Quality Assurance Specialist

Location: Remote (U.S. only, excluding Alaska and Hawaii)

Job Type: Full-time

About Us 🔗

Innolitics is a remote-first medical device consultancy that brings software engineering, AI/ML validation, cybersecurity, regulatory affairs, and quality management together on one team. Since 2012, we've helped 70+ medical devices reach market, including 50+ FDA clearances. Learn how we take devices from concept to clearance.

We're hiring a Quality Assurance Specialist to lead implementations of Medtech OS—our Notion-based quality management system—and provide ongoing quality services to medical device companies, especially teams developing software and AI/ML-enabled devices.

You'll help clients turn quality requirements into practical, sustainable ways of working. Engagements include building a QMS from the ground up, remediating an existing QMS, implementing Medtech OS, training client teams, and providing ongoing support for day-to-day quality activities.

You may support submission-related projects only where they intersect with the QMS, including design controls, risk management, software lifecycle processes, and audit-ready quality records, but this role is focused on the quality side of things. If you’re interested largely in the regulatory side, please apply to one of our other positions.

This position is fully remote, with 3–4 trips per year, including client or conference travel and our annual company retreat.

What You'll Do 🔗

  • Lead Medtech OS implementations — Assess each client's current state, define the QMS scope, develop an implementation plan, configure the system, coordinate content migration, and guide the team through launch.
  • Build and remediate quality systems — Develop and implement practical policies, SOPs, work instructions, and records aligned with ISO 13485 and FDA quality system requirements.
  • Implement core QMS processes — Support design and development controls, risk management, cybersecurity, document and change control, training, supplier controls, purchasing, production, distribution, complaints and feedback, CAPA, management review, internal audits, monitoring and measurement, mandatory reporting, recalls, and quality planning.
  • Create audit-ready quality records — Help clients establish and maintain quality manuals, roles and responsibilities matrices, training matrices and records, approved supplier lists and qualifications, document change orders, internal audit schedules, Design and Development Files (DDF), Device Master Records (DMR), and Device History Records (DHR).
  • Train and enable client teams — Lead working sessions, provide role-based training, answer day-to-day questions, and help clients adopt consistent quality practices rather than treating the QMS as a set of static documents.
  • Provide ongoing quality services — Support internal audits, management reviews, design changes, CAPAs, supplier qualifications, complaint handling, reportable-event assessments, post-market activities, and inspection readiness.
  • Perform assessments and remediation — Conduct FDA and ISO 13485 gap assessments, prioritize findings, develop remediation plans, and help clients close gaps with appropriate evidence.
  • Manage client engagements — Run meetings, set agendas, maintain implementation plans, communicate risks and decisions, and translate quality requirements into clear actions for technical and executive audiences.
  • Improve Medtech OS — Capture client and team feedback, identify bugs and workflow gaps, and collaborate with our software and quality teams to improve templates, usability, and implementation methods.
  • Support regulatory work through the QMS — Coordinate with regulatory and engineering colleagues when submission projects require quality-system processes or records, without owning regulatory strategy or submission preparation.
  • Mentor quality team members and review work for clarity, consistency, and compliance.

What We're Looking For 🔗

  • 3+ years of experience in medical device quality assurance or quality systems, including hands-on responsibility for implementing, operating, or remediating a QMS.
  • Experience completing at least one FDA inspection.
  • Strong working knowledge of ISO 13485 and FDA medical device quality system requirements.
  • Demonstrated experience with several core quality processes, such as document control, training, supplier quality, design controls, risk management, CAPA, complaints, internal audits, and management reviews.
  • Experience leading an eQMS implementation, QMS migration, or major quality-system improvement project is a benefit.
  • Ability to lead client engagements independently, manage multiple workstreams, and communicate effectively with both technical and executive audiences.
  • Excellent quality writing—clear, precise, practical, and appropriately documented.
  • Strong judgment about how to scale processes to a company's size, product, development stage, and risk profile without sacrificing compliance.
  • Experience preparing for or supporting FDA inspections, ISO 13485 certification audits, or MDSAP audits.
  • Familiarity with software and Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) development, including IEC 62304 and ISO 14971. Experience with AI/ML-enabled devices is a plus.
  • Comfort learning and configuring software tools. Experience with Notion or another eQMS platform is a plus.
  • Consulting experience and a track record of training or mentoring client teams are strongly preferred.
  • An ASQ certification, ISO 13485 auditor credential, or advanced degree in a relevant field is a plus but not required.
  • Regulatory submission experience is not required; this role is centered on QMS implementation and ongoing quality support.

