What does a technical supervisor do?

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.
Technical supervisor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real technical supervisor resumes:
- Direct and manage QC of external seismic projects at contractors, including time and depth projects.
- Support 24/7 operation, managing a team of support personnel who troubleshoot technical issues and monitor systems.
- Lead team for prototyping communication framework.
- Facilitate, negotiate and project manage data mapping efforts to develop multiple interface agreements between ordering and provisioning systems.
- Manage the CPU assembly process development projects including budget and resource requirements, along with scheduling, and specification generation.
- Suggest appropriate products or chemistry adjustments to achieve specific steel grade and metallurgical specifications for electric-arc furnace and basic oxygen furnace.
- Develop online CLI reporting forms per FCC requirements for field technicians.
- Use and maintain POS system.
- Train incoming lube technicians on job procedures.
- Change oil and other lube tech duties.
- Second level support of PC's and printers.
- Provide PC hardware and software troubleshooting both on-site and remotely.
- Train new hires as repair technicians and use of POS system
- Perform each of the UNIX commands as outlined in Linus environment.
- Enforce CLIA and NYDOH regulatory compliance and represent department during CLIA compliance audit.
Technical supervisor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Technical Supervisors are proficient in Customer Service, Customer Satisfaction, and Patient Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Creativity, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Technical Supervisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 14%
Managed the day-to-day activities of 16 cable maintenance technicians to meet residential and business customer service requirements.
- Customer Satisfaction, 7%
Coached team and provided individual and team performance feedback to achieve company metrics and customer satisfaction goals and expectations
- Patient Care, 6%
Created and instituted facility patient care protocols.
- Preventative Maintenance, 6%
Provided preventative maintenance and administered routine/downtime performance inspections.
- PET, 5%
Communicate with pet owners about products prescribed, their purpose, and means of using them.
- Patients, 5%
Performed treatments including intravenous fluid administration, accurate intravenous, injection, and oral medication administration to veterinary patients.
Common skills that a technical supervisor uses to do their job include "customer service," "customer satisfaction," and "patient care." You can find details on the most important technical supervisor responsibilities below.
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a technical supervisor to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "producers and directors must convey information and ideas clearly in order to coordinate many people to finish a production on time and within budget." Technical supervisors often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "maintained and configured computer systems such as ibm, digital, and zenith, and terminal communication systems. "
Creativity. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling technical supervisor duties is creativity. The role rewards competence in this skill because "because a script may be interpreted in different ways, directors must decide on their approach and on how to represent the script’s ideas for the production." According to a technical supervisor resume, here's how technical supervisors can utilize creativity in their job responsibilities: "imaged new pcs and maintained inventory. "
Leadership skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of technical supervisors is leadership skills. This skill is critical to many everyday technical supervisor duties, as "directors instruct actors and help them portray their characters in a believable manner." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "provided leadership, training, mentoring, clear and measurable goals and objectives and employee engagement strategies for direct reports. "
The three companies that hire the most technical supervisors are:
- CBRE Group23 technical supervisors jobs
- Eversource Energy18 technical supervisors jobs
- Barnes & Noble9 technical supervisors jobs
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Technical supervisor vs. Flight chief
A maintenance planner is responsible for maintaining the efficiency and optimal performance of the operational tools, equipment, and machinery. Maintenance planners assist with the personnel's request for equipment repairs, requiring them to have excellent knowledge of the mechanical industry to identify inconsistencies and glitches and perform immediate troubleshooting. They schedule maintenance routine checks, upgrade component features, and replace malfunctioning parts as needed. A maintenance planner also supports the staff on the proper usage of machinery by creating procedural manuals and demonstrations.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a technical supervisor are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "customer satisfaction," "patient care," and "preventative maintenance." On the other hand, a job as a flight chief requires skills like "safety program," "emergency situations," "logistics," and "combat." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Flight chiefs tend to reach similar levels of education than technical supervisors. In fact, flight chiefs are 1.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Technical supervisor vs. Chief petty officer
An equipment manager is responsible for monitoring the efficiency and optimal performance of the office equipment and machinery to support the business functions and daily operations. Equipment managers perform preventive maintenance on the machines and equipment, reviewing its licenses and service agreements, as well as look for product alternatives with minimal costing but deliver high-performance. They also attend to the employees' repair calls, delegate tasks to the equipment team, replace defective components, and monitor the adequacy of mechanical inventory.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that technical supervisor responsibilities requires skills like "customer service," "customer satisfaction," "patient care," and "preventative maintenance." But a chief petty officer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "logistical support," "sailors," "combat systems," and "preventive maintenance."
Chief petty officers earn similar levels of education than technical supervisors in general. They're 1.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Technical supervisor vs. Maintenance planner
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, technical supervisors are more likely to have skills like "customer service," "customer satisfaction," "patient care," and "preventative maintenance." But a maintenance planner is more likely to have skills like "cmms," "maintenance planning," "maintenance tasks," and "maintenance procedures."
Maintenance planners earn the best pay in the hospitality industry, where they command an average salary of $76,279. Technical supervisors earn the highest pay from the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $76,171.maintenance planners typically earn similar educational levels compared to technical supervisors. Specifically, they're 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Technical supervisor vs. Equipment manager
Even though a few skill sets overlap between technical supervisors and equipment managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a technical supervisor might have more use for skills like "customer service," "customer satisfaction," "patient care," and "pet." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of equipment managers require skills like "equipment room," "logistics," "equipment management," and "equipment inventory. "
Equipment managers enjoy the best pay in the energy industry, with an average salary of $70,458. For comparison, technical supervisors earn the highest salary in the manufacturing industry.equipment managers reach similar levels of education compared to technical supervisors, in general. The difference is that they're 1.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of technical supervisor
Updated January 8, 2025











