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The differences between lead software quality assurances and software 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 software tester. Additionally, a lead software quality assurance has an average salary of $107,134, which is higher than the $78,580 average annual salary of a software tester.
The top three skills for a lead software quality assurance include QA, python and java. The most important skills for a software tester are test results, regression, and test scripts.
| Lead Software Quality Assurance | Software Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $107,134 | $78,580 |
| Hourly rate | $51.51 | $37.78 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 265,749 | 208,853 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| 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.
The responsibility of software testers involves the quality assurance of software development and deployment. Software testers conduct manual and automated tests to make sure that the software is developed for its purpose. They remove the issues and bugs within a product before deployment to users. Their responsibilities include software and systems analysis, risk mitigation, and software-related issue prevention. They should have skills in automation, programming, social networking, logical thinking, and mobile and web technology.
Lead software quality assurances and software testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Software Quality Assurance | Software Tester | |
| Average salary | $107,134 | $78,580 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $138,000 | Between $61,000 And $100,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | Apple | Nordstrom |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Technology |
There are a few differences between a lead software quality assurance and a software tester in terms of educational background:
| Lead Software Quality Assurance | Software Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| 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 software testers' demographics:
| Lead Software Quality Assurance | Software Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.1% Female, 31.9% | Male, 62.1% Female, 37.9% |
| 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% |