QA Lead / Manager jobs: remote, hybrid and Flex
A QA Lead / Manager sets test strategy, runs the QA team and reports quality risk to the business. In the US the median is $110k a year for a mid-level hire, $85k at junior and $140k at senior. We have 371 open QA Lead / Manager roles in 39 countries, 60 of them remote.
Live QA Lead / Manager roles
QA Team Lead - Cyber & AI
QA Automation Tech Lead
QA Lead
Quality Assurance Manager
Quality Assurance Lead
Software QA Lead
What a QA Lead / Manager earns
Median gross annual pay by level, in local currency. Estimates from public statistics and our listings.
| Country | Junior | Mid | Senior | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $85k | $110k | $140k | $180k |
| United Kingdom | £39k | £51k | £65k | £81k |
| Germany | €47k | €61k | €78k | €97k |
| Netherlands | €47k | €61k | €78k | €97k |
| Poland | PLN 140k | PLN 180k | PLN 220k | PLN 280k |
| Portugal | €26k | €34k | €43k | €54k |
| India | ₹1.3M | ₹1.7M | ₹2.2M | ₹2.7M |
| Brazil | R$210k | R$270k | R$340k | R$420k |
What a QA Lead / Manager does
- Define test strategy, release criteria and risk reporting
- Hire, coach and plan capacity for the QA team
- Negotiate scope and quality bars with product and engineering
- Run defect triage and release go/no-go
- Manage tooling budget and vendor QA partners
Where this role goes
Junior
Learns the product and the toolchain. Executes cases, reports clean bugs.
US median $85k
Mid
Owns a feature area end to end. Designs tests and mentors juniors.
US median $110k
Senior
Sets approach for a team. Reviews, unblocks and raises the quality bar.
US median $140k
Lead
Owns strategy, hiring and quality reporting across teams.
US median $175k
Common moves from QA Lead / Manager: SDET, Business / Test Analyst, Release / DevOps Engineer.
QA Lead / Manager FAQ
How much does a QA Lead / Manager earn?
In the US the median gross salary is $110k for mid-level, ranging from $85k (junior) to $175k (lead). In the UK a mid-level QA Lead / Manager typically earns £51k and in Germany €61k.
What skills does a QA Lead / Manager need?
Test strategy, People management, Metrics and reporting, Stakeholder management, Vendor management. Employers also look for evidence: a test strategy you wrote, a framework you built, or defects you found.
Can I work remotely as a QA Lead / Manager?
Yes. About 50% of QA Lead / Manager roles in our network are remote or remote-friendly. Time-zone overlap with the client is usually the deciding factor.
Which tools should a QA Lead / Manager know?
The most common in our listings: Jira, TestRail, Xray.