Quality assurance technician vs specialist

The differences between quality assurance technicians and specialists 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 specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a specialist has an average salary of $58,013, 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 specialist are patients, customer service, and work ethic.

Quality assurance technician vs specialist overview

	Quality Assurance Technician	Specialist
Yearly salary	$40,027	$58,013
Hourly rate	$19.24	$27.89
Growth rate	3%	10%
Number of jobs	81,534	358,433
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	45	42
Years of experience	4	2

What does a quality assurance technician do?

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.

What does a specialist do?

Specialists are employees who are responsible for specific tasks or activities in the department they are assigned to. The actions or tasks they work on are related to their educational background or work experiences. They are usually highly skilled in specializations related to the work they are assigned to. Specialists are also highly trained on the competencies that are required of their specialty. As such, they are focused on the skills and competencies that are needed to enhance their experience in their specific field further.

Quality assurance technician vs specialist salary

Quality assurance technicians and specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Quality Assurance Technician	Specialist
Average salary	$40,027	$58,013
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $60,000	Between $32,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	Baltimore, MD	Jersey City, NJ
Highest paying state	Hawaii	New Jersey
Best paying company	SMTC	The Citadel
Best paying industry	Technology	-

Differences between quality assurance technician and specialist education

There are a few differences between a quality assurance technician and a specialist in terms of educational background:

	Quality Assurance Technician	Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Biology	Business
Most common college	Purdue University	Stanford University

Quality assurance technician vs specialist demographics

Here are the differences between quality assurance technicians' and specialists' demographics:

	Quality Assurance Technician	Specialist
Average age	45	42
Gender ratio	Male, 57.6% Female, 42.4%	Male, 47.5% Female, 52.5%
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, 11.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	6%	11%

Differences between quality assurance technician and specialist duties and responsibilities

Quality assurance technician example responsibilities.

Track and manage CAPA's.
Train test personnel and manage QC test technicians in a fast pace environment.
Train newly hire technicians and used strong math and computing skill for data entry and records.
Approve NCR investigations and CAPA records.
Assist math, reading and other product teams with testing and reporting of any issues find during new product development.
Perform quality control experiments such as HPLC favor testing for the company's main ingredient produce within their leading product.

Specialist example responsibilities.

Create, manage, and assist users with SharePoint sites.
Manage an on-site IRB and company good clinical practice (GCP) inspection.
Manage SharePoint sites by creating, editing, and customizing company sites, libraries and security.
Manage the building of accounts, assigning of static IP's, and scheduling of business class installations.
Convert servers from UNIX to Linux, all hardware diagnostics and repair including printers/plotters/desktops etc.
Follow safety procedures such as maintenance of all equipment (Telxon scanners, terminals and ladders).

Quality assurance technician vs specialist skills

Common quality assurance technician skills

Food Safety, 9%
GMP, 7%
Lab Equipment, 5%
Quality Products, 4%
Quality Standards, 4%
HACCP, 4%

Common specialist skills

Patients, 15%
Customer Service, 11%
Work Ethic, 5%
Patient Care, 4%
Exceptional Client, 4%
Troubleshoot, 4%

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Quality Assurance Technician vs Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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