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The differences between senior quality assurance engineers and quality assurance consultants 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 quality assurance engineer and a quality assurance consultant. Additionally, a senior quality assurance engineer has an average salary of $106,802, which is higher than the $86,486 average annual salary of a quality assurance consultant.
The top three skills for a senior quality assurance engineer include QA, java and python. The most important skills for a quality assurance consultant are QA, manual test cases, and regression.
| Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Assurance Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $106,802 | $86,486 |
| Hourly rate | $51.35 | $41.58 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 254,258 | 91,395 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A senior quality assurance engineer oversees the testing procedures conducted in software development, ensuring technical accuracy and efficiency. They are primarily responsible for working alongside software designers and quality engineers, reviewing quality control reports, inspecting specifications, and devising particular test procedures. Moreover, it is also essential to troubleshoot issues and identify any inconsistencies or bugs. As someone with more experience in the team, they must supervise and serve as a mentor to the younger quality assurance engineers in the joint effort to develop efficient software.
A quality assurance consultant specializes in recommending and optimizing quality-control procedures ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. They typically conduct research and analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current quality control operations, implement solutions on problem areas, review policies and regulations, and coordinate with other staff to gather necessary data, analyzing them to find new opportunities for improvement. Furthermore, as a quality assurance consultant, it is essential to recommend solutions in adherence to the company's policies and regulations, including its mission and vision.
Senior quality assurance engineers and quality assurance consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Assurance Consultant | |
| Average salary | $106,802 | $86,486 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $138,000 | Between $67,000 And $110,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | Southern California Edison |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior quality assurance engineer and a quality assurance consultant in terms of educational background:
| Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Assurance Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between senior quality assurance engineers' and quality assurance consultants' demographics:
| Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Assurance Consultant | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.0% Female, 32.0% | Male, 57.9% Female, 42.1% |
| 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% |