Test automation lead vs test engineer

The differences between test automation leads and test 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 test automation lead and a test engineer. Additionally, a test automation lead has an average salary of $89,324, which is higher than the $79,832 average annual salary of a test engineer.

The top three skills for a test automation lead include java, scrum and jira. The most important skills for a test engineer are python, C++, and C #.

Test automation lead vs test engineer overview

	Test Automation Lead	Test Engineer
Yearly salary	$89,324	$79,832
Hourly rate	$42.94	$38.38
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	43,456	228,974
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

Test automation lead vs test engineer salary

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

	Test Automation Lead	Test Engineer
Average salary	$89,324	$79,832
Salary range	Between $69,000 And $115,000	Between $60,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	California
Best paying company	Citi	Meta
Best paying industry	Utilities	Telecommunication

Differences between test automation lead and test engineer education

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

	Test Automation Lead	Test Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Computer Science	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	California State University - Long Beach

Test automation lead vs test engineer demographics

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

	Test Automation Lead	Test Engineer
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 78.0% Female, 22.0%	Male, 81.7% Female, 18.3%
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 engineer 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 engineer example responsibilities.

Manage design, correction, and modification of the installations monitor in Citect-SCADA software (HMI).
Perform quality assurance tests to Intel processors and communications components using advance testing equipment in UNIX and Linux environments.
Conduct final acceptance testing for DOD security products.
Experience in mobile testing both manual and automation using APPIUM.
Used Appium to configure test to run it on different mobile devices.
Involve in designing and writing functionalities of the web applications using ruby.

Test automation lead vs test engineer skills

Common test automation lead skills

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

Common test engineer skills

Python, 7%
C++, 5%
C #, 5%
Test Results, 5%
Java, 5%
Test Procedures, 4%