Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between performance test leads and quality assurance specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a performance test lead and a quality assurance specialist. Additionally, a performance test lead has an average salary of $96,573, which is higher than the $63,443 average annual salary of a quality assurance specialist.
The top three skills for a performance test lead include java, provide management and test scenarios. The most important skills for a quality assurance specialist are GMP, patients, and FDA.
| Performance Test Lead | Quality Assurance Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $96,573 | $63,443 |
| Hourly rate | $46.43 | $30.50 |
| Growth rate | - | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 42,925 | 83,505 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Performance test lead positions require a high school diploma or GED and generally pay around $79K per year. This position calls on individuals who have a clear understanding of business needs and possessing skills in test development, design, and data management. Performance test leads oversee all test activity for given projects, partner with stakeholders to ensure effective planning and definition of requirements, and analyze requirements.
A quality assurance specialist is an individual who is responsible for monitoring, inspecting, and proposing measures to correct and improve a company's product. Quality assurance specialists need to outline quality assurance policies and procedures, making sure that quality standards are assured. It is important that a quality assurance specialist should have strong attention to detail and is excellent in data collection. This work may require a minimum of bachelor's degree and certification to get certified.
Performance test leads and quality assurance specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Performance Test Lead | Quality Assurance Specialist | |
| Average salary | $96,573 | $63,443 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $124,000 | Between $41,000 And $97,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | NVIDIA | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Transportation | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between a performance test lead and a quality assurance specialist in terms of educational background:
| Performance Test Lead | Quality Assurance Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between performance test leads' and quality assurance specialists' demographics:
| Performance Test Lead | Quality Assurance Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 67.5% Female, 32.5% | Male, 42.8% Female, 57.2% |
| 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% |