How To Become A Lead Furnace Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a lead furnace operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a lead furnace operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.8 an hour? That's $39,108 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -45,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreLead Furnace OperatorUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $39,108

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.85%

Asian 3.49%

Black or African American 10.91%

Hispanic or Latino 19.05%

Unknown 4.83%

White 60.87%

Gender

female 3.03%

male 96.97%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.4

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a lead furnace operator

Explore lead furnace operator education requirements

Most common lead furnace operator degrees

High School Diploma

59.5 %

Associate

16.7 %

Bachelor's

11.9 %

Start to develop specific lead furnace operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Aluminum	32.36%
Bobcat	17.58%
Heat Treat	15.24%
Production Data	12.65%
RAN	11.59%

Complete relevant lead furnace operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New lead furnace operators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a lead furnace operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real lead furnace operator resumes.

Research lead furnace operator duties and responsibilities

Lead and coordinate team in all aspects of operation in an aluminum blast furnace.
Calculate specs and add alloys to bring alloy to grade.
Demonstrate ability to troubleshoot creatively, solve problems effectively, and make inform decisions while successfully guiding others through constant change.
Operate heavy machinery such as bobcat equipment and also operate and pave asphalt perform demolition work.

Prepare your lead furnace operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your lead furnace operator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a lead furnace operator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable lead furnace operator resume templates

Build a professional lead furnace operator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your lead furnace operator resume.