typical annual bonus
- Regional pay pressure
- Skill premiums
- Equity valuation
- Sign-on awards
- Long-term incentives
- Highly bespoke executive packages
| Level | Estimated Base Salary | Range | Typical Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality Specialist / Engineer | $75,000 – $100,000 | $75k – $100k |
0–10% |
| Senior Quality Specialist / Engineer | $95,000 – $120,000 | $95k – $120k |
5–12% |
| Quality Manager | $115,000 – $145,000 | $115k – $145k |
10–15% |
| Senior Quality Manager | $140,000 – $170,000 | $140k – $170k |
12–20% |
| Associate Director, Quality | $160,000 – $195,000 | $160k – $195k |
15–25% |
| Director, Quality Assurance | $185,000 – $225,000 | $185k – $225k |
20–30% |
| Senior Director / Head of Quality | $210,000 – $250,000 | $210k – $250k |
25–35% |
| Executive Director, Quality | $240,000 – $290,000 | $240k – $290k |
30–40% |
| VP, Quality | $275,000 – $335,000+ | $275k – $335k+ |
30–45%+ |
These ranges intentionally overlap. In life sciences, role scope often matters more than title alone — particularly from Senior Manager through Director level.
Strong medtech and diagnostics market, with competition from biotech and pharma for adjacent regulatory/quality skill sets.
Large healthcare and device employer base; senior and corporate roles can price close to Northeast biotech benchmarks.
Broad device, diagnostics and healthcare manufacturing footprint with moderate-to-strong senior-level demand.
Often lower-cost than coastal hubs, but onsite manufacturing and niche technical requirements can narrow the discount.
California is a major device, digital health and diagnostics market. Bay Area and Southern California can both attract a premium.
FDA Quality System Regulation / QMSR readiness
ISO 13485 leadership
Design Quality and Design Controls
Supplier Quality in complex supply chains
CAPA and remediation leadership
FDA inspection and warning-letter remediation
Class III / implantable devices
Software Quality / SaMD
Combination products
Post-market quality and complaint systems
Building or transforming a global Quality system
- Direct FDA ownership
- Scarce specialist expertise
- Commercialisation or approval track record
- Function-building or broad leadership scope
- High-cost location / onsite requirement
- Multiple competing offers
- Development opportunity within role
- Narrower product or team scope
- Strong equity or bonus trade-off
- Remote flexibility
- Candidate stepping into first role at that level
- Lower-cost regional market
Need a role-specific benchmark?
Carrot can provide a tailored benchmark against the exact location, company stage, reporting line, technical requirements and live candidate availability for your upcoming hire.
