How to hire an operations team leader

How to hire an operations team leader, step by step

Here's a step-by-step operations team leader hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an operations team leader job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new operations team leader
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an operations team leader do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the operations team leader you need to hire. Certain operations team leader roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them an operations team leader to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire an operations team leader that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of operations team leaders.

   Type of Operations Team Leader	Description	Hourly rate
   Operations Team Leader		$13-51
   Lead Person	A lead person or lead worker is an employee who provides leadership and instructions to others in a group to complete tasks quickly and effectively. Lead workers plan and organize meetings with supervisors and the management to discuss a particular project's progress and development... Show more	$30-82
   Lead Operator	Lead operators are responsible for the direction and supervision of the day-to-day activities in facilities. As machine operators, they control machines and take charge of industrial operations... Show more	$25-68

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Continuous Improvement
   • Excellent Interpersonal
   • Sales Floor
   • Safety Procedures
   • Process Improvement
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Ladders
   • Develop Team
   • Logistics
   • HR
   • Project Management
   • ISO
   • Employee Development

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage a team of CNC operators during the facility's exit strategy for machining.
   • Help develop new WMS system and implement real time visual control charts to achieve production and quality KPI metrics.
   • Manage SLA by prioritizing and resolving requests/Incidents in accordance with agree service level agreement.
   • Manage an embed Facebook executive protection team that provide security and logistical support for a corporate executive and his family.
   • Initiate and complete deviations along with CAPA and/or NTR's.
   • Document production data, including OEE, QPS, and safety tracking forms.

   More operations team leader duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your operations team leader job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An operations team leader salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for an operations team leader in Wisconsin may be lower than in Massachusetts, and an entry-level operations team leader usually earns less than a senior-level operations team leader. Additionally, an operations team leader with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average operations team leader salary

   $55,160yearly

   $26.52 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level operations team leader salary

   $28,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 20, 2025

   Average operations team leader salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Massachusetts	$97,361	$47
   2	New Jersey	$95,549	$46
   3	New York	$90,654	$44
   4	New Hampshire	$88,395	$43
   5	Delaware	$87,360	$42
   6	District of Columbia	$84,998	$41
   7	California	$84,900	$41
   8	Texas	$79,639	$38
   9	Illinois	$77,476	$37
   10	North Carolina	$71,890	$35
   11	Missouri	$71,277	$34
   12	Arizona	$69,801	$34
   13	Florida	$69,027	$33
   14	Louisiana	$64,939	$31
   15	Maryland	$64,304	$31
   16	Georgia	$63,070	$30
   17	Virginia	$61,807	$30
   18	Alabama	$61,298	$29
   19	Colorado	$58,746	$28
   20	Indiana	$58,141	$28

   Average operations team leader salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	McKinsey & Company Inc	$156,408	$75.20	2
   2	Genentech	$133,440	$64.15	25
   3	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$133,372	$64.12	8
   4	Meta	$125,207	$60.20	38
   5	Google	$123,851	$59.54	89
   6	Apple	$120,502	$57.93	19
   7	Dropbox	$118,969	$57.20	1
   8	Putnam Investments	$117,275	$56.38
   9	Dell	$111,983	$53.84	1
   10	Nokia	$111,840	$53.77
   11	Accenture	$109,913	$52.84	881
   12	Barclays	$107,184	$51.53
   13	Vista Equity Partners	$106,835	$51.36	1
   14	San Diego Gas & Electric	$105,887	$50.91
   15	Atlassian	$103,574	$49.80	1
   16	Colfax Corporation	$101,623	$48.86	3
   17	Pfizer	$101,601	$48.85	19
   18	Deloitte	$101,495	$48.80	355
   19	Sabre	$101,210	$48.66	2
   20	Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield	$100,558	$48.35	2

4. Writing an operations team leader job description

   A good operations team leader job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of an operations team leader job description:

   Operations team leader job description example

   1st Shift (transitioning to 12 hour schedules)
   
   Team Lead activities of the production facility in a safe and efficient manner to assure that production goals are met consistent with established safety and quality standards. It will be incumbent's job to ensure compliance to all aspects of the Smucker Quality Management System including elements of a cGMP/BRC as well as compliance to both food safety and sanitation. The incumbent will be responsible to ensure production lines are staffed with employees trained in various aspects of safely performing their jobs.
   
   Ensures a safe work environment for team by demonstrating and enforcing safe behavior.Ensures Food Safety & Quality program is adhered to.Sense of Urgency to escalate Quality or Food Safety issues.Provide tools and environment to ensure quality yields are being met.Successfully implement Plant Operations Plan.Drives operations results to deliver World Class Customer Service.Is a constant leadership presence on the plant floor.Effectively communicates expectations, provides timely feedback to performance to those expectations, and takes timely and appropriate disciplinary action when necessary.Establishes 90 day plans based on cascading departmental goals,Promotes engagement and maximum effort through demonstrated behaviors and positive recognition.Actively demonstrates our basic beliefs and commitment to each other.Build and execute effective daily plans to achieve finished goods schedule.Participate in pre-shift meetings, leading assigned portion. Implement mid shift corrections.Make cost-conscious business decisions in alignment with all key accountabilities Understand, prioritize and eliminate losses.Communicate effectively with necessary resources.Creates a positive work environment for team.Build and leverage team to achieve goals.Provide feedback to assigned team members on daily basis Hold mid-year and year-end performance discussion with Work LeadsWith team, develop and implement state of the team improvement plan Develop and train team members to successfully perform current and future roles via use of step up cards Assumes responsibility for own personal development and continuous learning.Keeps abreast on new technology, methods and regulations related to responsibilities Communicate with internal and external customers for day to day responsibilities
   
   Basic BeliefsDemonstrates commitment to JM Smucker Basic BeliefsDemonstrates JM Smucker Commitment to each other InsightfulnessAbility to identify key issues and relationships based on information being communicated by a variety of resources Making decisions based on logical assumptions combined with factual information while keeping the organizational values and goals in mind PassionAn understanding of the love for pets and the importance of the pet/pet parent relationship Enduring energy and engagement in the Smucker culture CollaborationWorking and communicating appropriately and effectively across roles and departments Understanding and working towards the long term goals of SmuckerCustomer FocusUnderstanding and exceeding the customer's needs and expectations, both externally and internally CandorAbility to use, understand, and learn from unreserved, honest conversations with other individuals, while still respecting all those involved in the dialogue Open, forthright communication that stimulates debate and new ideas amongst a group, as well as with yourself IntegrityDoes what they say they are going to do Instills trust through actions and behaviors Change AgentCan adjust to a new environment quickly Accepts change as a way of life and works proactively to adapt
   
   JOB- RELATED COMPETENCIES
   (Abilities required of this position)
   
   ·Proficient of Microsoft Office; Word, Excel, Power Point & Outlook.
   Knowledgeable of problem solving and process improvement tools, methods, and SQMS.Sense of urgency to escalate issues when needed.Ability to create a positive work environment.Ability to lead team to execute daily plans and achieve results.Ability to coach team members.Excellent verbal and written skills.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right operations team leader for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with operations team leaders they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit operations team leaders who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your operations team leader job on Zippia to find and recruit operations team leader candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit operations team leaders, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new operations team leader

   Once you've decided on a perfect operations team leader candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new operations team leader. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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