How To Become A Programmer/Analyst Lead: What It Is and Career Path

What is a programmer/analyst lead and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

James Sellmann Ph.D.

A programmer/analyst lead uses the technological tools that all programmers know how to use to perform regular analysis of a development project they are working on. Programmer/analyst leads play an important role in the problem analysis process by gathering data about a problem and presenting it in a way that offers insights, such as a logic diagram. They use tools such as Portal and jQuery to develop solutions to problems that arise during the development process. Besides analysis, programmer/analyst leads also handle regular programming tasks like Quality Analysis (QA) and debugging. They are usually in charge of a whole team of programmers/analysts.

Programmer/analyst leads have additional responsibilities because they supervise others, but they are rewarded with an increase in their paycheck. They earn an average salary of $99,325 a year.

Before they can lead others, programmer/analyst leads need to have several years of experience working as programmer analysts or regular programmers. Almost all have at least a bachelor's degree in computer science.

What general advice would you give to a programmer/analyst lead?

James Sellmann Ph.D.

Dean, Professor of Philosophy and Micronesian Studies, University of Guam

General advice is to keep in mind that you must leverage your skills, especially your soft skills of being able to work with people, to communicate effectively and to be able to solve problems. Be real. Don't try to pretend to be someone else to impress others. Be your authentic self. And show up on time.

ScoreProgrammer/Analyst LeadUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $105,013

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.3

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.19%

Asian 14.82%

Black or African American 10.38%

Hispanic or Latino 11.13%

Unknown 5.01%

White 58.47%

Gender

female 24.33%

male 75.67%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

5.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a programmer/analyst lead

Explore programmer/analyst lead education requirements

Most common programmer/analyst lead degrees

Bachelor's

71.5 %

Associate

12.6 %

Master's

12.4 %

Start to develop specific programmer/analyst lead skills

Skills	Percentages
C++	8.09%
C #	8.09%
Java	4.98%
Project Management	4.44%
JavaScript	4.32%

Complete relevant programmer/analyst lead training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New programmer/analyst leads 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 programmer/analyst lead based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real programmer/analyst lead resumes.

Research programmer/analyst lead duties and responsibilities

Lead a team of developers through the development, testing, and QA phases of software enhancement for LifeCAD.
Maintain, debug, and manage PC base manufacturing/planning/costing systems to ensure accurate forecasting, scheduling, and production planning.
Develop solutions utilizing CSS, jQuery and XHTML.
Maintain miscellaneous applications utilizing Drupal, MySQL, MySQL, JQuery and CSS.

Get programmer/analyst lead experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a programmer/analyst lead. The most common roles before becoming a programmer/analyst lead include programmer analyst, senior programmer analyst team lead and programmer.

Prepare your programmer/analyst lead resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your programmer/analyst lead resume.

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