Assistant department head vs team leader

The differences between assistant department heads and team leaders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an assistant department head and a team leader. Additionally, a team leader has an average salary of $68,817, which is higher than the $65,309 average annual salary of an assistant department head.

The top three skills for an assistant department head include ladders, sales floor and customer service. The most important skills for a team leader are customer service, ladders, and patients.

Assistant department head vs team leader overview

	Assistant Department Head	Team Leader
Yearly salary	$65,309	$68,817
Hourly rate	$31.40	$33.09
Growth rate	-	8%
Number of jobs	41,690	197,336
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	6	6

What does an assistant department head do?

An assistant department head is responsible for monitoring the operations of the department, together with the department head. Assistant department heads' duties include managing clients' inquiries and complaints, developing strategic solutions to improve clients' satisfaction, and identifying business opportunities to increase revenues and the business' profitability. They will also work on monitoring the staff's performance and addressing their concerns, creating sales reports, maintaining budget goals, and organizing training. An assistant department head must have excellent leadership and communication skills to help in achieving the department's objectives.

What does a team leader do?

Team leaders are responsible for managing a team for a specific project or work component. They primarily guide the team members and ensure that they are still working towards the set goals. Team leaders create strategies to reach goals, cascade the goals and strategies to team members, assign tasks, conduct periodic check-ups on the roadmap towards the goals, foster an engaging work environment, motivate and coach team members, monitor team performance, evaluate the strategies and come up with mitigating plans as needed. They are also responsible for reporting the team's progress to higher management.

Assistant department head vs team leader salary

Assistant department heads and team leaders have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Assistant Department Head	Team Leader
Average salary	$65,309	$68,817
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $106,000	Between $37,000 And $126,000
Highest paying City	Centereach, NY	New York, NY
Highest paying state	New York	Alaska
Best paying company	Princeton University	Ropes & Gray
Best paying industry	Energy	-

Differences between assistant department head and team leader education

There are a few differences between an assistant department head and a team leader in terms of educational background:

	Assistant Department Head	Team Leader
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi

Assistant department head vs team leader demographics

Here are the differences between assistant department heads' and team leaders' demographics:

	Assistant Department Head	Team Leader
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 54.9% Female, 45.1%	Male, 55.0% Female, 45.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 7.4% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 7.2% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between assistant department head and team leader duties and responsibilities

Assistant department head example responsibilities.

Generate and implement new rules and regulations for the disciplinary department which lead to streamlining the process for separating challenge sailors.
Manage a high volume of patient information from authorizing diagnostic procedures and scheduling patients.
Perform all duties require while working in a retail environment such as POS cash handling, customer service and sales.
Stoop, climb ladders, and lift heavy loads during set-up for events.
Administer Microsoft PowerPoint training lectures and meeting/ briefings require by OSHA and NAVOSH.
Collaborate with patients, Tricare, and providers DOD and civilian coordinating specialty care referrals.

Team leader example responsibilities.

Manage ACD metrics and methodology, including reporting to Sr. Management.
Set the highest standards for achieving company s KPIs, and holding staff individually accountable thereof.
Lead and conduct daily port operations for all DOD cargo transiting through the state of Florida.
Manage inventory and stock groceries, clothes and office supplies, handle supplies requests, revise logbook.
Implement multiple tools and utilities (KaiZen ideas) to optimize and automate various processes across the projects.
Manage online tasks, delegate and oversee responsibilities and projects, work with HTML coding, and update site content.

Assistant department head vs team leader skills

Common assistant department head skills

Ladders, 29%
Sales Floor, 28%
Customer Service, 11%
Curriculum Development, 3%
Professional Development, 3%
Loss Prevention, 3%

Common team leader skills

Customer Service, 26%
Ladders, 9%
Patients, 6%
Sales Floor, 6%
PET, 5%
Safety Procedures, 4%

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Assistant Department Head
Assistant Department Head vs Team Leader

Updated January 8, 2025

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