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

What is a lead programmer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Frank McCown Ph.D.,

Kevin Treu Ph.D.

The average lead programmer salary is $118,938. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an computer science major. It usually takes 6-8 years of experience to become a lead programmer. Lead programmers with a Programming in C# Certification certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -7% and produce -17,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a lead programmer?

Frank McCown Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Harding University

The market is stable for software developers, despite the economic challenges created by the pandemic. Before accepting a job offer, talk to the company's employees through online meetings or email, and see what they think of the company. Do they enjoy their work? Are there opportunities to learn new technologies? How does the company treat their employees? There's a good chance you will be working remotely in your first job, so you will need to exercise a lot of self-discipline, be punctual for online meetings, do the work you've been assigned, and know when to ask questions when you get stuck. Expect a steeper-than-normal learning curve if you are working remotely instead of in an office.

ScoreLead ProgrammerUS Average

Salary

8.1

Avg. Salary $118,938

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.1

Growth rate -7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 14.89%

Black or African American 5.14%

Hispanic or Latino 9.08%

Unknown 4.75%

White 65.96%

Gender

female 11.67%

male 88.33%

Age - 48

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 - 48

Stress level

5.1

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a lead programmer

Explore lead programmer education requirements

Most common lead programmer degrees

Bachelor's

69.1 %

Master's

13.1 %

Associate

10.8 %

Start to develop specific lead programmer skills

Skills	Percentages
Java	11.47%
JavaScript	5.47%
Python	5.42%
Web Services	4.93%
Database Design	4.66%

Complete relevant lead programmer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New lead programmers 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 programmer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real lead programmer resumes.

Research lead programmer duties and responsibilities

Lead programmer managing several teams on multiple games for the XBOX, PS2, and PC.
Lead solutions engineering that involve process automation, macro conversion and functionality enhancement.
Develop custom HTML and CSS documents for external clients.
Format HTML, RTF and PDF reports, using SAS - output delivery system ODS.

Get lead programmer experience

Generally, it takes 6-8 years to become a lead programmer. The most common roles before becoming a lead programmer include programmer, programmer analyst team lead and consultant.

Prepare your lead programmer resume

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

Build a professional lead programmer 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 programmer resume.

Apply for lead programmer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a lead programmer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do lead programmers rate their job?

5/5

Based on 1 ratings

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Lead programmer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2023

Cons

You will be oncall...personally,I am once every 5 weeks. My shop is pretty static, so I don't get called often...but some shops can have brutal oncalls.

5.0

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2019

Pros

The opportunity to take lead and mentor junior programmers