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The differences between quality assurance developers and quality assurance leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a quality assurance developer and a quality assurance lead. Additionally, a quality assurance lead has an average salary of $94,758, which is higher than the $91,359 average annual salary of a quality assurance developer.
The top three skills for a quality assurance developer include python, QA and java. The most important skills for a quality assurance lead are QA, test cases, and test plan.
| Quality Assurance Developer | Quality Assurance Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $91,359 | $94,758 |
| Hourly rate | $43.92 | $45.56 |
| Growth rate | 21% | - |
| Number of jobs | 175,658 | 82,242 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A quality assurance developer creates well-structured, comprehensive, and detailed test cases, test plans, and test strategies. They develop and implement test automated test cases and automation frameworks. Besides setting automation creation and maintenance targets, a quality assurance developer also designs, creates, and executes automation scripts. Moreover, quality assurance developers review technical design documents, requirements, and specifications to deliver timely and useful feedback. Finally, quality assurance developers monitor all software development stages to note, track and solve all system and application issues so as to meet the required quality standards.
A quality assurance lead, also known as QA Lead, is responsible for conducting necessary quality tests and analyses for software program and development. As a quality assurance lead, they must take the lead in ensuring quality during development by proactively performing critical evaluations, troubleshooting, and providing precise documentation. It is also essential to identify issues and resolve them as soon as possible. Furthermore, a quality assurance lead must maintain an active line of communication and coordination as most of the work will be in a team setting.
Quality assurance developers and quality assurance leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Developer | Quality Assurance Lead | |
| Average salary | $91,359 | $94,758 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $121,000 | Between $72,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | NVIDIA | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Retail |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance developer and a quality assurance lead in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Developer | Quality Assurance Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between quality assurance developers' and quality assurance leads' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Developer | Quality Assurance Lead | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.3% Female, 30.7% | Male, 63.0% Female, 37.0% |
| 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% |