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What does a lead supervisor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
What does a lead supervisor do

Lead supervisors are responsible for several duties within an organization. They are accountable for overseeing their members and making sure that the work they produce is of good quality. They mainly serve as role models for their staff members, who often seek guidance, leadership, and support from them. When issues arise between employees, lead supervisors should intervene by providing conflict management to ease the situation. They also have to delegate work to employees to get the job done efficiently.

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Lead supervisor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real lead supervisor resumes:

  • Direct and lead inventory control initiatives and conduct all safety committee meetings per OSHA requirements.
  • Plan, lead and participate in training, Kaizen and ongoing activities.
  • Follow the GMP's and safety guidelines, complete reports on computer and manually; and assist line workers.
  • Coordinate scheduling of several production lines involve in GMP manufacturing.
  • Check and audit timekeeping and attendance records for compliance standards and payroll integrity.
  • Institute daily time sheet and accounting reviews reducing errors and almost eliminating after-the-fact payroll and invoicing adjustments.
  • Facilitate activity-base team building and leadership development for university and external groups through experiential education action-reflection model.
  • Develop and personally deliver targeted training programs to promote successful outings, leadership competencies and safety practices.
  • Collect data to prepare PowerPoint presentations for dissemination, talking points, memorandums and other materials for senior management.
  • Conduct PowerPoint presentation to illustrate shrink reduction, cost cutting programs and additionally to promote safety awareness in all departments.
  • Provide organizations solutions that aid personnel in the development of logistics strategies for new organizations and improve efficiency in specialize systems.
  • Operate a barrier treatment system which includes an array of different applications of electricity, valves and plumbing.
  • Perform QA function for manufacturing process and quality control departments.
  • Improve processes by carefully examining quality monitors from QA teams and providing constructive feedback.
  • Link clients to housing, psycho-social rehabilitation centers, patient assistance medication programs, and Medicaid/Medicare and crisis intervention programs.

Lead supervisor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 22% of Lead Supervisors are proficient in Safety Procedures, PET, and Payroll.

We break down the percentage of Lead Supervisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Safety Procedures, 22%

    Implemented airfield safety procedures to ensure safe operating environment for personnel and aircraft operation.

  • PET, 19%

    Understand and maintain operating all fillers of, 1/2 pints, PET fillers to quarts, 1/2 gallon and gallon filler.

  • Payroll, 12%

    Instituted daily time sheet and accounting reviews reducing errors and almost eliminating after-the-fact payroll and invoicing adjustments.

  • Customer Service, 11%

    General managerial responsibilities including: scheduling, performance evaluations, and exceptional customer service in a fast-paced, fashion-forward environment.

  • Exceptional Guest, 10%

    Provided direction to others and exceptional Guest service skills Addressed and resolved a wide variety of concerns and complaints.

  • Performance Evaluations, 10%

    Prioritized multiple tasks, participated on continual improvement activities, and executed corrective action and performance evaluations.

Most lead supervisors use their skills in "safety procedures," "pet," and "payroll" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential lead supervisor responsibilities here:

All lead supervisor skills

The three companies that hire the most lead supervisors are:

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Compare different lead supervisors

Lead supervisor vs. Quality assurance supervisor

A quality assurance supervisor oversees and leads the quality control operations within a manufacturing plant or similar establishment. They are primarily responsible for crafting and implementing policies that prioritize the efficiency of products or services, supervising and evaluating the performances of the workforce, and setting standards and procedures that align not just with the goals of the company, but the national and international level of production standards. Furthermore, as a supervisor in the field, it is crucial to encourage and shape quality assurance workers into valuable members of the company.

We looked at the average lead supervisor salary and compared it with the wages of a quality assurance supervisor. Generally speaking, quality assurance supervisors are paid $23,597 higher than lead supervisors per year.Even though lead supervisors and quality assurance supervisors are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require customer service, performance evaluations, and work scheduling in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between lead supervisors and quality assurance supervisor. For instance, lead supervisor responsibilities require skills such as "safety procedures," "pet," "payroll," and "exceptional guest." Whereas a quality assurance supervisor is skilled in "food safety," "product quality," "gmp," and "patients." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Quality assurance supervisors tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $80,377. In contrast, lead supervisors make the biggest average salary, $47,284, in the manufacturing industry.On average, quality assurance supervisors reach similar levels of education than lead supervisors. Quality assurance supervisors are 4.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Lead supervisor vs. Night shift supervisor

A Night Shift Supervisor is a person who manages and supervises night shift production. Their responsibilities include: providing good customer services, ensuring efficiencies of tasks, ensuring cost objectives are met, training and guiding a team of workers, ensuring staff and the working environment is in line with compliance standards, help the site team ensure the company specifications on products are made with the quality of the products intact, acting as a communication bridge between associates and management to address key issues and conducting minor repairs during their shift to ensure the work does not lag.

Night shift supervisor positions earn lower pay than lead supervisor roles. They earn a $7,057 lower salary than lead supervisors per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Lead supervisors and night shift supervisors both require similar skills like "safety procedures," "customer service," and "performance evaluations" to carry out their responsibilities.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that lead supervisor responsibilities requires skills like "pet," "payroll," "exceptional guest," and "gross margin." But a night shift supervisor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "patients," "safety rules," "emergency situations," and "cnc."

On average, night shift supervisors earn a lower salary than lead supervisors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, night shift supervisors earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $36,163. Whereas lead supervisors have higher pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $47,284.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Night shift supervisors tend to reach similar levels of education than lead supervisors. In fact, they're 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Lead supervisor vs. Working supervisor

A working supervisor is responsible for overseeing the daily performance of employees. Depending on the business, company, or organization, a working supervisor's primary job is to orchestrate coordinated teamwork. This job requires excellent communication and organizational skills. These skills ensure that working supervisors can transfer information or instructions from higher-level management to employees and provide reports to upper management.

An average working supervisor eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of lead supervisors. The difference in salaries amounts to working supervisors earning a $6,824 higher average salary than lead supervisors.By looking over several lead supervisors and working supervisors resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "safety procedures," "payroll," and "performance evaluations." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, lead supervisors are more likely to have skills like "pet," "customer service," "exceptional guest," and "gross margin." But a working supervisor is more likely to have skills like "direct supervision," "safety rules," "grass," and "community resources."

Working supervisors earn the highest salary when working in the government industry, where they receive an average salary of $51,102. Comparatively, lead supervisors have the highest earning potential in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $47,284.working supervisors typically earn similar educational levels compared to lead supervisors. Specifically, they're 1.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Lead supervisor vs. Processing supervisor

A processing supervisor is responsible for overseeing the overall operational processes of a department and ensuring that the team members adhere to the highest quality standards and efficiency. Processing supervisors strategize efficient techniques to maximize the productivity and performance of the staff to deliver customer satisfaction and increase the company's brand reputation to the public. They also coordinate with clients, respond to inquiries and concerns, and resolve any complications related to the process and project management procedures.

Processing supervisors average a higher salary than the annual salary of lead supervisors. The difference is about $10,465 per year.While both lead supervisors and processing supervisors complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like safety procedures, customer service, and performance evaluations, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between lead supervisors and processing supervisors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a lead supervisor might have more use for skills like "pet," "payroll," "exceptional guest," and "gross margin." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of processing supervisors require skills like "sterile processing," "patients," "spd," and "osha. "

Processing supervisors enjoy the best pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $55,456. For comparison, lead supervisors earn the highest salary in the manufacturing industry.processing supervisors reach similar levels of education compared to lead supervisors, in general. The difference is that they're 2.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of lead supervisor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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