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The differences between quality assurance developers and senior 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 quality assurance developer and a senior quality assurance engineer. Additionally, a senior quality assurance engineer has an average salary of $106,802, 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 senior quality assurance engineer are QA, java, and python.
| Quality Assurance Developer | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $91,359 | $106,802 |
| Hourly rate | $43.92 | $51.35 |
| Growth rate | 21% | - |
| Number of jobs | 175,658 | 254,258 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| 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 senior quality assurance engineer oversees the testing procedures conducted in software development, ensuring technical accuracy and efficiency. They are primarily responsible for working alongside software designers and quality engineers, reviewing quality control reports, inspecting specifications, and devising particular test procedures. Moreover, it is also essential to troubleshoot issues and identify any inconsistencies or bugs. As someone with more experience in the team, they must supervise and serve as a mentor to the younger quality assurance engineers in the joint effort to develop efficient software.
Quality assurance developers and senior quality assurance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Developer | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $91,359 | $106,802 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $121,000 | Between $82,000 And $138,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | NVIDIA | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance developer and a senior quality assurance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Developer | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| 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 senior quality assurance engineers' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Developer | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.3% Female, 30.7% | Male, 68.0% Female, 32.0% |
| 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% |