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The differences between senior specialist quality assurances and senior quality assurance 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 specialist quality assurance and a senior quality assurance engineer. Additionally, a senior quality assurance engineer has an average salary of $106,802, which is higher than the $91,993 average annual salary of a senior specialist quality assurance.
The top three skills for a senior specialist quality assurance include GMP, CAPA and quality system. The most important skills for a senior quality assurance engineer are QA, java, and python.
| Senior Specialist Quality Assurance | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $91,993 | $106,802 |
| Hourly rate | $44.23 | $51.35 |
| Growth rate | 3% | - |
| Number of jobs | 70,539 | 254,258 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A senior specialist in quality assurance is responsible for analyzing operational processes and procedures, determining necessary adjustments for the current methodologies that would maximize service efficiency and staff productivity. Senior specialists in quality assurance follow strict quality parameters and write test reports for reference and improvement. They must have excellent technical skills to identify business solutions for successful product launch across various market platforms to increase and generate revenue resources for the business and gain more business partnerships.
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.
Senior specialist quality assurances and senior quality assurance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Specialist Quality Assurance | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $91,993 | $106,802 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $119,000 | Between $82,000 And $138,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | NBCUniversal | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a senior specialist quality assurance and a senior quality assurance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Specialist Quality Assurance | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between senior specialist quality assurances' and senior quality assurance engineers' demographics:
| Senior Specialist Quality Assurance | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 48.2% Female, 51.8% | Male, 68.0% Female, 32.0% |
| 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% |