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The differences between quality assurance team leaders 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 team leader and a quality assurance specialist. Additionally, a quality assurance team leader has an average salary of $97,476, which is higher than the $63,443 average annual salary of a quality assurance specialist.
The top three skills for a quality assurance team leader include QA, regression and manual test cases. The most important skills for a quality assurance specialist are GMP, patients, and FDA.
| Quality Assurance Team Leader | Quality Assurance Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $97,476 | $63,443 |
| Hourly rate | $46.86 | $30.50 |
| Growth rate | - | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 131,886 | 83,505 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A quality assurance (QA) team leader is an individual who is responsible for managing a team of engineers from the quality assurance department of an organization to participate in the overall QA planning and activities. QA team leaders are required to play the key role as a member of the project management team to ensure that the product exceeded user expectations. They must develop and implement QA processes and supervise daily QA activities to maximize quality and productivity. QA team leaders must also prepare and report audited results to the organization's site senior management.
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 team leaders and quality assurance specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Team Leader | Quality Assurance Specialist | |
| Average salary | $97,476 | $63,443 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $126,000 | Between $41,000 And $97,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Netflix | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance team leader and a quality assurance specialist in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Team Leader | Quality Assurance Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between quality assurance team leaders' and quality assurance specialists' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Team Leader | Quality Assurance Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9% | 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% |