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The differences between senior automation test engineers and quality assurance engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a senior automation test engineer and a quality assurance engineer. Additionally, a senior automation test engineer has an average salary of $97,825, which is higher than the $82,215 average annual salary of a quality assurance engineer.
The top three skills for a senior automation test engineer include java, api testing and mobile testing. The most important skills for a quality assurance engineer are java, python, and regression.
| Senior Automation Test Engineer | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $97,825 | $82,215 |
| Hourly rate | $47.03 | $39.53 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 109,068 | 243,536 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A senior automation test engineer is responsible for using innovative engineering methods to automate the systems within the company. They must troubleshoot various problems related to automation and test different plans for large-scale projects. They should be able to design effective systems that interact with client-side functionality.
A Quality Assurance Engineer's role is to oversee the overall production and ensure that the product is cost-efficient and aligns with the company's standards. The responsibility mainly revolves around conducting activities that examine and scrutinize the condition of a product or service to identify issues and come up with possible solutions to resolve the issue or attain stronger customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the Quality Assurance Engineer must also ensure that the product adheres to the government regulations and market guidelines.
Senior automation test engineers and quality assurance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Automation Test Engineer | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $97,825 | $82,215 |
| Salary range | Between $78,000 And $122,000 | Between $61,000 And $109,000 |
| Highest paying City | Redwood City, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Koch Industries | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior automation test engineer and a quality assurance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Automation Test Engineer | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between senior automation test engineers' and quality assurance engineers' demographics:
| Senior Automation Test Engineer | Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 73.5% Female, 26.5% | Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5% |
| 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% |