What does a functional lead do?
Functional leads are professionals who analyze business requirements and provide system design while implementing system solutions for various business initiatives. These professionals must work with clients and internal stakeholders to identify and understand the functional or business requirements. They must analyze and solve complex system problems so that they can improve the organization's overall Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) development and support process. Functional leads must also facilitate a team to design document control procedures that can significantly reduce process cycle time and cost.
Functional lead responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real functional lead resumes:
- Manage the FI project plan and training.
- Direct and manage subject matter expert (SME) activity during analysis and content development.
- Lead functional staff in planning stage of system migration from client-server architecture to web base environment via ResQSoft conversion tool.
- Monitor all prototyping and user acceptance testing.
- Work on AppWorx, which is a job scheduling tool integrate with EBS.
- Help several financial industry clients in implementation of FAH and core EBS financial modules.
- Interface with FI module, specifically with respect to posting procedures and updating stock value.
- Analyze and solve complex system problems as part of the overall ERP development and support process.
- Develop ERP structure using requirements such as fit/gap analysis, scope document, as-is and to-be processes.
- SAP CRM is used for raising requests for new connections, alterations or disconnections and track requests.
- Conduct system testing, integration testing and drive the UAT session with the end-users and process owners.
- Execute end to end testing to make sure integrate solution is working in preparation for QA testing.
- Plan and execute, legacy data migration, conversions, production cut-over, application go-Live and post production activities.
- Review the test case result documents and coordinate with clients and get the test results sign off from UAT testing.
- Create functional specification documents (FSD) for the features own making it more readable using the VISIO diagram representations.
Functional lead skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Functional Leads are proficient in ERP, Client Facing, and Enterprise Solutions. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Creativity.
We break down the percentage of Functional Leads that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- ERP, 10%
Worked closely with Business partners and re-engineered business processes to operate more efficiently by leveraging Industry standards and ERP best practices.
- Client Facing, 7%
Have good exposure to critical incident handling, escalation management and client facing functions and industry best practices.
- Enterprise Solutions, 6%
Translated technical specifications into project scopes of work and product requirements while spearheading design and development of databases and enterprise solutions.
- Gl, 6%
Created multiple responsibilities, developed security rules and customized menu to restrict user access to GL functionality as per client requirement.
- Business Process, 5%
Designed and coded a key report for company metrics along with documenting critical business processes related to contracts and revenue generation/recognition.
- Gap Analysis, 5%
Work closely with business to facilitate/do map-gap analysis, solution design and testing activities.
"erp," "client facing," and "enterprise solutions" are among the most common skills that functional leads use at work. You can find even more functional lead responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a functional lead to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "analysts must interpret complex information from various sources and decide the best way to move forward on a project." Additionally, a functional lead resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "managed the process of ensuring data integrity within company s oracle erp system with respect to engineering and manufacturing change activity. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform functional lead duties is communication skills. Functional leads responsibilities require that "analysts work as a go-between with management and the it department and must explain complex issues in a way that both will understand." Functional leads also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "assist client project manager in executing the change in business process procedures by holding multiple communication sessions with key business users. "
Creativity. This is an important skill for functional leads to perform their duties. For an example of how functional lead responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "because analysts are tasked with finding innovative solutions to computer problems, an ability to “think outside the box” is important." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a functional lead: "designed and created test scripts for inventory and purchasing modules upgrade to 8.9. ".
The three companies that hire the most functional leads are:
- Deloitte1,294 functional leads jobs
- Oracle170 functional leads jobs
- Accenture156 functional leads jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable functional lead resume templates
Build a professional functional lead resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your functional lead resume.
Compare different functional leads
Functional lead vs. Programmer analyst
A programmer analyst is responsible for monitoring database performance and software applications, performing basic troubleshooting, and improving program operations as needed. Programmer analysts' duties also include making adjustments on the system based on client's specifications, creating reports for any updates and new system procedures, designing specific technology solutions to improve the business operations, and performing necessary code adjustments. A programmer analyst must have extensive knowledge of computer systems and procedures, as well as critical-thinking skills to perform complex tasks under minimal supervision.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between functional leads and programmer analyst. For instance, functional lead responsibilities require skills such as "client facing," "enterprise solutions," "gl," and "business process." Whereas a programmer analyst is skilled in "sql server," "c++," "javascript," and "data warehouse." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Programmer analysts earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $76,037. On the other hand, functional leads are paid more in the retail industry with an average salary of $120,064.The education levels that programmer analysts earn slightly differ from functional leads. In particular, programmer analysts are 10.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a functional lead. Additionally, they're 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Functional lead vs. Oracle consultant
An Oracle consultant specializes in developing strategies to optimize a company's Oracle software projects, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities often revolve around conducting research and analysis to identify the best practices, gathering and analyzing data to determine the strengths and weaknesses of existing systems, and implementing solutions in problem areas. They must also communicate with clients, identifying and meeting their needs for an efficient service. Furthermore, as an Oracle consultant, it is essential to function while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that functional lead responsibilities requires skills like "user training," "strong analytical," "solution design," and "crm." But an oracle consultant might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "peoplesoft," "receivables," "dba," and "linux."
Oracle consultants may earn a lower salary than functional leads, but oracle consultants earn the most pay in the insurance industry with an average salary of $96,945. On the other hand, functional leads receive higher pay in the retail industry, where they earn an average salary of $120,064.oracle consultants earn similar levels of education than functional leads in general. They're 1.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Functional lead vs. Information technology consultant
An Information Technology Consultant, also known as IT Consultant, is responsible for sharing extensive knowledge of Information Technology by providing suggestions and solving issues within the company. Among the duties include installing and maintaining the necessary software and hardware, designing new procedures, overseeing all implementations, and ensuring that all systems are running smoothly, employing methods to secure databases, and providing essential instructions when needed. Furthermore, an Information Technology Consultant needs to coordinate and report to management or supervisors at all times.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, functional leads are more likely to have skills like "client facing," "enterprise solutions," "gl," and "business process." But a information technology consultant is more likely to have skills like "customer service," "database," "project management," and "cloud."
Information technology consultants make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $99,092. On the other hand, functional leads are paid the highest salary in the retail industry, with average annual pay of $120,064.When it comes to education, information technology consultants tend to earn lower degree levels compared to functional leads. In fact, they're 12.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Functional lead vs. Lead consultant
The lead consultants oversee the work of a consultant team and are responsible for offering clients their advice and recommendations on the given project. They are multi-focus experts that assist the company in improving its business performance by acting as liaisons between clients and the consultancy team. Their main job is to ensure the daily management of client's projects. They help the client identify and understand their needs together with finding solutions to their difficulties. Additionally, they analyze and review proposals from the team and then provide relevant solutions to the problems.
Types of functional lead
Updated January 8, 2025
