Lead laboratory technician vs laboratory director

The differences between lead laboratory technicians and laboratory directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a lead laboratory technician, becoming a laboratory director takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a laboratory director has an average salary of $92,971, which is higher than the $54,230 average annual salary of a lead laboratory technician.

The top three skills for a lead laboratory technician include patients, lab equipment and customer service. The most important skills for a laboratory director are clinical laboratory, patients, and patient care.

Lead laboratory technician vs laboratory director overview

	Lead Laboratory Technician	Laboratory Director
Yearly salary	$54,230	$92,971
Hourly rate	$26.07	$44.70
Growth rate	3%	28%
Number of jobs	77,096	59,500
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	44	47
Years of experience	12	6

What does a lead laboratory technician do?

A Lead Laboratory Technician coordinates the operations of a laboratory. They supervise the preparation of specimens for tests, collection of blood, examination of blood samples, and other duties performed by the technician team.

What does a laboratory director do?

A Laboratory Director is responsible for the overall operation and administration of the laboratory. They examine data, create reports, manage the staff, and ensure that the lab facility operates in accordance with the regulatory provisions of the government and the organization.

Lead laboratory technician vs laboratory director salary

Lead laboratory technicians and laboratory directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Lead Laboratory Technician	Laboratory Director
Average salary	$54,230	$92,971
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $86,000	Between $55,000 And $156,000
Highest paying City	South San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Delaware
Best paying company	Meta	Reed Smith
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Media

Differences between lead laboratory technician and laboratory director education

There are a few differences between a lead laboratory technician and a laboratory director in terms of educational background:

	Lead Laboratory Technician	Laboratory Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	New York University	University of Pennsylvania

Lead laboratory technician vs laboratory director demographics

Here are the differences between lead laboratory technicians' and laboratory directors' demographics:

	Lead Laboratory Technician	Laboratory Director
Average age	44	47
Gender ratio	Male, 58.2% Female, 41.8%	Male, 55.9% Female, 44.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.6% Asian, 12.0% White, 54.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 8.1% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	8%	12%

Differences between lead laboratory technician and laboratory director duties and responsibilities

Lead laboratory technician example responsibilities.

Manage patient, and corporate information with compassion and confidentiality.
Set up, adjust, calibrate, clean, maintain, and troubleshoot laboratory instruments.
Assist with FDA and OSHA audits, coordinate the center for all audits and inspections.
Accession patient information, doctor information, and testing information accurately and promptly into the NovoPath LIS system.
Develop and execute IQ/OQ/PQ at manufacturing site.
Maintain, troubleshoot, verify and calibrate laboratory equipment.

Laboratory director example responsibilities.

Perform and manage quality control, maintenance and calibration of all equipment in hematology, coagulation and urinalysis.
Set up forensic DNA laboratory, train laboratory technicians in advance molecular techniques, and manage day-to-day activities of forensic DNA laboratory
Consult patients on various laboratory procedures involve in IVF.
Supervise 8 managers and 130 full-time employees (FTEs).
Focus on sterility, endotoxin, water and bioburden testing.
Restore compliance integrity of lab back to full capacity in time for JCAHO inspection.

Lead laboratory technician vs laboratory director skills

Common lead laboratory technician skills

Patients, 12%
Lab Equipment, 11%
Customer Service, 9%
Ongoing Maintenance, 5%
Patient Care, 4%
Chemistry, 4%

Common laboratory director skills

Clinical Laboratory, 11%
Patients, 10%
Patient Care, 9%
CLIA, 6%
Test Results, 6%
Laboratory Services, 4%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Lead Laboratory Technician
Lead Laboratory Technician vs Laboratory Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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