Test automation lead vs software tester

The differences between test automation leads and software testers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a test automation lead and a software tester. Additionally, a test automation lead has an average salary of $89,324, which is higher than the $78,580 average annual salary of a software tester.

The top three skills for a test automation lead include java, scrum and jira. The most important skills for a software tester are test results, regression, and test scripts.

Test automation lead vs software tester overview

	Test Automation Lead	Software Tester
Yearly salary	$89,324	$78,580
Hourly rate	$42.94	$37.78
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	43,456	208,853
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

Test automation lead vs software tester salary

Test automation leads and software testers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Test Automation Lead	Software Tester
Average salary	$89,324	$78,580
Salary range	Between $69,000 And $115,000	Between $61,000 And $100,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Sunnyvale, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	New Hampshire
Best paying company	Citi	Nordstrom
Best paying industry	Utilities	Technology

Differences between test automation lead and software tester education

There are a few differences between a test automation lead and a software tester in terms of educational background:

	Test Automation Lead	Software Tester
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Computer Science	Computer Science
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Test automation lead vs software tester demographics

Here are the differences between test automation leads' and software testers' demographics:

	Test Automation Lead	Software Tester
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 78.0% Female, 22.0%	Male, 62.1% Female, 37.9%
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%

Differences between test automation lead and software tester duties and responsibilities

Test automation lead example responsibilities.

Enter the defects into JIRA and manages the resolution and documentation of these defects.
Perform inter-departmental audits documenting ISO compliant results with associate corrective action requests in order to achieve company-wide certification.
Used JIRA for creating and tracking defects.
Establish connection between automation scripts and PostgreSQL / DB2 to validate UI applications.
Involve in writing functional test cases in java language for every feature of product.
Coordinate communication between QA, development, BA's, UAT, and upper management throughout the entire QA cycle.

Software tester example responsibilities.

Involve in the SDLC of an online payment manage website, draft the test case and execute the test case.
Execute and manage defects using JIRA extensively.
Support for UNIX and Linux base servers.
Utilize UNIX and Linux base servers and an Informix RDBMS to host Perl and java-base application features.
Perform regression and environment checkout activities for multiple front and back-end test environments of web-base applications.
Perform black box testing of applications written in XML, HTML with SQL connectivity.

Test automation lead vs software tester skills

Common test automation lead skills

Java, 8%
Scrum, 5%
Jira, 5%
QA, 4%
Automation Framework, 4%
API, 4%

Common software tester skills

Test Results, 7%
Regression, 7%
Test Scripts, 5%
Jira, 5%
Manual Test Cases, 4%
QA, 4%