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What is a senior quality assurance and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read

Senior quality assurance professionals lead quality engineering teams. They design testing procedures in close collaboration with various other company departments, such as product designers, suppliers, operations managers, and many others.

Working in this position, you will be responsible for setting quality criteria and planning testing methods based on a thorough understanding of the requirements of the business you work for. You will supervise the execution of quality tests and create reports on the results using process documentation.

Your job will be to propose solutions and applicable methods to make up for potential shortcomings of the products of manufacturing processes. You might be employed by various industries from manufacturing to telecommunications, pharmaceutical production, and many more. But regardless of the industry, you will be required to coordinate testing operations and develop innovative testing methods.

ScoreSenior Quality AssuranceUS Average
Salary
7.6

Avg. Salary $98,182

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity
4.1
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.51%

Asian 11.99%

Black or African American 6.24%

Hispanic or Latino 8.82%

Unknown 4.70%

White 67.73%

Gender

female 42.33%

male 57.67%

Age - 43
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43
Stress level
5.1

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level
6.1

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance
6.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Senior quality assurance career paths

Key steps to become a senior quality assurance

  1. Explore senior quality assurance education requirements

    Most common senior quality assurance degrees

    Bachelor's

    64.3 %

    Master's

    22.7 %

    Associate

    7.0 %
  2. Start to develop specific senior quality assurance skills

    SkillsPercentages
    QA8.65%
    Java8.32%
    Test Cases7.50%
    Jira4.25%
    Regression3.85%
  3. Complete relevant senior quality assurance training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior quality assurances learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior quality assurance based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior quality assurance resumes.
  4. Research senior quality assurance duties and responsibilities

    • Perform inter-departmental audits documenting ISO compliant results with associate corrective action requests in order to achieve company-wide certification.
    • Facilitate achievement of ISO certification through implementation of complete facility calibration program using MP3 with focus on continuous improvement.
    • Work with the vendor and management to provide defect density metrics and goals for total SDLC defect reduction.
    • Involve in testing of extraction process from database using back end process and dump into data file of specific delimiter.
  5. Get senior quality assurance experience

    Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior quality assurance. The most common roles before becoming a senior quality assurance include quality assurance analyst, quality assurance lead team lead and senior quality assurance analyst.
  6. Prepare your senior quality assurance resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior quality assurance resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior quality assurance resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable senior quality assurance resume templates

    Build a professional senior quality assurance resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior quality assurance resume.
    Senior Quality Assurance Resume
    Senior Quality Assurance Resume
    Senior Quality Assurance Resume
    Senior Quality Assurance Resume
    Senior Quality Assurance Resume
    Senior Quality Assurance Resume
    Senior Quality Assurance Resume
    Senior Quality Assurance Resume
    Senior Quality Assurance Resume
  7. Apply for senior quality assurance jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a senior quality assurance job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first senior quality assurance job

Zippi

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Average senior quality assurance salary

The average senior quality assurance salary in the United States is $98,182 per year or $47 per hour. Senior quality assurance salaries range between $74,000 and $128,000 per year.

Average senior quality assurance salary
$98,182 Yearly
$47.20 hourly

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How do senior quality assurances rate their job?

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Senior quality assurance reviews

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A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2020
Pros

I like testing because it can be interesting. Things can change but also stay the same. I like routine but not repetition doing the same thing. Testing isn't the best job but a good job.

Cons

Some things you test can be really picky to pass. It's likely they will always fail the first time. Some test seem to always pass and seek insufficient. I always look at productivity but also efficiency. So if not necessary by customer and always passes I can't see why a part of the test he removed especially if another part of the test will fail if it does. Options I am always open to.


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A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2019
Pros

New field to work with compassion.

Cons

Low pay structure as compared to the efforts put in.


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A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2019
Cons

There isn't anything to dislike.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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