Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between support leads and department leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a support lead, becoming a department lead takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a support lead has an average salary of $86,816, which is higher than the $42,113 average annual salary of a department lead.
The top three skills for a support lead include customer service, cash management and POS. The most important skills for a department lead are cleanliness, safety procedures, and customer service.
| Support Lead | Department Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $86,816 | $42,113 |
| Hourly rate | $41.74 | $20.25 |
| Growth rate | 10% | - |
| Number of jobs | 98,872 | 204,534 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
A support lead is typically in charge of overseeing the performance of a technical support team, ensuring efficiency and customer satisfaction. Their responsibilities revolve around assessing the performance of the workforce, resolving complex issues, identifying customer needs and sales opportunities, and training new team members. They may also perform calls and correspondence, respond to inquiries, and resolve issues promptly. Furthermore, as a support lead, it is essential to perform clerical tasks such as preparing progress reports, managing schedules, and maintaining records of transactions.
A department lead's responsibilities will vary in an organization or company. It will, most of the time, revolve around overseeing the progress of work in a particular area and evaluating department staff's performance. Other responsibilities include setting goals and implementing the company's policies and guidelines. They may also carry out administrative tasks such as approving and signing paperwork, producing reports and presentations, and crafting guidelines and strategies to help reach goals. Furthermore, as a department head, it is important to encourage staff and shape them into valuable company members.
Support leads and department leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Lead | Department Lead | |
| Average salary | $86,816 | $42,113 |
| Salary range | Between $63,000 And $118,000 | Between $22,000 And $79,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | New Haven, CT |
| Highest paying state | California | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Apple | Tufts Medical Center |
| Best paying industry | - | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a support lead and a department lead in terms of educational background:
| Support Lead | Department Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | SUNY College of Technology at Delhi |
Here are the differences between support leads' and department leads' demographics:
| Support Lead | Department Lead | |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.3% Female, 47.7% | Male, 54.7% Female, 45.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 14.6% White, 54.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | 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 | 11% | 9% |