How to hire a production team leader

How to hire a production team leader, step by step

Here's a step-by-step production 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 a production team leader job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new production team leader
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a production team leader do?

Post a production team leader job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a production team leader, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect production team leader also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of production team leader salaries for various roles:

   Type of Production Team Leader	Description	Hourly rate
   Production Team Leader		$12-28
   Leader	Leaders pave the way for a company to achieve certain goals. They are in charge of bringing the organization to greater heights... Show more	$23-73
   Team Leader/Supervisor	A team leader or supervisor is a professional who leads and supervises a workgroup's functionality through instructions and guidance in an organization. Team leaders provide support to staff members by way of coaching and skills development... Show more	$15-37

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Safety Procedures
   • Quality Standards
   • Work Ethic
   • Production Schedules
   • Lean Manufacturing
   • Basic Math
   • Math
   • Production Process
   • Process Improvement
   • Troubleshoot
   • Corrective Action
   • GMP
   • Quality Checks

   Check all skills

   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.
   • Improve general production and quality of product by ensuring strict commitment to GMP, FDA regulations, and standard operating procedures.
   • Participate in Kaizen meetings to increase production efficiency and reduce downtime.

   More production team leader duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the production team leader job description is a good way to get more applicants. A production team leader salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a production team leader in Iowa may be lower than in Wyoming, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level production team leader. Additionally, a production team leader with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average production team leader salary

   $38,780yearly

   $18.64 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level production team leader salary

   $25,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 25, 2025

   Average production team leader salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$48,600	$23
   2	Massachusetts	$48,538	$23
   3	California	$47,694	$23
   4	Wisconsin	$45,714	$22
   5	Illinois	$44,764	$22
   6	Minnesota	$43,971	$21
   7	South Carolina	$43,073	$21
   8	Washington	$42,756	$21
   9	Colorado	$41,963	$20
   10	Ohio	$41,224	$20
   11	Maryland	$40,127	$19
   12	Georgia	$39,972	$19
   13	Virginia	$39,580	$19
   14	Tennessee	$39,297	$19
   15	Pennsylvania	$38,578	$19
   16	Texas	$38,272	$18
   17	Indiana	$37,914	$18
   18	Utah	$37,751	$18
   19	Oregon	$36,826	$18
   20	Florida	$31,995	$15

   Average production team leader salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Plug Power	$83,551	$40.17
   2	Zoetis	$83,039	$39.92	11
   3	Cummins	$78,996	$37.98	16
   4	T.Y. Lin International	$73,203	$35.19	2
   5	Meggitt PLC	$72,850	$35.02
   6	Wpp Us Holdings Inc	$69,344	$33.34	20
   7	General Electric	$67,193	$32.30	326
   8	Rockwell Automation	$64,680	$31.10	4
   9	Navistar	$60,646	$29.16	5
   10	International Trucks	$59,372	$28.54
   11	Bloomberg	$58,954	$28.34	16
   12	BorgWarner	$58,036	$27.90	5
   13	Atrium Windows and Doors, Inc.	$56,269	$27.05
   14	Toyo Tire North America Inc	$49,483	$23.79
   15	Toyota Boshoku America	$49,479	$23.79
   16	Alere	$48,222	$23.18
   17	Lydall, Inc.	$46,607	$22.41	4
   18	Kaiser Aluminum	$46,353	$22.29	9
   19	Martinrea International	$46,146	$22.19	6
   20	North American Lighting	$44,837	$21.56	8

4. Writing a production team leader job description

   A production team leader job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a production team leader job description:

   Production team leader job description example

   Job Description:Production Coordinator - 3rd shift Team Lead
   
   SUMMARY Primary function is to support team members on the line. Ensure that the line is running at constant pace. Ensure safety, quality, delivery and cost control. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES · Ensure that the cell is set up correctly before the start of the shift and before every break. · Monitor line for proper start-up. · Verify that the team members are following standard work. · Ensure 100% completion of the schedules. · Monitor quality of product to ensure compliance with established standards and product performance levels. · -Responsible to implement Lean principles in his/her department(s). · Must be able to perform all the operations in his/her department(s) in Takt time. · Fill in when team members must leave the line. · Track production by filling out the hour-by-hour chart. · Help support good housekeeping. · Watch for and identify safety and ergonomic issues, get them fixed quickly. · Train new team members. · Assign work when the line is down for extended period of time. · Recognize exemplary performance and address poor performance issues. QUALIFICATIONS · Ability to create a highly effective team environment · Strong communication skills, both verbal and written · Strong interpersonal skills, professionalism · Strong sense of business ethics · PC literacy: Windows, Word, Excel · Able to lead team problem-solving efforts EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE · High school (minimum) · 1-2 years' experience in a lead manufacturing role LANGUAGE SKILLS · Bilingual (English -- Spanish) required. Diversity and Inclusion:
   
   With our expanding global presence, cross-cultural insight and competence are essential for our ongoing success. We believe that a diverse workforce contributes different perspectives and creative ideas that enable us to continue to improve every day. Race, gender, ethnicity, country of origin, age, personal style, sexual orientation, physical ability, religion, life experiences and many more factors contribute to this diversity.
   
   We take ongoing action to improve the diversity of our workforce by:
   
   + Ensuring leadership involvement and ownership
   
   + Attracting and retaining diverse talent at all levels
   
   + Fostering a globally aware, inclusive culture
   
   + Ensuring our practices are fair and non-discriminatory

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right production team leader for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with production team leader candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   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 production team leader

   Once you have selected a candidate for the production team leader position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new production 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.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a production team leader?