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The differences between lead software quality assurances 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 a lead software quality assurance and a quality assurance tester. Additionally, a lead software quality assurance has an average salary of $107,134, which is higher than the $74,140 average annual salary of a quality assurance tester.
The top three skills for a lead software quality assurance include QA, python and java. The most important skills for a quality assurance tester are manual test cases, regression, and test scripts.
| Lead Software Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $107,134 | $74,140 |
| Hourly rate | $51.51 | $35.64 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 265,749 | 82,396 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A Lead Software Quality Assurance is responsible for the management and organization of quality testing. Their job is to ensure that a project will have a successful promotion by providing quality software and testing a different product to ensure that it is according to the guidelines. They are also involved in finding a solution to conflicts between two other teams, creating a strategy that will eventually give way to more opportunities for the company, give motivational advice to the team, and then evaluate them.
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.
Lead software quality assurances and quality assurance testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Software Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average salary | $107,134 | $74,140 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $138,000 | Between $55,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | Maryland |
| Best paying company | Apple | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Finance |
There are a few differences between a lead software quality assurance and a quality assurance tester in terms of educational background:
| Lead Software Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | 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 lead software quality assurances' and quality assurance testers' demographics:
| Lead Software Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.1% Female, 31.9% | 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% |