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The differences between quality assurance team leaders and quality assurance testers 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 tester. Additionally, a quality assurance team leader has an average salary of $97,476, which is higher than the $74,140 average annual salary of a quality assurance tester.
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 tester are manual test cases, regression, and test scripts.
| Quality Assurance Team Leader | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $97,476 | $74,140 |
| Hourly rate | $46.86 | $35.64 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 131,886 | 82,396 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| 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 tester, also known as QA tester, has different responsibilities depending on the line of work or industry involved. In a computer development setting, they are in charge of working and coordinating with technical engineers. They have to conduct regular tests for new software and programs, identify inconsistencies, and find areas for improvement. Furthermore, a quality assurance tester must produce reports from the tests, which can be the basis of progress for further developments.
Quality assurance team leaders and quality assurance testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Team Leader | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average salary | $97,476 | $74,140 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $126,000 | Between $55,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Maryland |
| Best paying company | Netflix | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Finance |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance team leader and a quality assurance tester in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Team Leader | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between quality assurance team leaders' and quality assurance testers' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Team Leader | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9% | Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8% |
| 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% |