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The differences between senior quality specialists and quality 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 quality specialists and a quality engineer. Additionally, a senior quality specialists has an average salary of $90,969, which is higher than the $79,672 average annual salary of a quality engineer.
The top three skills for a senior quality specialists include continuous improvement, quality standards and data collection. The most important skills for a quality engineer are corrective action, continuous improvement, and ISO.
| Senior Quality Specialists | Quality Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $90,969 | $79,672 |
| Hourly rate | $43.74 | $38.30 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 58,771 | 96,838 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
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 engineer's responsibilities include ensuring that the manufacturing processes are efficient and accurate, documenting findings that would raise concerns, conducting quality tests while observing parameters, and implementing changes as necessary to meet the highest quality standards. Quality engineers need to have excellent problem-solving and observation skills to detect any irregularities and possible malfunctions. They also must be able to communicate effectively with the clients for feedbacks and corrective adjustments, address complaints, and immediately resolve any inconsistencies made.
Senior quality specialists and quality engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Quality Specialists | Quality Engineer | |
| Average salary | $90,969 | $79,672 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $117,000 | Between $61,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | Palo Alto, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | SAP | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior quality specialists and a quality engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Quality Specialists | Quality Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Business | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | New York University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between senior quality specialists' and quality engineers' demographics:
| Senior Quality Specialists | Quality Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 50.1% Female, 49.9% | Male, 78.2% Female, 21.8% |
| 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, 4.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 13.9% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |