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The differences between engineers lead quality assurance lead and quality assurance testers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an engineer lead quality assurance lead and a quality assurance tester. Additionally, an engineer lead quality assurance lead has an average salary of $110,007, which is higher than the $74,140 average annual salary of a quality assurance tester.
The top three skills for an engineer lead quality assurance lead include java, jira and regression. The most important skills for a quality assurance tester are manual test cases, regression, and test scripts.
| Engineer Lead Quality Assurance Lead | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $110,007 | $74,140 |
| Hourly rate | $52.89 | $35.64 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 278,178 | 82,396 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Engineer Lead Quality Assurance Leads are responsible for managing the designing and operations of hardware or software testing. Their duties include developing testing plans, implement risk mitigation strategies, communicate process improvements to cross-teams such as marketing and engineering, resolve the conflict between teams, and ensures product or software adheres to the organization and industry standards. They are also involved in reviewing technical design and specification, setting performance targets, and writing progress reports for management updates.
A quality assurance tester, also known as QA tester, has different responsibilities depending on the line of work or industry involved. In a computer development setting, they are in charge of working and coordinating with technical engineers. They have to conduct regular tests for new software and programs, identify inconsistencies, and find areas for improvement. Furthermore, a quality assurance tester must produce reports from the tests, which can be the basis of progress for further developments.
Engineers lead quality assurance lead and quality assurance testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Engineer Lead Quality Assurance Lead | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average salary | $110,007 | $74,140 |
| Salary range | Between $85,000 And $142,000 | Between $55,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Maryland |
| Best paying company | Meta | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Finance |
There are a few differences between an engineer lead quality assurance lead and a quality assurance tester in terms of educational background:
| Engineer Lead Quality Assurance Lead | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between engineers lead quality assurance lead' and quality assurance testers' demographics:
| Engineer Lead Quality Assurance Lead | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.8% Female, 31.2% | Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |