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Help desk supervisor vs lead support technician

The differences between help desk supervisors and lead support technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a help desk supervisor and a lead support technician. Additionally, a lead support technician has an average salary of $95,420, which is higher than the $64,297 average annual salary of a help desk supervisor.

The top three skills for a help desk supervisor include customer service, technical support and operational procedures. The most important skills for a lead support technician are database, customer service, and customer satisfaction.

Help desk supervisor vs lead support technician overview

Help Desk SupervisorLead Support Technician
Yearly salary$64,297$95,420
Hourly rate$30.91$45.88
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs72,240115,952
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 52%Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

What does a help desk supervisor do?

A Help Desk Supervisor oversees and evaluates the daily operations of help desk teams to ensure that customers receive optimal services. They have the authority to set short and long-term goals, establish guidelines and employee schedules, liaise with external business partners, delegate tasks among staff, and monitor operations' progress, resolving complicated issues and concerns. They also review documents and reports that employees regularly submit to ensure that all operations run smoothly and efficiently. Moreover, a Help Desk Supervisor leads and encourages teams to reach goals while implementing its policies and regulations.

What does a lead support technician do?

Lead support technicians test and troubleshoot onboard systems by using various interface tools and proprietary software. Besides following instructions, lead support technicians also work hand-in-hand with managers to ensure all quality standards are implemented. Lead support technicians also oversee and support different technical tasks, including brackets, building weldments, fabricating, and modifying support structures. Moreover, lead support technicians troubleshoot and resolve hardware and software problems.

Help desk supervisor vs lead support technician salary

Help desk supervisors and lead support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Help Desk SupervisorLead Support Technician
Average salary$64,297$95,420
Salary rangeBetween $43,000 And $94,000Between $64,000 And $140,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-New Jersey
Best paying company-Google
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between help desk supervisor and lead support technician education

There are a few differences between a help desk supervisor and a lead support technician in terms of educational background:

Help Desk SupervisorLead Support Technician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 52%Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common majorBusinessComputer Science
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Help desk supervisor vs lead support technician demographics

Here are the differences between help desk supervisors' and lead support technicians' demographics:

Help Desk SupervisorLead Support Technician
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 66.4% Female, 33.6%Male, 81.1% Female, 18.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 12.0% White, 55.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between help desk supervisor and lead support technician duties and responsibilities

Help desk supervisor example responsibilities.

  • Manage LAN software/hardware installation and upgrade efforts.
  • Provide remote implementation support for IBM POS solution.
  • Provide phone support for network and remote VPN users with connectivity issues.
  • Assist remote users with VPN, RAS, and RNA connection problems.
  • Negotiate the leasing and storage of OS specific hardware for deadline driven system upgrades.
  • Assist in setting up and troubleshooting port security on switches through command line CLI.
  • Show more

Lead support technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage communications capabilities, including FTP, TCP/IP, direct connect, and modem.
  • Manage user problems with Citrix XenApp by clearing problematic connections to allow users to reconnect and use their applications.
  • Work with multiple virtualization software programs (Citrix XenCenter, ESXI vSphere); utilize Salesforce to manage support tickets.
  • Install network LAN equipment by running Cat5e cabling and setting up network switches and routers.
  • Used UNIX script for compiling and deployment.
  • Provide support to DoD secure project areas.
  • Show more

Help desk supervisor vs lead support technician skills

Common help desk supervisor skills
  • Customer Service, 10%
  • Technical Support, 9%
  • Operational Procedures, 8%
  • Help Desk, 6%
  • Desk Support, 5%
  • Level Agreements, 4%
Common lead support technician skills
  • Database, 8%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 5%
  • Java, 4%
  • Customer Support, 4%
  • OS, 4%

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