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The differences between quality assurances and quality management specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a quality assurance, becoming a quality management specialist takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a quality management specialist has an average salary of $70,819, which is higher than the $51,313 average annual salary of a quality assurance.
The top three skills for a quality assurance include test cases, food handling and java. The most important skills for a quality management specialist are healthcare, quality improvement, and patients.
| Quality Assurance | Quality Management Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $51,313 | $70,819 |
| Hourly rate | $24.67 | $34.05 |
| Growth rate | - | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 69,366 | 128,494 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 44 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
The primary role of quality assurance specialists is to inspect the quality system's implementation and perform quality assurance audits. They are responsible for monitoring and recording results from procedures and processes within manufacturing industries. They are also responsible for some other tasks, including keeping up-to-date manufacturing and auditing documentation, training less experienced QA team members, and creating standard operating procedures. To be a quality assurance specialist, you must have a high school diploma, organizational skills, and strong attention to detail.
In the manufacturing industry, a quality management specialist is in charge of implementing and overseeing quality management procedures, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities typically include gathering and analyzing data to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current operations, developing new strategies to optimize procedures, creating new quality assurance methods, maintaining records of transactions, and coordinating the workforce. Furthermore, as a quality management specialist, it is essential to implement solutions while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
Quality assurances and quality management specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance | Quality Management Specialist | |
| Average salary | $51,313 | $70,819 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $92,000 | Between $48,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | Cupertino, CA | Palo Alto, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | SAP |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance and a quality management specialist in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance | Quality Management Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Business | Nursing |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between quality assurances' and quality management specialists' demographics:
| Quality Assurance | Quality Management Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.8% Female, 44.2% | Male, 36.9% Female, 63.1% |
| 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, 3.9% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.3% Asian, 9.2% White, 69.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 8% |