Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between quality assurance leads and quality control analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a quality assurance lead has an average salary of $94,758, which is higher than the $59,217 average annual salary of a quality control analyst.
The top three skills for a quality assurance lead include QA, test cases and test plan. The most important skills for a quality control analyst are QC, lab equipment, and microbiology.
| Quality Assurance Lead | Quality Control Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $94,758 | $59,217 |
| Hourly rate | $45.56 | $28.47 |
| Growth rate | - | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 82,242 | 85,546 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 44 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
A quality assurance lead, also known as QA Lead, is responsible for conducting necessary quality tests and analyses for software program and development. As a quality assurance lead, they must take the lead in ensuring quality during development by proactively performing critical evaluations, troubleshooting, and providing precise documentation. It is also essential to identify issues and resolve them as soon as possible. Furthermore, a quality assurance lead must maintain an active line of communication and coordination as most of the work will be in a team setting.
Quality assurance representatives are professionals who are responsible for ensuring the quality of units produced or manufactured is following the standards set by the industry. These representatives supervise the entire production process to identify erroneous methods or tools being used by workers and observing produced for visible defects. They are required to perform various tests to check for the durability of the product and other desirable characteristics. Quality assurance representatives must also collaborate with the manufacturing engineer to implement quality control programs and preparing training manuals and quality guidelines.
Quality assurance leads and quality control analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Lead | Quality Control Analyst | |
| Average salary | $94,758 | $59,217 |
| Salary range | Between $72,000 And $123,000 | Between $40,000 And $86,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Raleigh, NC |
| Highest paying state | California | North Carolina |
| Best paying company | Meta | Barclays |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance lead and a quality control analyst in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Lead | Quality Control Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Biology |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between quality assurance leads' and quality control analysts' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Lead | Quality Control Analyst | |
| Average age | 44 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 63.0% Female, 37.0% | Male, 45.7% Female, 54.3% |
| 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, 9.5% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 12.8% White, 53.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 8% |