What We Offer 🔗

  • Competitive base salary ($100,000 – $120,000) depending on experience, including depth of medical device QMS implementation, consulting, and eQMS expertise
  • 10% performance-based bonus
  • Fully remote work with flexible hours
  • Comprehensive PTO package
  • Partial healthcare reimbursement and automatic 3% contribution to a 401(k) retirement plan
  • Vision and dental plan with reimbursement
  • Annual company retreat for team building and collaboration

How to Apply 🔗

Use the Apply Now button below to submit your resume and cover letter. Your cover letter should be three or four short paragraphs explaining why this position in particular interests you and why you're a great fit.

In the cover letter, briefly explain:

  1. Why this role interests you
  2. One QMS or eQMS implementation or remediation engagement you led and the outcome
  3. How you make a quality system both compliant and practical for the people using it

What Happens Next 🔗

We'll review your application and contact strong matches. The process includes interviews, a short take-home exercise, and two reference checks.

Ready to apply? 🔗

Send your resume and cover letter.

Apply Now

What the job looks like

The work, day to day.

The posting above lists what we look for. This part shows the work itself: the disciplines you own and the tasks you do at each stage of a project. Read it and decide whether you would enjoy doing this work.

  • Knows

    Quality

    You can do every task in this lane yourself and lead others through it.

  • Aware of

    Regulatory

    You know what this lane produces, when your work depends on it, and whom to ask.

As a quality assurance specialist: Knows: does the work and leads it Aware of: knows what to ask and who to ask Other teams

Scroll sideways to see all eight stages.

Discipline
Stage 1
Kickoff and plan
Month 0–1
Stage 2
Study design and pre-sub
Months 1–4
Stage 3
Risks and requirements
Months 2–4
Stage 4
Build sprints
Months 4–14
Stage 5
Verification
Months 14–16
Stage 6
Validation and submission
Months 16–17
Stage 7
FDA review
About 5 months
Stage 8
After clearance
Ongoing
Quality Stage 1 · Kickoff and plan · Month 0–1

Decide whose QMS.

Quality agreement. DHF template, QMS roles, training. Start the supplier list.

For a quality assurance specialist: Knows

Who you work with

Settle whose QMS governs the work with regulatory and the client before kickoff ends. Train engineering on the procedures they will be audited against.

Open the task page: decisions, examples, articles

Your lane, stage by stage

What you own on a concept-to-clearance project.

Each stage lists the quality work, the decisions you make, and the one conversation with another discipline that most often decides whether the stage goes well.

  1. Kickoff and plan · Month 0–1

    Choosing the quality system and setting up the design history file

    Before design work starts, the team decides which quality management system the project runs under: the manufacturer's own, the development partner's, or a new one built for the device. A quality agreement then records which party carries each quality system obligation. The design history file is started from a template, quality system roles are assigned in the development plan, the team is trained on the procedures it will follow, and an approved supplier list is opened.

    Decisions you make:

    • Whose QMS does the design work run under?
    • What goes in the quality agreement?
    • Who holds which role, and who is independent?
    • Which suppliers go on the list on day one?

    How each decision is made: Choosing the quality system and setting up the design history file

  2. Study design and pre-sub · Months 1–4

    Putting design inputs and study suppliers under control

    Once the intended use and study design are settled, the requirements, user needs and the datasets they depend on are reviewed, approved and placed under document control. From that point every change goes through change control. In parallel, the suppliers who will produce evidence are qualified: data providers, the annotation platform, annotators and reader sites. Their selection criteria, training and contracts are recorded before the work begins.

