How To Become A Lead Operations Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a lead operations engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Professor David Sanford

As a lead operations engineer, you perform supervisory, training, administrative, and technical duties. Your job is to optimize the efficiency of an organization. The lead operations engineer ensures that the company's operations, like manufacturing and shipping, meet factory and management requirements. They examine machinery for defects regularly and repair or upgrade all company's machinery. As a lead operations engineer, you work with other unit heads to maintain their operations systems. You might also train managers and other personnel to use new and upgraded machinery.

Employers don't only look for applicants with a bachelor's degree in a related field. Instead, the scout for someone with analytical skills, communication skills, and problem-solving skills. These professionals find employment in various industries, including transportation, manufacturing, and technology. Lead operations engineers make an average of $51.74 per hour or $107,625 a year.

What general advice would you give to a lead operations engineer?

Professor David Sanford

Associate Professor an Department Chair (MIS, CS, CYB MGT, IS CYB), Northwood University

Workers like that they are challenged to solve problems and lead technological innovations.
They appreciate the diversity of projects
They enjoy the need for continuous improvement and education
Many see the global impact of their work.
They also desire and appreciate the need for versatile skills
A competitive salary is also an item that employees like

Workers dislike that the work can be stressful
Dealing with tight deadlines and/ or cybersecurity concerns.
This is a positive and a negative: The need to constantly stay up to date with technology can be a bit overwhelming for some.
There may be times of isolation, and
The unexpected system failures can be frustrating as they often require extra hours or the need to be on-call.
The multiple responsibilities and managing repetitive tasks are also issues workers point out in this field.

In short, the workplace offers exciting opportunities but comes with its fair share of pressures and challenges. Different people have different experiences based on their roles and personal preferences.

ScoreLead Operations EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $104,981

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 8.74%

Black or African American 8.99%

Hispanic or Latino 12.67%

Unknown 5.09%

White 64.19%

Gender

female 7.23%

male 92.77%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a lead operations engineer

Explore lead operations engineer education requirements

Most common lead operations engineer degrees

Bachelor's

56.0 %

Master's

15.5 %

Associate

14.8 %

Start to develop specific lead operations engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Preventative Maintenance	12.45%
HVAC	11.95%
Plumbing	11.41%
Mechanical Systems	7.43%
Electrical Systems	5.95%

Complete relevant lead operations engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New lead operations engineers 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 operations engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real lead operations engineer resumes.

Gain additional lead operations engineer certifications

Lead operations engineer certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific lead operations engineer certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for lead operations engineers include EPA Amusement Operators Safety Certification (EPA) and Six Sigma Green Belt.

More About Certifications

Research lead operations engineer duties and responsibilities

Accomplish responsibility to configure, administer and support new infrastructure solutions on Microsoft platforms to meet enterprise level requirements.
Integrate JIRA in with SVN and dealing with its administration in change management process.
Create and apply standard and extend IP access lists to routers for security measures.
Install and configure test servers, workstations, networks, and storage for VMware development environments.

Get lead operations engineer experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a lead operations engineer. The most common roles before becoming a lead operations engineer include operations engineer, maintenance technician team lead and building engineer.

Prepare your lead operations engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your lead operations engineer 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 operations engineer 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 operations engineer resume templates

Build a professional lead operations engineer 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 operations engineer resume.