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The differences between quality control specialists and lead quality controls can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a lead quality control has an average salary of $85,375, which is higher than the $49,281 average annual salary of a quality control specialist.
The top three skills for a quality control specialist include GMP, patients and customer service. The most important skills for a lead quality control are GMP, safety procedures, and quality checks.
| Quality Control Specialist | Lead Quality Control | |
| Yearly salary | $49,281 | $85,375 |
| Hourly rate | $23.69 | $41.05 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 100,535 | 83,633 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Average age | 38 | 48 |
| Years of experience | - | 6 |
A quality control specialist is responsible for maintaining the quality of the products during production before storing for use and deliveries. Quality control specialists evaluate the products through internal specifications and processes. They conduct thorough inspections of finished products to identify any inconsistencies and malfunctions, immediately replacing or reproducing defective items. They also create a record of production issues to discuss with the management, developing strategic procedures to address quality problems for accuracy. A quality control specialist must have excellent communication skills, as well as be detail-oriented to identify areas of improvement and ensure customer satisfaction.
Lead quality control agents are manufacturing professionals who are responsible for supervising and coordinating the activities of workers to meet the required quality standards of finished products. These professionals are required to review the calibration of manufacturing equipment to ensure they perform correctly and on time. They must assist in identifying and developing procedures and processes that are related to the quality management system. Leads quality control must also perform quality testing on materials while participating in team meetings to discuss safety and quality issues.
Quality control specialists and lead quality controls have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Control Specialist | Lead Quality Control | |
| Average salary | $49,281 | $85,375 |
| Salary range | Between $32,000 And $75,000 | Between $66,000 And $109,000 |
| Highest paying City | Rockville, MD | Brookhaven, NY |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | New York |
| Best paying company | Apple | Bloomberg |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a quality control specialist and a lead quality control in terms of educational background:
| Quality Control Specialist | Lead Quality Control | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between quality control specialists' and lead quality controls' demographics:
| Quality Control Specialist | Lead Quality Control | |
| Average age | 38 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 48.3% Female, 51.7% | Male, 65.4% Female, 34.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.0% Asian, 9.1% White, 69.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |