Department lead vs team leader/supervisor

The differences between department leads and team leader/supervisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a department lead and a team leader/supervisor. Additionally, a team leader/supervisor has an average salary of $50,841, which is higher than the $42,113 average annual salary of a department lead.

The top three skills for a department lead include cleanliness, safety procedures and customer service. The most important skills for a team leader/supervisor are safety procedures, quality standards, and sales floor.

Department lead vs team leader/supervisor overview

	Department Lead	Team Leader/Supervisor
Yearly salary	$42,113	$50,841
Hourly rate	$20.25	$24.44
Growth rate	-	8%
Number of jobs	204,534	96,069
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age	43	47
Years of experience	6	6

What does a department lead do?

A department lead's responsibilities will vary in an organization or company. It will, most of the time, revolve around overseeing the progress of work in a particular area and evaluating department staff's performance. Other responsibilities include setting goals and implementing the company's policies and guidelines. They may also carry out administrative tasks such as approving and signing paperwork, producing reports and presentations, and crafting guidelines and strategies to help reach goals. Furthermore, as a department head, it is important to encourage staff and shape them into valuable company members.

What does a team leader/supervisor do?

A team leader or supervisor is an individual who leads and supervises a workgroup's functionality through instructions and guidance in an organization. Team leaders provide support to staff members by way of coaching and skills development. They are responsible for preventing and resolving conflicts among staff members by setting ground rules and assigning tasks properly. They also organize team meetings and report the progress of a project to the management. Since they lead a workforce, team leaders must possess excellent verbal communication skills and have a great work ethic.

Department lead vs team leader/supervisor salary

Department leads and team leader/supervisors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Department Lead	Team Leader/Supervisor
Average salary	$42,113	$50,841
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $79,000	Between $32,000 And $79,000
Highest paying City	New Haven, CT	New Bedford, MA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	Rhode Island
Best paying company	Tufts Medical Center	Nexteer Automotive
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	-

Differences between department lead and team leader/supervisor education

There are a few differences between a department lead and a team leader/supervisor in terms of educational background:

	Department Lead	Team Leader/Supervisor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi	California State University - Bakersfield

Department lead vs team leader/supervisor demographics

Here are the differences between department leads' and team leader/supervisors' demographics:

	Department Lead	Team Leader/Supervisor
Average age	43	47
Gender ratio	Male, 54.7% Female, 45.3%	Male, 55.8% Female, 44.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 6.9% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 5.2% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	9%	8%

Differences between department lead and team leader/supervisor duties and responsibilities

Department lead example responsibilities.

Implement inventory management system to effectively manage on-hands, assist with correct replenishment and maintain an acceptable level of over-stock.
Operate POS system, and receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debit.
Oversee the completion of all POS transactions, maintain cash office records and assistant in training of all new cashiers.
Conduct geotechnical and geological investigations and mineral resource evaluations for commercial, industrial and governmental clients using the above-mentioned drilling techniques.
Develop unique SQL, cloudbase, and ADHOC telephony query techniques resulting in the identification of previously undiscovered nefarious networks.

Team leader/supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage an embed Facebook executive protection team that provide security and logistical support for a corporate executive and his family.
Provide outstanding customer service support investigating, correcting, and answering employee payroll questions and discrepancies.
Produce clean, custom build windows to meet customer satisfaction and company standards requirements.
Develop and implement new workforce training programs; create PowerPoint slides and lesson plans.
Provide training presentation from an instructor-le, PowerPoint, to hands on lab environment for newly hire programmers.
Assist in controlling payroll, ensuring accurate timekeeping and minimizing all controllable costs.

Department lead vs team leader/supervisor skills

Common department lead skills

Cleanliness, 12%
Safety Procedures, 11%
Customer Service, 10%
Store Management, 8%
Inventory Management, 7%
Sales Floor, 6%

Common team leader/supervisor skills

Safety Procedures, 19%
Quality Standards, 11%
Sales Floor, 7%
Payroll, 5%
Process Improvement, 5%
Continuous Improvement, 4%

Department Lead vs. similar jobs

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Department Lead
Department Lead vs Team Leader/Supervisor

Updated January 8, 2025

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