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What does a senior quality assurance do?

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read

The senior quality assurance or QA agent is in charge of ensuring all products and services are up to the company's standards and customer expectations. The role is vital as it helps the company fine-tune its products and services, resolve issues, and satisfy customer experience. Through the quality assurance team headed by its senior leaders, a company grows, expands, and improves. A quality assurance agent needs to have an eye for detail, be highly organized, and provide insights and advice for continual improvement.

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Senior quality assurance responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior quality assurance resumes:

  • 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.
  • Work closely with the lead application developers and develop mapping, extraction, transformation and loading (ETL) technical specifications.
  • Utilize DB2 SPUFI and DB2 FileAid for testing purposes and ClearQuest for defect reporting and tracking
  • Test and validate the Cognos reports by running similar SQL queries against the source system (s).
  • Provide technical support to internal and external customers in debugging and resolving application issues.

Senior quality assurance skills and personality traits

We calculated that 9% of Senior Quality Assurances are proficient in QA, Java, and Test Cases.

We break down the percentage of Senior Quality Assurances that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • QA, 9%

    Recognized need for department documentation to train QA staff and ensure consistency and improve department efficiency.

  • Java, 8%

    Developed Scripts using Java, Selenium WebDriver combo for user module application.

  • Test Cases, 7%

    Test cases are accurately assessed and written to verify the functionality specifications described in the business requirements.

  • Jira, 4%

    Used JIRA to perform Manual Testing and logging and tracking bugs.

  • Regression, 4%

    Involved in Functional, Regression, Integration and Compatibility Testing of web-based application.

  • API, 4%

    Created and updated unit and integration test using visual studios for testing coverage of newly build API application and domain layers.

"qa," "java," and "test cases" are among the most common skills that senior quality assurances use at work. You can find even more senior quality assurance responsibilities below, including:

See the full list of senior quality assurance skills

Choose from 10+ customizable senior quality assurance resume templates

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Senior Quality Assurance Resume
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Senior Quality Assurance Resume
Senior Quality Assurance Resume
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Senior Quality Assurance Resume
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Senior Quality Assurance Resume

Compare different senior quality assurances

Senior quality assurance vs. Tester

The role of technical testers is to test computer software for defects, bug errors, or any issues that may come across by an end-user. They mainly conduct product testing and prepare reports about any problems or recommendations for improvements. Other responsibilities include reviewing test plans, assessing and analyzing product specifications and requirements, and mapping out testing strategy. Technical testers also frame the test environments or support network management staff and system administrators. Qualifications for this position include knowledge of the database or structured query language, proficiency in Linux commands, and proficiency in defect tracking tools.

If we compare the average senior quality assurance annual salary with that of a tester, we find that testers typically earn a $32,980 lower salary than senior quality assurances make annually.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both senior quality assurance and tester positions are skilled in qa, java, and jira.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, senior quality assurance responsibilities require skills like "test cases," "html css," "status reports," and "automation framework." Meanwhile a typical tester has skills in areas such as "digital transformation," "test scripts," "metasploit," and "regression test cases." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Testers really shine in the telecommunication industry with an average salary of $74,239. Comparatively, senior quality assurances tend to make the most money in the retail industry with an average salary of $111,064.testers tend to reach lower levels of education than senior quality assurances. In fact, testers are 12.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Senior quality assurance vs. Lead test technician

Lead test technicians are professionals who are responsible for leading a group of test professionals to test products and report their findings to engineers or product developers. These technicians are required to design and develop test plans and procedures so that they can validate the requirements of products. They are required to use various test equipment as well as to conduct maintenance to ensure the product's functionality and quality. Lead test technicians must also gather and analyze user feedback to improve the overall user experience and satisfaction.

A career as a lead test technician brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a senior quality assurance. In fact, lead test technicians salary is $16,616 lower than the salary of senior quality assurances per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both senior quality assurances and lead test technicians have skills such as "qa," "java," and "test cases. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, senior quality assurance responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "test plan," "html css," "selenium web," and "automation framework." Meanwhile, a lead test technician has duties that require skills in areas such as "selenium," "test scripts," "test procedures," and "troubleshoot." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Lead test technicians may earn a lower salary than senior quality assurances, but lead test technicians earn the most pay in the automotive industry with an average salary of $99,944. On the other hand, senior quality assurances receive higher pay in the retail industry, where they earn an average salary of $111,064.lead test technicians earn lower levels of education than senior quality assurances in general. They're 9.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Senior quality assurance vs. Test analyst

The duties of a test analyst depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. In the information technology setting, a test analyst is responsible for testing computer software or hardware to ensure its quality before being released in the market. They participate in the development process to monitor the product specifications, review and analyze documentation, and create test systems, implementing them promptly and efficiently. As a test analyst, it is essential to produce progress reports, prepare presentations, and even give recommendations.

On average scale, test analysts bring in lower salaries than senior quality assurances. In fact, they earn a $27,185 lower salary per year.By looking over several senior quality assurances and test analysts resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "qa," "java," and "jira." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a senior quality assurance is likely to be skilled in "test cases," "api," "html css," and "selenium web," while a typical test analyst is skilled in "test scripts," "manual test cases," "selenium webdriver," and "strong problem-solving."

Test analysts make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $74,197. On the other hand, senior quality assurances are paid the highest salary in the retail industry, with average annual pay of $111,064.test analysts typically earn lower educational levels compared to senior quality assurances. Specifically, they're 6.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Senior quality assurance vs. Senior test engineer

A senior test engineer is an individual who is responsible for developing and implementing cost-effective methods of testing and troubleshooting computer systems and equipment. Senior test engineers must assist junior engineers in developing test plans and conducting testing activities on complex systems to meet program requirements. They aid in the areas of predictability, manufacturing processing, and improvement in the equipment and process. Senior test engineers must also develop proposal inputs and reviews documents generated by junior engineers.

Senior test engineers average a lower salary than the annual salary of senior quality assurances. The difference is about $15,407 per year.While their salaries may vary, senior quality assurances and senior test engineers both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "qa," "java," and "test cases. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A senior quality assurance uses "test plan," "html css," "automation test scripts," and "tfs." Senior test engineers are more likely to have duties that require skills in "python," "c++," "test equipment," and "test procedures. "senior test engineers enjoy the best pay in the automotive industry, with an average salary of $104,711. For comparison, senior quality assurances earn the highest salary in the retail industry.senior test engineers reach similar levels of education compared to senior quality assurances, in general. The difference is that they're 4.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of senior quality assurance

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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