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What does a lead technician do?

Updated January 8, 2025
9 min read
Quoted expert
Dr. Howard Rees
What does a lead technician do

Lead technicians are technicians who oversee the technical needs of a specific project or department. They are usually tenured employees, and their familiarity with the company's technical and technological processes, software, and hardware would be a great advantage in succeeding in their role. Lead technicians are responsible for installing, updating, and maintaining various software and hardware components in the office. They often manage a group of technicians, and they ensure that the group they manage is properly trained and well-versed on the processes of the company. Lead technicians are expected to have strong analytical skills and decision-making skills.

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Lead technician responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real lead technician resumes:

  • Manage and support the Cisco base corporate remote access VPN solution.
  • Manage the third party IP provider relationship and implement all the bridges between AXI4 and internal buses.
  • Used JIRA to manage the product backlog, tasks assignments, project burn-down rate and for velocity tracking purposes.
  • Manage product test support of new designs used for testing, write technical documentation in HTML improving department processes and procedures.
  • Manage customer functional areas of desktop support, field service, office services and network support to coordinate timely issue resolution.
  • Configure and manage JGroup multicasting communication for apache tomcat web servers.
  • Develop user interfaces for presenting the expense reports, transaction details using JSP, XML, HTML and JavaScript.
  • Work with UI group to produce scenarios and requirements visualization using iRise.
  • Develop Java applications using J2EE interface for platform independent mobile devices utilizing existing libraries.
  • Provide innovative design strategy for the new developments/enhancements involving the database design and PL/SQL techniques.
  • Design and implement a dynamic glossary hyperlink component within the application utilizing both Java and JavaScript.
  • Locate on-site with Qualcomm San Diego.
  • Used AJAX for dynamic loading for certain pages.
  • Perform as SME for all technology integration issues in all commercial projects nationwide
  • Assist employees in the transition of a new OS implement by client standard.

Lead technician skills and personality traits

We calculated that 10% of Lead Technicians are proficient in Java, Architecture, and Digital Transformation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Speaking skills.

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

  • Java, 10%

    Rewrite Core Java Business Logic Component to calculate Product Velocity and distributed Load base on forecast and prediction.

  • Architecture, 7%

    Cultivated strong collaboration with information architecture staff to create a new custom information intake system with supporting business processes.

  • Digital Transformation, 6%

    Conducted digital transformation, use case, and change analysis with requirements engineering, business analysis, and modeling.

  • Customer Service, 6%

    Provide quality customer services involving high levels of customer interaction verbal and written for the explanation of repair and educational purposes.

  • Database, 4%

    Developed initial framework, designed database schema, and integrated with the external Element Management System.

  • HTML, 3%

    Developed site according to client specifications with HTML and Dynamic Cross-browser JavaScript.

Common skills that a lead technician uses to do their job include "java," "architecture," and "digital transformation." You can find details on the most important lead technician responsibilities below.

Customer-service skills. One of the key soft skills for a lead technician to have is customer-service skills. You can see how this relates to what lead technicians do because "computer support specialists must be patient and sympathetic." Additionally, a lead technician resume shows how lead technicians use customer-service skills: "bank's database is interfaced using xml for accessing the customer's account and conducting banking transactions. "

Listening skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling lead technician duties is listening skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "support workers must be able to understand the problems that their customers are describing and know when to ask questions to clarify the situation." According to a lead technician resume, here's how lead technicians can utilize listening skills in their job responsibilities: "developed various api's for creating, sending, receiving and listening messages from various sources like mq using jms methodology. "

Speaking skills. This is an important skill for lead technicians to perform their duties. For an example of how lead technician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "support workers must describe the solutions to computer problems in a way that a nontechnical person can understand." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a lead technician: "published several articles and presented at several webinars and openmics on websphere portal and web content management topics. ".

Writing skills. lead technician responsibilities often require "writing skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "strong writing skills are useful for preparing instructions and email responses for employees and customers, as well as for real-time web chat interactions." This resume example shows what lead technicians do with writing skills on a typical day: "implemented the business logic writing struts action components and configuring xml files using struts, spring2.0 framework. "

Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in lead technician job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what lead technicians do. Lead technician responsibilities rely on this skill because "support workers must identify both simple and complex computer problems, analyze them, and solve them." You can also see how lead technician duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "developed, configured, troubleshot and deployed solutions using ca-layer7 xml gateway. "

See the full list of lead technician skills

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Compare different lead technicians

Lead technician vs. Lead engineer

A lead engineer's duties vary on their line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities will revolve around overseeing the progress of operations and performance of the workforce, ensuring that everything is running smoothly. They are also responsible for addressing issues and concerns, assessing risks, monitoring the budget, coordinating with clients and architects, and even training workers. Furthermore, as a lead engineer, it is crucial to conduct regular inspections to ensure the quality of work and maintain a safe environment for all workers.

