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The differences between managers, software quality assurance and quality assurance engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a manager, software quality assurance and a quality assurance engineer. Additionally, a manager, software quality assurance has an average salary of $122,736, which is higher than the $82,215 average annual salary of a quality assurance engineer.
The top three skills for a manager, software quality assurance include software quality, software development and test cases. The most important skills for a quality assurance engineer are java, python, and regression.
| Manager, Software Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $122,736 | $82,215 |
| Hourly rate | $59.01 | $39.53 |
| Growth rate | 21% | - |
| Number of jobs | 108,570 | 243,536 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Software Quality Assurance Managers are responsible for overseeing the entire development process of software in ensuring they comply with the organization's standards. Their duties include implementing test case documentation, conducting a document risk analysis, recording test results, perform automated test coding, determine product quality benchmarks, and streamlining testing processes. Besides that, they are involved in identifying software bugs, discovering user problems, assessing product features, analyzing user interface functionality, and researching new technologies.
A Quality Assurance Engineer's role is to oversee the overall production and ensure that the product is cost-efficient and aligns with the company's standards. The responsibility mainly revolves around conducting activities that examine and scrutinize the condition of a product or service to identify issues and come up with possible solutions to resolve the issue or attain stronger customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the Quality Assurance Engineer must also ensure that the product adheres to the government regulations and market guidelines.
Managers, software quality assurance and quality assurance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Manager, Software Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $122,736 | $82,215 |
| Salary range | Between $92,000 And $163,000 | Between $61,000 And $109,000 |
| Highest paying City | Napa, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Technology |
There are a few differences between a manager, software quality assurance and a quality assurance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Manager, Software Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between managers, software quality assurance' and quality assurance engineers' demographics:
| Manager, Software Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 73.0% Female, 27.0% | Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5% |
| 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% |