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What does a software quality assurance do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read
Quoted expert
Oliver Bonham-Carter Ph.D.

A software quality assurance manager supervises the design and enforcement of test plans, test cases, and validation procedures. Software quality assurance managers create, manage, and write the overall software test strategy execution. The managers take the lead in the efforts for an efficient testing process. They oversee quality control in software development through routing protocol test and QA engineer team management. Also, they are hired in technology firms of new software development such as mobile and computer applications.

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Software quality assurance responsibilities

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

  • Manage all documentation and equipment require for QA to effectively complete testing tasks.
  • Maintain Jenkins jobs for tests beds.
  • Implement testing plans to improve embed database API code quality.
  • Credit card validation are implemented are using Google checkout API.
  • Experience with working on different flavors of RedHat versions of LINUX.
  • Gather and report metrics throughout the SDLC to provide continuous project analysis.
  • Support software and hardware maintenance on the UNIX systems used for system testing.
  • Participate in daily scrum meetings to address issues, concerns and provide status updates.
  • Handle Unix administration, produce release on CD-R, and configure engineering programming tools.
  • Create Linux shell scripts for system integration, application installation, configuration and network setup.
  • Develop a web-base movie ticketing application using Java, JSP, HTML, CSS and MySQL.
  • Install and configure ETQ system (web application - develop using JAVA, JSP, Ajax).
  • Play main roll in all phases of the SDLC, from project kick off to a successful application release.
  • Work closely with the developer, BA, scrum master and product owner for testing of mobile web and apps.
  • Carry out performance and reliability tests on GoodHopper automation tool in JavaScript.

Software quality assurance skills and personality traits

We calculated that 6% of Software Quality Assurances are proficient in Software Development, C++, and C #.

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

  • Software Development, 6%

    Acquired Scrum Fundamentals Certification and practiced Agile Software Methodologies in a software development environment on various Scrum teams.

  • C++, 5%

    Replaced a legacy C++ application for viewing serialized data formats using C# and WinForms.

  • C #, 5%

    Designed/maintained automation using in-house C # automation library.

  • Software QA, 5%

    Worked as a Software QA (quality assurance) tester with Retail Systems as part of a Career Experience.

  • Python, 4%

    Execute test suites using a python script that was previously created to run on various test systems.

  • Regression, 4%

    Created automated and manual regression tests to prevent recurrence of corrected defects and ensure stability of analysis results across time.

"software development," "c++," and "c #" are among the most common skills that software quality assurances use at work. You can find even more software quality assurance responsibilities below, including:

Most common software quality assurance skills

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Compare different software quality assurances

Software quality assurance vs. Software test engineer

Software engineers are responsible for coordinating the process of analyzing computer software programs. This process requires creating and implementing testing methods, documenting the test results, and providing recommendations for software improvements. They are also responsible for other tasks, including writing software testing procedures and creating testing scripts using different programming languages. A software engineer also collaborates with software developers and other staff members from the start and completion of a particular project. Having a bachelor's degree in software engineering, computer science, or information technology is needed to become a software engineer.

We looked at the average software quality assurance salary and compared it with the wages of a software test engineer. Generally speaking, software test engineers are paid $7,291 lower than software quality assurances per year.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between software quality assurances and software test engineers are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like c++, c #, and python.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, software quality assurance responsibilities require skills like "software development," "software qa," "sqa," and "development life." Meanwhile a typical software test engineer has skills in areas such as "test automation," "qa," "javascript," and "selenium webdriver." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Software test engineers tend to make the most money working in the telecommunication industry, where they earn an average salary of $98,837. In contrast, software quality assurances make the biggest average salary, $116,766, in the finance industry.software test engineers tend to reach similar levels of education than software quality assurances. In fact, software test engineers are 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Software quality assurance vs. Quality analyst

Pumpers are individuals who take responsibility for setting the pumping system controls for product maximization. Their job requires them to set density, concentration, rate, and pressure. They do the operation and maintenance of the auxiliary equipment pumping oil. It is their duty to set the wells so they will function based on the production schedules and switch the oil flow between tanks. They even install the pumping systems.

Quality analyst positions earn lower pay than software quality assurance roles. They earn a $20,672 lower salary than software quality assurances per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Software quality assurances and quality analysts both require similar skills like "regression," "test results," and "java" to carry out their responsibilities.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real software quality assurance resumes. While software quality assurance responsibilities can utilize skills like "software development," "c++," "c #," and "software qa," quality analysts use skills like "customer service," "qa," "patients," and "data analysis."

On average, quality analysts earn a lower salary than software quality assurances. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, quality analysts earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $77,710. Whereas software quality assurances have higher pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $116,766.In general, quality analysts achieve similar levels of education than software quality assurances. They're 3.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for software quality assurances in the next 3-5 years?

Oliver Bonham-Carter Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Allegheny College

In the next few years, technologies related to artificial intelligence, data analytics, cloud computing, container-orchestration systems, and cybersecurity will continue to become more important and prominent. These technologies have the foundation to improve the quality of life in terms of health, education, fighting misinformation, creating better connections, fighting climate change, etc. IoT with smart devices connected online will continue to rise, thus producing more data, which will necessitate AI, data analytics, and security solutions. Additionally, I foresee 5G technology to play an essential role in the next few years, as e-commerce expands into autonomous delivery services. In the software engineering field, to enable fast, secure, and connected software development, technologies allowing to automate a part of that process, such as version control, containerization, and Kubernetes, will also become increasingly important.

Software quality assurance vs. Software engineer

A software engineer is a computer science professional who is responsible for the development of information systems, designing and building computer systems software and applications software. They often prefer to call themselves as a software developer or computer programmer. They have substantial knowledge of programming languages, software development, and computer operating systems, and other technologies. They use these to turn a plan into a final output. They can create a design, test, and develop software based on the needs of their clients.

On average scale, software engineers bring in higher salaries than software quality assurances. In fact, they earn a $7,631 higher salary per year.software quality assurances and software engineers both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "software development," "c++," and "python," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, software quality assurances are more likely to have skills like "c #," "software qa," "test results," and "manual test cases." But a software engineer is more likely to have skills like "database," "git," "c," and "css."

Software engineers make a very good living in the start-up industry with an average annual salary of $122,617. On the other hand, software quality assurances are paid the highest salary in the finance industry, with average annual pay of $116,766.Most software engineers achieve a similar degree level compared to software quality assurances. For example, they're 3.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Software quality assurance vs. Software tester

The responsibility of software testers involves the quality assurance of software development and deployment. Software testers conduct manual and automated tests to make sure that the software is developed for its purpose. They remove the issues and bugs within a product before deployment to users. Their responsibilities include software and systems analysis, risk mitigation, and software-related issue prevention. They should have skills in automation, programming, social networking, logical thinking, and mobile and web technology.

Software testers average a lower salary than the annual salary of software quality assurances. The difference is about $14,049 per year.While both software quality assurances and software testers complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like c++, c #, and regression, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between software quality assurances and software testers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a software quality assurance might have more use for skills like "software development," "software qa," "python," and "sqa." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of software testers require skills like "qa," "selenium," "data integrity," and "test reports. "

The technology industry tends to pay the highest salaries for software testers, with average annual pay of $85,662. Comparatively, the highest software quality assurance annual salary comes from the finance industry.software testers reach similar levels of education compared to software quality assurances, in general. The difference is that they're 2.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of software 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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