Test technician vs lead test technician

The differences between test technicians and lead test technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a test technician, becoming a lead test technician takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a lead test technician has an average salary of $81,566, which is higher than the $43,171 average annual salary of a test technician.

The top three skills for a test technician include test procedures, test results and hand tools. The most important skills for a lead test technician are java, QA, and test strategy.

Test technician vs lead test technician overview

	Test Technician	Lead Test Technician
Yearly salary	$43,171	$81,566
Hourly rate	$20.76	$39.21
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	71,414	51,060
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age	50	44
Years of experience	12	4

What does a test technician do?

A test technician is responsible for running multiple diagnostic tests on various tools and equipment to boost optimization and ensure its efficient performance on operations. Test technicians inspect system components and manage calibration, following clients' specifications or the business' needs. A test technician also analyzes the system's design processes and features to understand its complexities and identify necessary upgrades. Test technicians keep a record of system issues and resolutions for reference. A test technician must have excellent knowledge of the technical and mechanical industry to perform tasks and achieve the highest customer satisfaction.

What does a lead test technician do?

Lead test technicians are professionals who are responsible for leading a group of test professionals to test products and report their findings to engineers or product developers. These technicians are required to design and develop test plans and procedures so that they can validate the requirements of products. They are required to use various test equipment as well as to conduct maintenance to ensure the product's functionality and quality. Lead test technicians must also gather and analyze user feedback to improve the overall user experience and satisfaction.

Test technician vs lead test technician salary

Test technicians and lead test technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Test Technician	Lead Test Technician
Average salary	$43,171	$81,566
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $61,000	Between $65,000 And $101,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	New Hampshire
Best paying company	Nokia	Macy's
Best paying industry	Technology	Automotive

Differences between test technician and lead test technician education

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

	Test Technician	Lead Test Technician
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Northeastern University	Stanford University

Test technician vs lead test technician demographics

Here are the differences between test technicians' and lead test technicians' demographics:

	Test Technician	Lead Test Technician
Average age	50	44
Gender ratio	Male, 83.6% Female, 16.4%	Male, 70.3% Female, 29.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 8.0% White, 70.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	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	8%	11%

Differences between test technician and lead test technician duties and responsibilities

Test technician example responsibilities.

Install and manage windows applications for the user, maintain servers and manage help desk operations.
Manage and distribute cad standards to contributing design consultants and assist with any design issues as necessary.
Perform in-circuit emulation and boundary scan testing (JTAG).
Perform extensive testing on CVD, PVD, display and solar tooling.
Configure bios to better suit the operating system, motherboard and CPU's needs and requirements.
Use of micrometers, calipers, torque wrenches, rivet and crimping tools, electrical test equipment, drill presses.

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Lead test technician example responsibilities.

Track and update the progress of the project documents in SharePoint and manage the metrics.
Develop, manage a high performance, distribute QA organization - including testing management at remote locations.
Develop API testing tools and test suites to improve testing accuracy, automation and performance.
Used SOAPUI to test the webServices.
Execute testing strategy for testing federal web service requests and responses using SOAPUI.
Used selenium for cloud application testing and run the automation cloud on the system.

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Test technician vs lead test technician skills

Common test technician skills

Test Procedures, 8%
Test Results, 8%
Hand Tools, 7%
Test Data, 5%
RF, 5%
Engineering Drawings, 4%

Common lead test technician skills

Java, 7%
QA, 6%
Test Strategy, 6%
Selenium, 5%
Test Cases, 5%
Test Environment, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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