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The differences between senior quality specialists and quality control supervisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a senior quality specialists, becoming a quality control supervisor takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a senior quality specialists has an average salary of $90,969, which is higher than the $63,930 average annual salary of a quality control supervisor.
The top three skills for a senior quality specialists include continuous improvement, quality standards and data collection. The most important skills for a quality control supervisor are safety procedures, product quality, and food safety.
| Senior Quality Specialists | Quality Control Supervisor | |
| Yearly salary | $90,969 | $63,930 |
| Hourly rate | $43.74 | $30.74 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 58,771 | 110,617 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Average age | 42 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 2 |
Senior quality specialists are in charge of overseeing and optimizing quality control procedures, ensuring smooth workflow and efficiency. They typically perform research and analysis to identify the best manufacturing practices, identify the strengths and weaknesses of existing processes, providing solutions on vulnerable areas, and coordinating different teams to optimize operations. Furthermore, as senior quality specialists, it is essential to lead and serve as a mentor to junior specialists, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.
A quality control supervisor specializes in carrying out and implementing systems and procedures that ensure product quality within an organization. They are primarily responsible for devising priorities and standards, managing schedules to abide by the production timeline, monitoring activities, coordinating with production and quality control personnel, assessing employee performance, and thoroughly discussing new systems for all staff. There are also instances when a quality control supervisor must perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports and assessments, responding to calls and correspondence, even disseminating notices.
Senior quality specialists and quality control supervisors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Quality Specialists | Quality Control Supervisor | |
| Average salary | $90,969 | $63,930 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $117,000 | Between $46,000 And $87,000 |
| Highest paying City | Palo Alto, CA | South San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Wyoming |
| Best paying company | SAP | AbbVie |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between a senior quality specialists and a quality control supervisor in terms of educational background:
| Senior Quality Specialists | Quality Control Supervisor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | New York University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between senior quality specialists' and quality control supervisors' demographics:
| Senior Quality Specialists | Quality Control Supervisor | |
| Average age | 42 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 50.1% Female, 49.9% | Male, 69.7% Female, 30.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 10.0% White, 69.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 4.4% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 6% |