Test automation lead vs test analyst

The differences between test automation leads and test analysts 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 test analyst. Additionally, a test automation lead has an average salary of $89,324, which is higher than the $70,997 average annual salary of a test analyst.

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

Test automation lead vs test analyst overview

	Test Automation Lead	Test Analyst
Yearly salary	$89,324	$70,997
Hourly rate	$42.94	$34.13
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	43,456	91,308
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

Test automation lead vs test analyst salary

Test automation leads and test analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Test Automation Lead	Test Analyst
Average salary	$89,324	$70,997
Salary range	Between $69,000 And $115,000	Between $56,000 And $88,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	New Hampshire
Best paying company	Citi	General Motors
Best paying industry	Utilities	Finance

Differences between test automation lead and test analyst education

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

	Test Automation Lead	Test Analyst
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common major	Computer Science	Computer Science
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Test automation lead vs test analyst demographics

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

	Test Automation Lead	Test Analyst
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 78.0% Female, 22.0%	Male, 55.2% Female, 44.8%
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 test analyst 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.

Test analyst example responsibilities.

Implement reusable test strategy to rewire QA methodology and achieve increase in efficiency.
Execute end to end regression testing which include executing multiple processes in UNIX, running automate test scripts and performing validation.
Organize daily meetings with QA team and Dev team to recognize the blocking issues within the project.
Test the stored procedures functionality vs. ETL mapping after the migration of code from PL/SQL to ETL mappings.
Report bugs to developers using JIRA and after rectification from developers perform regression testing.
Document and champion defects in QC ALM.

Test automation lead vs test analyst skills

Common test automation lead skills

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

Common test analyst skills

Test Scripts, 6%
Test Plan, 5%
Regression, 5%
Test Results, 5%
Java, 5%
Manual Test Cases, 5%