Specialty department supervisor vs department lead

The differences between specialty department supervisors and department leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a specialty department supervisor and a department lead. Additionally, a department lead has an average salary of $42,113, which is higher than the $33,288 average annual salary of a specialty department supervisor.

The top three skills for a specialty department supervisor include customer service, product knowledge and sales associates. The most important skills for a department lead are cleanliness, safety procedures, and customer service.

Specialty department supervisor vs department lead overview

	Specialty Department Supervisor	Department Lead
Yearly salary	$33,288	$42,113
Hourly rate	$16.00	$20.25
Growth rate	5%	-
Number of jobs	129,420	204,534
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	6	6

Specialty department supervisor vs department lead salary

Specialty department supervisors and department leads have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Specialty Department Supervisor	Department Lead
Average salary	$33,288	$42,113
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $42,000	Between $22,000 And $79,000
Highest paying City	-	New Haven, CT
Highest paying state	-	Rhode Island
Best paying company	-	Tufts Medical Center
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between specialty department supervisor and department lead education

There are a few differences between a specialty department supervisor and a department lead in terms of educational background:

	Specialty Department Supervisor	Department Lead
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi

Specialty department supervisor vs department lead demographics

Here are the differences between specialty department supervisors' and department leads' demographics:

	Specialty Department Supervisor	Department Lead
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 45.1% Female, 54.9%	Male, 54.7% Female, 45.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.7% Asian, 6.9% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 6.9% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between specialty department supervisor and department lead duties and responsibilities

Specialty department supervisor example responsibilities.

Maintain department by establishing merchandising goals, managing inventory control, and maintaining department organization and cleanliness.
Aggregate, analyze and organize information from QC reports into a department-wide WIKI to facilitate information sharing and best practice utilization.
Utilize tablet to order or look up items via Kohl's.

Department lead example responsibilities.

Implement inventory management system to effectively manage on-hands, assist with correct replenishment and maintain an acceptable level of over-stock.
Operate POS system, and receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debit.
Oversee the completion of all POS transactions, maintain cash office records and assistant in training of all new cashiers.
Conduct geotechnical and geological investigations and mineral resource evaluations for commercial, industrial and governmental clients using the above-mentioned drilling techniques.
Develop unique SQL, cloudbase, and ADHOC telephony query techniques resulting in the identification of previously undiscovered nefarious networks.

Specialty department supervisor vs department lead skills

Common specialty department supervisor skills

Customer Service, 48%
Product Knowledge, 13%
Sales Associates, 8%
Customer Issues, 6%
Performance Reviews, 6%
Computer System, 5%

Common department lead skills

Cleanliness, 12%
Safety Procedures, 11%
Customer Service, 10%
Store Management, 8%
Inventory Management, 7%
Sales Floor, 6%

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Specialty Department Supervisor
Specialty Department Supervisor vs Department Lead

Updated January 8, 2025

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