    Decisions you make:

    • When do the design inputs get frozen into controlled documents?
    • How is the test data protected as a design input?
    • What does qualifying an annotation or reader supplier involve?
    • Which data suppliers need a formal agreement?

    How each decision is made: Putting design inputs and study suppliers under control

  3. Risks and requirements · Months 2–4

    Approving the risk plan and checking traceability

    Quality approves the risk management plan, which fixes the severity and probability scales, the acceptability matrix and the criteria for residual risk before risk analysis begins. As requirements and risk controls are written, quality checks that each risk control traces to a requirement and each requirement traces to a verification protocol. The phase 1 design review closes the stage, with at least one reviewer who did not do the work.

    Decisions you make:

    • Where are the acceptability lines drawn?
    • What does a traceability check look for?
    • Who counts as independent at the phase 1 review?
    • What has to be true before the review passes?

    How each decision is made: Approving the risk plan and checking traceability

  4. Build sprints · Months 4–14

    Controlling change during build sprints

    During build sprints every code change goes through a pull request that a second engineer reviews against a checklist before it merges, and automated tests must pass first. Problems found along the way go into an anomaly log with a link to risk. A short design review at the end of each sprint confirms that requirements, design documents and tests moved with the code. Training records show each person was trained on the procedures before doing the work.

    Decisions you make:

    • What does the code reviewer have to check?
    • Who reviews high-risk code?
    • When does a bug become a logged anomaly?
    • How heavy is the per-sprint design review?

    How each decision is made: Controlling change during build sprints

  5. Verification · Months 14–16

    Controlled verification records

    Quality makes sure every verification protocol is reviewed and approved, with pass and fail criteria fixed, before anyone runs it. During execution, quality records who ran each test, on which software version and on what date. Every failed test or deviation gets a written disposition, and any code change it causes gets a regression analysis. The exact build that passed is then archived so it can be rebuilt and inspected later.

    Decisions you make:

    • Is a protocol ready to execute?
    • What happens when a test fails or a step cannot be followed as written?
    • How much regression testing does a late fix need?
    • Which build counts as verified?

    How each decision is made: Controlled verification records

  6. Validation and submission · Months 16–17

    Final design review and DHF audit

    After validation, quality runs the final design review. The team confirms that verification and validation are complete, residual risk is acceptable, and the release build and its labeling are ready to be handed to production. For software, design transfer means the build, installation instructions and labeling move under release control. Quality then audits the design history file against the development plan and collects the approval signatures, including the truthful and accurate statement for the submission.

    Decisions you make:

    • Who sits on the final design review?
    • Is the design history file complete?
    • What does design transfer mean for software with no factory?
    • Can open review items wait until after submission?

    How each decision is made: Final design review and DHF audit

  7. FDA review · About 5 months

    Change control during FDA review

    Deficiency responses often change software, labeling or test protocols. Quality makes sure each change goes through the same change control as any other release, with a new version number, regression analysis, re-verification and updated design documents. While FDA reviews the file, quality also stands up the processes the company needs before it can legally sell, such as complaint handling, CAPA and medical device reporting.

    Decisions you make:

    • Does a deficiency response need a new software release?
    • Which tests must be re-run?
    • Which version gets cleared and shipped?
    • How much of the QMS must run before launch?

    How each decision is made: Change control during FDA review

  8. After clearance · Ongoing

    Postmarket quality system

    After clearance the manufacturer registers its establishment, lists the device, and issues a unique device identifier for each software build. Quality then runs the routine processes FDA inspects: complaint files, medical device reporting, CAPA, change assessment for each release, internal audits and management review. These processes produce the evidence that the cleared device is still the one being shipped and that field problems are found and acted on.

    Decisions you make:

    • How is a UDI applied to software with no physical label?
    • Is this complaint reportable?
    • When does a problem become a CAPA?
    • Does a release need a new 510(k)?

    How each decision is made: Postmarket quality system

Work you follow.

You follow the regulatory tasks closely enough to know when your work depends on them.

Ready to apply? 🔗

Send your resume and cover letter.

Apply Now
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