Test supervisor vs quality assurance lead

The differences between test supervisors and quality assurance leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a test supervisor, becoming a quality assurance lead takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a quality assurance lead has an average salary of $94,758, which is higher than the $68,046 average annual salary of a test supervisor.

The top three skills for a test supervisor include test procedures, direct supervision and lean manufacturing. The most important skills for a quality assurance lead are QA, test cases, and test plan.

Test supervisor vs quality assurance lead overview

	Test Supervisor	Quality Assurance Lead
Yearly salary	$68,046	$94,758
Hourly rate	$32.71	$45.56
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	43,134	82,242
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age	46	44
Years of experience	2	4

Test supervisor vs quality assurance lead salary

Test supervisors and quality assurance leads have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Test Supervisor	Quality Assurance Lead
Average salary	$68,046	$94,758
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $126,000	Between $72,000 And $123,000
Highest paying City	Clifton, NJ	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	California
Best paying company	Lucid Motors	Meta
Best paying industry	Construction	Retail

Differences between test supervisor and quality assurance lead education

There are a few differences between a test supervisor and a quality assurance lead in terms of educational background:

	Test Supervisor	Quality Assurance Lead
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Computer Science
Most common college	Stanford University	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Test supervisor vs quality assurance lead demographics

Here are the differences between test supervisors' and quality assurance leads' demographics:

	Test Supervisor	Quality Assurance Lead
Average age	46	44
Gender ratio	Male, 79.4% Female, 20.6%	Male, 63.0% Female, 37.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 4.8% White, 60.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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	6%	11%

Differences between test supervisor and quality assurance lead duties and responsibilities

Test supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage offshore/onshore resources for UAT testing.
Manage execution of manual and automate test cases for functional, performance, load, integration, UAT and infrastructure testing.
Preform security checks on USAF physical resources.
Facilitate large scale meetings for UAT timelines and information for testers.
Implement SDLC standards and guidelines and enforce these rules within the departments.
Work in an ESD environment, responsible for clean room compliance and requirements.

Quality assurance lead example responsibilities.

Develop the scenarios in the cucumber scripts and manage the execution through jerkins jobs.
Monitor QC lab techs data when need and advise leads of corrective actions to take to ensure help in production efficiency.
Maintain coordination between onsite and offshore very smooth with daily status calls and achieve timely and quality deliverable.
Create, design, and run test cases in JIRA as well as regression tests evaluating results of modifications.
Maintain quality management system in accordance with 009-04 and ISO 9001-2000.
Involve in writing complex SQL statements and PL/SQL code to test data flow and to perform data analysis.

Test supervisor vs quality assurance lead skills

Common test supervisor skills

Test Procedures, 13%
Direct Supervision, 11%
Lean Manufacturing, 9%
Test Equipment, 8%
Quality Standards, 5%
Direct Reports, 5%

Common quality assurance lead skills

QA, 8%
Test Cases, 7%
Test Plan, 6%
Java, 4%
Status Reports, 4%
Regression, 4%

Test Supervisor vs. similar jobs

Test Supervisor related careers

Test Supervisor related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Production and Manufacturing Industry
Test Supervisor
Test Supervisor vs Quality Assurance Lead

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse production and manufacturing jobs