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The differences between quality systems specialists and quality associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a quality systems specialist has an average salary of $74,283, which is higher than the $50,300 average annual salary of a quality associate.
The top three skills for a quality systems specialist include quality system, FDA and ISO. The most important skills for a quality associate are patients, QA, and quality system.
| Quality Systems Specialist | Quality Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $74,283 | $50,300 |
| Hourly rate | $35.71 | $24.18 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 120,243 | 60,168 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 48 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
A quality systems specialist is responsible for conducting audit checks with the company's current quality systems and technologies to ensure adherence to regulatory policies and internal guidelines. Quality systems specialists evaluate the components of the system and recommend process improvement strategies, requiring them to have excellent technical skills to design or revise system interfaces. They also write comprehensive reports about the system's performance in meeting client requirements and determining usability to deliver outputs timely and efficiently.
A quality associate is responsible for ensuring that a new product meets standards for usage and operating. You will perform various tasks that include assisting in identifying quality problems and improving operational processes, writing, disseminating, and maintaining quality documentation and manuals, and verifying logs and databases to monitor and flag quality issues and improvements. In addition, you are responsible for supporting document control and quality audits, reviewing reports and validation protocols, and investigating and diagnosing quality complaints.
Quality systems specialists and quality associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Systems Specialist | Quality Associate | |
| Average salary | $74,283 | $50,300 |
| Salary range | Between $57,000 And $95,000 | Between $31,000 And $80,000 |
| Highest paying City | Everett, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | General Motors | JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a quality systems specialist and a quality associate in terms of educational background:
| Quality Systems Specialist | Quality Associate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Business | Biology |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between quality systems specialists' and quality associates' demographics:
| Quality Systems Specialist | Quality Associate | |
| Average age | 48 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 43.8% Female, 56.2% | Male, 44.8% Female, 55.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.0% Asian, 9.0% White, 69.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 11.6% White, 55.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |