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The differences between principal test engineers and quality assurance analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a principal test engineer and a quality assurance analyst. Additionally, a principal test engineer has an average salary of $116,493, which is higher than the $73,532 average annual salary of a quality assurance analyst.
The top three skills for a principal test engineer include python, C++ and java. The most important skills for a quality assurance analyst are QA, regression, and manual test cases.
| Principal Test Engineer | Quality Assurance Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $116,493 | $73,532 |
| Hourly rate | $56.01 | $35.35 |
| Growth rate | 3% | - |
| Number of jobs | 96,539 | 108,078 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Principal Test Engineers test automation tools and frameworks like Selenium, Appium, and Ranorex. They make sure that the software their companies offer is safe and reliable for consumer use. Being a principal test engineer requires testing to influence better software design, promoting good engineering practice, security, testability, scalability, drafting bug prevention strategies, and reliability. They are responsible for defining test goals, preparing and executing system-level functional tests, providing new project forecasts based on the provided information, and improving the current test solutions by reducing the test time, repeat tests, and yield analysis.
Quality Administrators are responsible for managing the quality processes of an organization. Their duties include creating data collection processes, conducting data cleansing, tracks quality milestones, and develop training programs for internal teams. They undertake daily audits, work with the quality coordinator to determine root cause, and assist with feedback and complaints. Quality administrators also write daily reports for purchase orders that are overdue, open service jobs, quotations needing to follow up, unconfirmed hires, and processed sales orders.
Principal test engineers and quality assurance analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Principal Test Engineer | Quality Assurance Analyst | |
| Average salary | $116,493 | $73,532 |
| Salary range | Between $84,000 And $159,000 | Between $57,000 And $93,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Retail |
There are a few differences between a principal test engineer and a quality assurance analyst in terms of educational background:
| Principal Test Engineer | Quality Assurance Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between principal test engineers' and quality assurance analysts' demographics:
| Principal Test Engineer | Quality Assurance Analyst | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.8% Female, 10.2% | Male, 48.9% Female, 51.1% |
| 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% |