QA engineer career path at tech companies · 195 roles · 90 days to Oct 16, 2026
Updated
In short
Of the 195 QA engineer roles at tech companies in the 90 days to Oct 16, 2026, 76 are senior, more than at any other level. Java rises most. Among the roles whose requirements we could read, it is required in 9 of 55 (16%) mid-level roles and 21 of 76 (28%) senior roles. Software engineer roles share 8 of the 12 required skills listed for QA engineer roles; no other role shares more.
Levels in order
Each level counts its own roles. A median shows only where 50 or more of that level’s roles state pay, and each is taken over a different set of roles.
| Level | Roles | Median stated pay | At least half ask for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior QA engineer | 15 roles | Not shown | 2+ years, 8 of 12 |
| Mid-level QA engineer | 55 roles | Not shown | 3+ years, 45 of 49 |
| Senior QA engineer | 76 roles | Not shown | 5+ years, 54 of 60 (90%) |
| Staff QA engineer | 10 roles | Not shown | 8+ years, 7 of 10 |
| Principal QA engineer | 4 roles | Not shown | 8+ years, 2 of 3 |
| Lead QA engineer | 5 roles | Not shown | 8+ years, 3 of 5 |
Lead titles say who leads a team, not a step above principal, so lead is listed last and not compared with the level before it.
What rises at the next level
Required skills asked for in a larger share of roles at the next level, by 5 points or more. Each count is out of that level’s roles whose requirements we could read.
Mid-level to senior
Out of 55 mid-level and 76 senior roles whose requirements we read.
| Skill | Mid-level | Senior |
|---|---|---|
| Java | 9 of 55 (16%) | 21 of 76 (28%) |
| TypeScript | 9 of 55 (16%) | 20 of 76 (26%) |
| CI/CD | 21 of 55 (38%) | 36 of 76 (47%) |
| JavaScript | 10 of 55 (18%) | 19 of 76 (25%) |
In the senior top 15, not in the mid-level top 15: API Testing, SQL, Integration Testing
Not compared, fewer than 50 roles read at one of the two levels: junior to mid-level, senior to staff and staff to principal.
Roles closest to QA engineer, by shared skills
Compared over each role’s most-required skills, umbrella labels such as “Programming” left out. The more skills two roles share, the shorter the move between them.
Software engineer2,484 roles
8 shared: Python, CI/CD, Java, Git, SQL, JavaScript, TypeScript, REST
Median stated pay: $178k a year
Data engineer364 roles
4 shared: Python, CI/CD, Git, SQL
Median stated pay: $165k a year
Mobile engineer125 roles
4 shared: CI/CD, Java, Git, REST
Median stated pay: $199.8k a year
Machine learning engineer323 roles
3 shared: Python, CI/CD, SQL
Median stated pay: $218.9k a year
More on QA engineer roles
How we count: 195 roles from 158 employers in the 90 days to Oct 16, 2026, each role counted once however many boards post it. Methodology