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The differences between quality assurance engineers 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 quality assurance engineer and a quality assurance specialist. Additionally, a quality assurance engineer has an average salary of $82,215, which is higher than the $63,443 average annual salary of a quality assurance specialist.
The top three skills for a quality assurance engineer include java, python and regression. The most important skills for a quality assurance specialist are GMP, patients, and FDA.
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Assurance Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $82,215 | $63,443 |
| Hourly rate | $39.53 | $30.50 |
| Growth rate | - | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 243,536 | 83,505 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A Quality Assurance Engineer's role is to oversee the overall production and ensure that the product is cost-efficient and aligns with the company's standards. The responsibility mainly revolves around conducting activities that examine and scrutinize the condition of a product or service to identify issues and come up with possible solutions to resolve the issue or attain stronger customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the Quality Assurance Engineer must also ensure that the product adheres to the government regulations and market guidelines.
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.
Quality assurance engineers and quality assurance specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Assurance Specialist | |
| Average salary | $82,215 | $63,443 |
| Salary range | Between $61,000 And $109,000 | Between $41,000 And $97,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance engineer and a quality assurance specialist in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Assurance Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between quality assurance engineers' and quality assurance specialists' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Assurance Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5% | 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% |