How to become a quality assurance and regulatory professional
Official title: Quality assurance and regulatory professionals
Also called: Head of quality, Quality manager, Regulatory adviser, Regulatory associate, Regulatory executive, Quality control manager, Quality systems manager, Head of quality assurance, Quality assurance manager, Regulatory affairs analyst, Regulatory affairs manager, Regulatory affairs officer
Quality assurance and regulatory professionals plan, organise, co-ordinate and direct the effective measurement monitoring and reporting on the qualitative and regulatory aspects of a specified tangible (industrial production) or non-tangible (service provision) output.
Main tasks
- Develops and implements visual, physical, functional or other appropriate measures and tests of quality
- Analyses and reports upon the results of quality control tests to ensure that production remains within specification
- Considers the impact of legislation upon specification requirements
- Examines current operating procedures to determine how quality may be improved
- Examines operating procedures to ensure the process and the product meet regulatory standards and implements changes necessary to ensure compliance
How to become one
Entry normally requires a degree or equivalent qualification with relevant experience. Off and on-the-job training is available. A variety of vocational qualifications that encompass quality assurance elements are available at up to level 4.
Ways in
- Apprenticeship (England): Public sector compliance investigator and officer (level 3). England. Typically 18 months. Skills England standard ST0708.
- Apprenticeship (England): Quality practitioner (level 4). England. Typically 14 months. Skills England standard ST0853.
- Apprenticeship (England): Regulatory compliance officer (level 4). England. Typically 24 months. Skills England standard ST0430.
- Apprenticeship (England): Senior compliance and risk specialist (level 6). England. Typically 36 months. Skills England standard ST0363.
- University: Health & Public Health degrees, Offered by 23 universities in the UK
Pay · Outlook
- Median full-time pay: £50,083 a year The middle half earn £37,854 to £67,255.
- About 124,000 people work in this job now, and about 139,100 are projected by 2035. (+12.2%)
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Questions people ask
How do I become a quality assurance and regulatory professional?
Entry normally requires a degree or equivalent qualification with relevant experience. Off and on-the-job training is available. A variety of vocational qualifications that encompass quality assurance elements are available at up to level 4.
How much does a quality assurance and regulatory professional earn in the UK?
Median full-time pay is £50,083 a year (Office for National Statistics). The middle half earn £37,854 to £67,255.
Is a quality assurance and regulatory professional a growing career in the UK?
Yes. Employment is projected to grow 12% by 2035, from about 124,000 to about 139,100 people (Department for Education).
Do you need a degree to become a quality assurance and regulatory professional?
Usually. 61% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Updated 2026-10-03
Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.