The annual salary of lead engineers is $5,688 lower than the average salary of lead technicians.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between lead technicians and lead engineers are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like java, architecture, and database.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between lead technicians and lead engineer. For instance, lead technician responsibilities require skills such as "digital transformation," "customer service," "scrum," and "application development." Whereas a lead engineer is skilled in "python," "c #," "git," and "azure." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Lead engineers earn the highest salaries when working in the automotive industry, with an average yearly salary of $110,872. On the other hand, lead technicians are paid more in the retail industry with an average salary of $109,487.lead engineers tend to reach similar levels of education than lead technicians. In fact, lead engineers are 4.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Lead technician vs. Information technology/support technician

An information technology (IT) support technician is an individual who is responsible for providing support and troubleshoots software and hardware problems faced by customers. As for larger organizations that have their own IT department, technicians must work together internally with their IT staff members. IT support technicians are involved in inspecting and resolving minor local area network and wireless network issues, which include TCP/IP, DHCP, and VPN. They are also required to obtain an associate's degree in computer science or related field.

Information technology/support technician positions earn lower pay than lead technician roles. They earn a $45,024 lower salary than lead technicians per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Lead technicians and information technology/support technicians both require similar skills like "customer service," "database," and "unix" to carry out their responsibilities.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real lead technician resumes. While lead technician responsibilities can utilize skills like "java," "architecture," "digital transformation," and "html," information technology/support technicians use skills like "computer system," "desk support," "phone calls," and "remote desktop."

Information technology/support technicians may earn a lower salary than lead technicians, but information technology/support technicians earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $53,210. On the other hand, lead technicians receive higher pay in the retail industry, where they earn an average salary of $109,487.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Information technology/support technicians tend to reach lower levels of education than lead technicians. In fact, they're 9.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for lead technicians in the next 3-5 years?

Dr. Howard Rees

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Information Systems, Rider University

Hmm, what technology? That's a question with many different levels of context. For some undergraduates in CS and IT, I would look at systems programming in massively parallel environments, application programming with particular focus on security and privacy, and data science and analytics. For other undergraduates, they might look at artificial intelligence and machine learning, for business applications especially. AI is becoming ubiquitous throughout the business, but it's often used as a "black box."
Meaning that the applications (and those "operating" them) do not understand what's happening inside. AI systems are often "designed, trained, and tested" by the provider and certified as generating the output most desired by the customer but only in a statistical sense. There is no "proof" that the AI black box is, with certainty, doing what the business customer (or the provider for that matter) thinks it is doing - it just does a good job when tested on data. There will be a significant need for tech-savvy people to design, train, monitor, and apply them so that they do not deviate from the desired goals. Such deviations can result in socially destructive business practices. As you can't properly manage what you don't understand, there is a risk in using AI too blindly. CS and IT graduates will need to help out.

Lead technician vs. Technician support team leader

The Technician Support Team Leader is tasked with leading and training the technical support team. As a team leader, you will be required to organize scheduled staff reviews and communicate new procedures and policies with them. Your key role is to ensure that all goals are met. For all that you'll do, you'll have to ensure that the staff under you are highly productive, and you'd have to come up with ways to increase their productivity.

An average technician support team leader eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of lead technicians. The difference in salaries amounts to technician support team leaders earning a $1,627 lower average salary than lead technicians.By looking over several lead technicians and technician support team leaders resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "customer service," "html," and "unix." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, lead technicians are more likely to have skills like "java," "architecture," "digital transformation," and "database." But a technician support team leader is more likely to have skills like "printers," "desktop support," "customer support," and "os."

Technician support team leaders earn the best pay in the technology industry, where they command an average salary of $91,502. Lead technicians earn the highest pay from the retail industry, with an average salary of $109,487.technician support team leaders typically earn lower educational levels compared to lead technicians. Specifically, they're 7.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Lead technician vs. Technical team lead

The responsibilities of a technical team lead revolve around overseeing the progress and performance of a technical team, ensuring they are functioning efficiently. They mostly delegate tasks, manage schedules, set goals, produce reports and presentations, respond to correspondence, and coordinate with staff, clients, and other department personnel to ensure accuracy and timeliness for all projects. As the leader, it is crucial to implement the policies and regulations of the company, all while leading and encouraging the staff to reach goals.

Technical team leads tend to earn a lower pay than lead technicians by an average of $396 per year.According to resumes from lead technicians and technical team leads, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "java," "architecture," and "customer service. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between lead technicians and technical team leads, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a lead technician might have more use for skills like "digital transformation," "database," "api," and "scrum." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of technical team leads require skills like "patients," "project management," "c #," and "quality standards. "

The automotive industry tends to pay the highest salaries for technical team leads, with average annual pay of $114,182. Comparatively, the highest lead technician annual salary comes from the retail industry.The average resume of technical team leads showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to lead technicians. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 3.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.0%.

Types of lead technician

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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