Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between technical supervisors and lead developers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a technical supervisor and a lead developer. Additionally, a lead developer has an average salary of $116,340, which is higher than the $89,670 average annual salary of a technical supervisor.
The top three skills for a technical supervisor include customer service, customer satisfaction and patient care. The most important skills for a lead developer are java, javascript, and architecture.
| Technical Supervisor | Lead Developer | |
| Yearly salary | $89,670 | $116,340 |
| Hourly rate | $43.11 | $55.93 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 83,226 | 274,208 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 49 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A technical supervisor is a leader who offers hands-on leadership for the staff members. Technical supervisors oversee employee performance in a certain department of the organization. They monitor the installation, repair, troubleshooting, and maintenance work of technicians. They supervise teams of technicians, oversee workers, and perform inspections on work orders. Their skills include leadership, confidence, problem-solving, empathy, and strong communication skills. They should also be compassionate, be able to manage time, and a problem solver.
A lead developer is responsible for creating software programs and applications, following the client and the business's software quality standards and design specifications. Lead developers assist a team of developers in implementing strategic procedures, managing system codes, debugging applications, running diagnostic tests, and troubleshooting defects to ensure its smooth performance. They also respond to clients' inquiries and concerns, performing feature adjustments as needed. A lead developer must have strong knowledge of the technology industry and command on programming languages and software design processes.
Technical supervisors and lead developers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Supervisor | Lead Developer | |
| Average salary | $89,670 | $116,340 |
| Salary range | Between $63,000 And $126,000 | Between $83,000 And $161,000 |
| Highest paying City | Sunnyvale, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | California |
| Best paying company | SE2 | Mayo Clinic |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Retail |
There are a few differences between a technical supervisor and a lead developer in terms of educational background:
| Technical Supervisor | Lead Developer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between technical supervisors' and lead developers' demographics:
| Technical Supervisor | Lead Developer | |
| Average age | 49 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 78.7% Female, 21.3% | Male, 76.4% Female, 23.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 2.1% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 8% |