What does a lead associate do?
The duties of a lead associate depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. In a retail setting, their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis to identify new business opportunities, devising strategies to optimize sales, and reaching out to clients through calls and correspondence. A lead associate may offer products and services to potential clients, answer inquiries, conduct demonstrations, process payments, arrange billing plans, and perform follow-up calls. Furthermore, they may also handle issues and concerns, resolving them in adherence to the company's policies and regulations.
Lead associate responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real lead associate resumes:
- Lead the review and overhaul of the QA and configuration management processes for the IPPS-A program.
- Manage and care for all pets including: pet counts, medicating, cleaning, and selling.
- Administer SharePoint server to include managing users and group on site to control large scale enterprise projects.
- Manage and delegate over lumber-building materials department including millwork department.
- Communicate team challenges and support strategic project management plans during daily leadership meetings; disseminate strategies and information to the team.
- Solve customer service and billing issues and troubleshoot equipment for customers.
- Contribute to the final client PowerPoint presentation, highlighting key findings and recommendations.
- Provide excellent customer service by phone, in person and via email with pet owners.
- Paint store walls to spruce up its appearance, clean the carpets, and windows.
- Scan groceries and ensure correct sale price, issue receipts, refunds, and credits.
- Facilitate money transactions for customers purchasing groceries, money orders, cashing checks and paying bills, etc.
- Process reimbursements, invoices, credit card statements and supervise payments for product and services using POS business system.
- Arrange merchandise on display and maintain department cleanliness.
- Provide assistance with cleanliness and regulatory compliance with company regulations.
- Recognize strengths in facilitating communications with both physicians and patients.
Lead associate skills and personality traits
We calculated that 31% of Lead Associates are proficient in PET, Leadership, and POS.
We break down the percentage of Lead Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- PET, 31%
Promoted from associate to lead associate, filled in for grooming department pet bather for three months.
- Leadership, 22%
Provided in-depth analysis of defense and intelligence-related capabilities funding levels for NGA senior leadership decision-making governing resource shifts between major programs.
- POS, 8%
Processed reimbursements, invoices, credit card statements and supervised payments for product and services using POS business system.
- Cleanliness, 7%
Arranged merchandise on display and maintained department cleanliness.
- Sales Floor, 7%
Keep all Fountain and Condiment supplies both on the sales floor and behind the Fountain Area stocked and in good condition.
- HR, 3%
Collaborate and integrate service delivery with HR enterprise counterparts to ensure consistency in philosophies and alignment with business goals.
Common skills that a lead associate uses to do their job include "pet," "leadership," and "pos." You can find details on the most important lead associate responsibilities below.
The three companies that hire the most lead associates are:
- JPMorgan Chase & Co.259 lead associates jobs
- Ernst & Young137 lead associates jobs
- Amazon103 lead associates jobs
Compare different lead associates
Lead associate vs. Floor supervisor
A floor supervisor is personnel hired by the hospitality and retail establishments who provide a quality experience to guests by inspecting the guest area's cleanliness. To maintain freshness, a floor supervisor collaborates with a manager to deploy custodial staff and train new employees. A floor supervisor must be knowledgeable in booking and checking-in guests and resolve complaints using his/her conflict resolution skills. Also, a floor supervisor should have an associate's degree in hospitality management.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a lead associate are more likely to require skills like "pet," "taking care," "patients," and "project management." On the other hand, a job as a floor supervisor requires skills like "keep management," "store management," "develop proficiency," and "excellent interpersonal." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Floor supervisors tend to reach lower levels of education than lead associates. In fact, floor supervisors are 5.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Lead associate vs. Shift supervisor
Shift supervisors are responsible for the employees assigned to the shift that they are handling. Shift supervisors ensure that the employees who were expected to report to work at the specific shift came in. They also ensure that the employees are doing their jobs while at work. Shift supervisors are expected to ensure that employees are really working during working hours and properly delegate work. Shift supervisors ensure that the employees are productive and efficient in their jobs. They are expected to provide coaching and guidance so that the employees will be able to reach the goals assigned to the work team.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that lead associate responsibilities requires skills like "taking care," "hr," "project management," and "highlighted." But a shift supervisor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "cash handling," "store management," "food products," and "cash flow."
In general, shift supervisors achieve similar levels of education than lead associates. They're 4.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Lead associate vs. Cashier supervisor
A cashier supervisor is responsible for monitoring the performance of the cash register staff, ensuring the accuracy of sales and balance sheets, and manage payment discrepancies. Cashier supervisors also monitor stock inventory, organize shelves based on client and market demands to increase sales, help on developing promotional strategies and discount offers, process product replacements, and issue refunds as needed. A cashier supervisor must have excellent communication skills, especially on responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, and resolve escalated complaints timely and efficiently.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from lead associate resumes include skills like "pet," "taking care," "cleanliness," and "hr," whereas a cashier supervisor is more likely to list skills in "customer satisfaction," "service desk," "sales transactions," and "customer returns. "
Cashier supervisors typically earn lower educational levels compared to lead associates. Specifically, they're 6.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Lead associate vs. Stores supervisor
Store or retail supervisors are management professionals who are responsible for managing a team of staff members to ensure the smooth operation of a retail store. These supervisors are required to arrive early at the store so that they can open the store and disable the alarm system as well as prepare the cash registers. They must maintain inventory level and order new products when necessary while keeping records of every product available in their backroom. Store supervisors must also act as a customer service agent to help customers enjoy their experience in the store.
Types of lead associate
Updated January 8, 2025
