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The differences between quality assurance technicians and quality leads 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 technician, becoming a quality lead takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a quality lead has an average salary of $90,301, which is higher than the $40,027 average annual salary of a quality assurance technician.
The top three skills for a quality assurance technician include food safety, GMP and lab equipment. The most important skills for a quality lead are continuous improvement, product quality, and quality standards.
| Quality Assurance Technician | Quality Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $40,027 | $90,301 |
| Hourly rate | $19.24 | $43.41 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 81,534 | 62,018 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 45 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
Quality assurance is an essential part of a company that offers products and services. It is critical that the company's output remains consistent and up to par with community standards. It is the assistant quality assurance manager's role to inspect, monitor, and evaluate the quality of every product. The goal is to establish customer satisfaction and trust. The assistant quality assurance manager works with the head manager and helps generate reports of daily activities for executive evaluations.
A quality assurance (QA) lead is responsible for organizing and managing the testing of products prior to its release. Your duties will include defining testing standards and strategies, establishing formal QA processes, and overseeing all aspects of QA, such as using best practices and establishing metrics. Additionally, you are responsible for supervising and mentoring QA team members, and developing and implementing scripts, test cases, and procedures. You are also responsible for managing off quality products and developing and institutionalizing ISO complaints.
Quality assurance technicians and quality leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Technician | Quality Lead | |
| Average salary | $40,027 | $90,301 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $60,000 | Between $63,000 And $127,000 |
| Highest paying City | Baltimore, MD | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | California |
| Best paying company | SMTC | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance technician and a quality lead in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Technician | Quality Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Biology | Business |
| Most common college | Purdue University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between quality assurance technicians' and quality leads' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Technician | Quality Lead | |
| Average age | 45 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.6% Female, 42.4% | Male, 58.7% Female, 41.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 8.2% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 9.1% White, 69.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 8% |