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The differences between quality assurance engineers 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 engineer and a senior quality assurance engineer. Additionally, a senior quality assurance engineer has an average salary of $106,802, which is higher than the $82,215 average annual salary of a quality assurance engineer.
The top three skills for a quality assurance engineer include java, python and regression. The most important skills for a senior quality assurance engineer are QA, java, and python.
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $82,215 | $106,802 |
| Hourly rate | $39.53 | $51.35 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 243,536 | 254,258 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| 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 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 engineers and senior quality assurance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $82,215 | $106,802 |
| Salary range | Between $61,000 And $109,000 | Between $82,000 And $138,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance engineer and a senior quality assurance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | 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 engineers' and senior quality assurance engineers' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Engineer | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5% | 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% |