Quality assurance administrator vs laboratory manager

The differences between quality assurance administrators and laboratory managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a quality assurance administrator and a laboratory manager. Additionally, a laboratory manager has an average salary of $74,314, which is higher than the $48,923 average annual salary of a quality assurance administrator.

The top three skills for a quality assurance administrator include management system, ISO and data entry. The most important skills for a laboratory manager are lab equipment, patients, and customer service.

Quality assurance administrator vs laboratory manager overview

	Quality Assurance Administrator	Laboratory Manager
Yearly salary	$48,923	$74,314
Hourly rate	$23.52	$35.73
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	111,465	43,321
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	6	6

What does a quality assurance administrator do?

A quality assurance administrator oversees the daily operations of the QA branch of a company. The QA team's main task is to ensure all products or services provided by the company meet the standards prescribed by management and customer feedback. Aside from this, the QA team makes sure that all company output meets government standards, policies, and regulations. The quality assurance administrator must handle all personnel under the department effectively and accomplish each daily task consistently.

What does a laboratory manager do?

Laboratory managers provide accurate laboratory diagnosis through evaluating specimen procedures and coordinating with pathologists to validate laboratory findings. They are responsible for maintaining laboratory tools and equipment, ensuring the proper sterilization of instruments before and after use, organizing equipment based on its function, and immediately repairing or replacing defective items. A laboratory manager also secures the confidentiality of laboratory systems, keeping records of results, and releasing information to the appropriate personnel. Laboratory managers must have a broad knowledge of the scientific industry, as well as excellent analytical and critical-thinking skills.

Quality assurance administrator vs laboratory manager salary

Quality assurance administrators and laboratory managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Quality Assurance Administrator	Laboratory Manager
Average salary	$48,923	$74,314
Salary range	Between $32,000 And $72,000	Between $49,000 And $111,000
Highest paying City	Urban Honolulu, HI	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Hawaii
Best paying company	FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies	Meta
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Pharmaceutical

Differences between quality assurance administrator and laboratory manager education

There are a few differences between a quality assurance administrator and a laboratory manager in terms of educational background:

	Quality Assurance Administrator	Laboratory Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Business	Biology
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Quality assurance administrator vs laboratory manager demographics

Here are the differences between quality assurance administrators' and laboratory managers' demographics:

	Quality Assurance Administrator	Laboratory Manager
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 36.7% Female, 63.3%	Male, 58.4% Female, 41.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 9.2% White, 69.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 70.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between quality assurance administrator and laboratory manager duties and responsibilities

Quality assurance administrator example responsibilities.

Design and manage fixed asset systems; create weekly managers reports monitoring KPI.
Assist with implementing new Vivaldi QMS system and integrate all plant documents into new system and manage new system when complete.
Lead cross functional project team to build user-friendly windows base customer support applications which interface with the OmniPlan/OmniPlus mainframe application.
Prepare reports using ProClarity for outstanding CAPA cases and tasks.
Participate in audits supporting GMP areas through an in-house training program.
Host GMP/GLP inspections and customer audits for market products and services and associate CAPA management.

Laboratory manager example responsibilities.

Lead laboratory investigations, OOS, deviations, change controls and CAPA.
Manage daily personnel challenges, assist with marketing and maintain appropriate standards and regulations per JCAHO, DNV.
Manage staff and oversee FDA guidelines and regulations for pharmaceutical research
Initiate and manage successful in-house design and implementation of network base LIMS database.
Manage curriculum development, authore and publish lab manuals in physiology and ecology.
Manage daily laboratory operations including personnel, client consulting, analyses and adherence to GLP protocols.

Quality assurance administrator vs laboratory manager skills

Common quality assurance administrator skills

Management System, 10%
ISO, 9%
Data Entry, 8%
Corrective Action, 7%
FDA, 5%
Internal Audit, 5%

Common laboratory manager skills

Lab Equipment, 12%
Patients, 9%
Customer Service, 7%
Chemistry, 6%
Clinical Laboratory, 5%
Lab Safety, 5%

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Quality Assurance Administrator
Quality Assurance Administrator vs Laboratory Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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