We have all witnessed the consequences of quality failures. The explosion of NASA Shuttle Challenger, resulting in the death of all 7 astronauts. The BP Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, resulting in 4 million oil barrels leaking into the Mexican Gulf. Although quality assurance does not seem to be discussed in shareholder's meetings, it should remain at the forefront of how a company leads an operation.
The primary role of a quality assurance lead is to oversee the testing of a product or service to ensure adherence to industry and the organization's standards. They are involved in developing testing plans, creating risk mitigation strategies, and liaising with the product team in suggesting process improvements.
Different industries will require different degrees for a quality assurance lead. For example, working in a food production facility will require a science-related degree, whereas working to maintain the TikTok platform will require an IT degree. A quality assurance lead earns an average of $39 per hour and generally works 40 hours a week.
What is a Quality Assurance Lead?
What Does a Quality Assurance Lead Do
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a quality assurance lead, we found that a lot of resumes listed 26.9% of quality assurance leads included test scripts, while 8.6% of resumes included qa, and 6.1% of resumes included business process. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
How To Become a Quality Assurance Lead
If you're interested in becoming a quality assurance lead, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 64.7% of quality assurance leads have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 19.3% of quality assurance leads have master's degrees. Even though most quality assurance leads have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Quality Assurance Lead Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a quality assurance lead can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as quality assurance manager, progress to a title such as project manager and then eventually end up with the title senior product manager.
Average Salary for a Quality Assurance Lead
What Am I Worth?
Top Colleges for Quality Assurance Leads
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA • Private
2. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
3. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
4. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
5. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
6. Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA • Private
7. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
8. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
9. Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH • Private
10. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Choose From 10+ Customizable Quality Assurance Lead Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Quality Assurance Lead templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Quality Assurance Lead resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Quality Assurance Lead Demographics
Quality Assurance Lead Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among quality assurance leads, 37.0% of them are women, while 63.0% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among quality assurance leads is White, which makes up 71.1% of all quality assurance leads.
- The most common foreign language among quality assurance leads is Spanish at 44.8%.
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Best States For a Quality Assurance Lead
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a quality assurance lead. The best states for people in this position are California, Washington, New Hampshire, and Nevada. Quality assurance leads make the most in California with an average salary of $111,189. Whereas in Washington and New Hampshire, they would average $109,672 and $108,135, respectively. While quality assurance leads would only make an average of $103,527 in Nevada, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Nevada
$103,527
Avg. Salary
2. New Hampshire
$108,135
Avg. Salary
3. California
$111,189
Avg. Salary
How Do Quality Assurance Lead Rate Their Jobs?
5.0
5.0
Shekhar's Review • July 2019What do you like the most about working as Quality Assurance Lead?
New field to work with compassion. Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
Low pay structure as compared to the efforts put in. Show MoreTop Quality Assurance Lead Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ quality assurance leads and discovered their number of quality assurance lead opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that IBM was the best, especially with an average salary of $78,746. Mindtree follows up with an average salary of $82,381, and then comes Tata Group with an average of $92,889. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a quality assurance lead. The employers include Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, U.S. Bank, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.
Most Common Employers For Quality Assurance Lead
| Rank  | Company  | Average Salary  | Hourly Rate  | Job Openings  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Microsoft | $125,411 | $60.29 | 270 |
| 2 | Citi | $117,989 | $56.73 | 205 |
| 3 | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | $111,880 | $53.79 | 221 |
| 4 | AT&T | $109,686 | $52.73 | 231 |
| 5 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise | $98,335 | $47.28 | 134 |
| 6 | Capgemini | $94,491 | $45.43 | 108 |
| 7 | ValueMomentum | $93,250 | $44.83 | 168 |
| 8 | Tata Group | $92,889 | $44.66 | 558 |
| 9 | Wipro Limited | $92,411 | $44.43 | 375 |
| 10 | Bank of America | $92,233 | $44.34 | 276 |
Quality Assurance Lead Videos
Becoming a Quality Assurance Lead FAQs
How long does it take to become a Quality Assurance Lead?
It takes 6 years of professional experience to become a quality assurance lead. That is the time it takes to learn specific quality assurance lead skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 9 to 11 years years to become a quality assurance lead.
How much do QA leads make?
QA leads make around $86,000 a year, on average. This varies from a typical range of $70,000 to $100,000 for mid-career quality assurance leads.
Salary for quality assurance leads does vary by experience and location, of course. Entry-level QA leads -- typically a role as a quality assurance tester, earn about $65,000 to $70,000 a year.
What degree do you need to work in quality assurance?
To work in quality assurance, you need at least a bachelor's degree. To become a quality assurance specialist, you will need at least a bachelor's degree in computer science or business management. These courses will help hone your troubleshooting and quality testing skills to discover possible flaws in a product.
What qualifications do you need to be a quality assurance manager?
The qualifications needed to be a quality assurance manager include educational credentials and on-the-job experience. A bachelor's degree in quality assurance and business statistics is preferable. For some managerial/higher positions, having a postgraduate degree or technical degree is much essential.