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What is a production team leader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
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As a Production Team Leader, you will lead and oversee the production team's efforts and ensure the adherence of projects to their schedule and goals. You will be responsible for setting guidelines, managing budgets, and assessing team members' performance.

It is good to know about the common skills, and knowledge Production Team Leader applicants include in their resumes. These include Quality Standards, Customer Service, Safety Procedures, Production schedules, Company Policies, and Daily Production.

To be a Production Team Leader, there are several requirements you need to meet, especially in terms of education. Many Production Team Leaders today hold a bachelor's degree in management, electrical engineering, and business.

As a Production Team Leader, you can earn around $35,506 per year on average. You can also further your career if you'd like. You can be a Production Supervisor, a Production Manager, and a Manufacturing Manager after some time.

ScoreProduction Team LeaderUS Average
Salary
3.0

Avg. Salary $38,780

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity
4.6
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.71%

Asian 4.96%

Black or African American 12.61%

Hispanic or Latino 15.75%

Unknown 4.14%

White 61.84%

Gender

female 30.14%

male 69.86%

Age - 47
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 - 47
Stress level
8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level
7.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance
3.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Production team leader career paths

Key steps to become a production team leader

  1. Explore production team leader education requirements

    Most common production team leader degrees

    Bachelor's

    44.1 %

    Associate

    22.3 %

    High School Diploma

    21.0 %
  2. Start to develop specific production team leader skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Customer Service8.18%
    Safety Procedures6.62%
    Quality Standards6.32%
    Work Ethic5.28%
    Production Schedules4.88%
  3. Complete relevant production team leader training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New production team leaders 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 production team leader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real production team leader resumes.
  4. Research production team leader duties and responsibilities

    • Devise and implement procedures to achieve ISO registration.
    • Manage manufacturing department operations to ensure compliance with establish quality specifications, production levels, and FDA regulations.
    • Enforce policy and procedures including GMP and HACCP; ensure employees follow FDA, GDA, OHSA regulations.
    • Request parts from materials warehouse, assist and troubleshoot assembly procedures; research part numbers, build procedures and schematics.
  5. Get production team leader experience

    Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a production team leader. The most common roles before becoming a production team leader include team leader, customer service representative team lead and production supervisor.
  6. Prepare your production team leader resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your production team leader 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 production team leader resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable production team leader resume templates

    Build a professional production team leader 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 production team leader resume.
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    Production Team Leader Resume
  7. Apply for production team leader jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a production team leader job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

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

How did you land your first production team leader job

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Average production team leader salary

The average production team leader salary in the United States is $38,780 per year or $19 per hour. Production team leader salaries range between $25,000 and $59,000 per year.

Average production team leader salary
$38,780 Yearly
$18.64 hourly

What am I worth?

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How do production team leaders rate their job?

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Production team leader reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2022
Pros

Being part of the core team, making desicions and having a positive impact on my team daily , Expressing my abilities to grow as a leader face new challenges day to day. Put all my expierences and acknowlegment into action creating a postive enviroment to work.


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A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2022
Pros

Being able to create a work environment where people flourish, come together, build good relationships form positive teamwork, watching work flow smoothly, reaching or exceeding goals, and be accountable. 2. An opportunity to learn shop floor activities technically and also to develop managerial skills.

Cons

When my children were young and still in school, I didn't like not having a work-life balance to be with the family. But now my family is grown up with there own families.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020
Pros

I like getting to know the company's operation and running numbers to see what opportunities there are for improvement.

Cons

I don't dislike anything about supervising, however the most difficult part of this position for me was managing people. This is a challenge when turnover rates are high.


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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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