It depends on the tasks. A tester finds and documents bugs so that they can be corrected. A QA engineer performs more global tasks, they ' re aimed at improving the quality of the product in general, and the processes associated with its development. They ' re focused on preventing errors. But they can also work as a tester. However, if you need a tester, but you call the position "QA engineer ", the employee may be surprised at the narrow range of tasks and the lack of opportunities to influence processes.