How To Become A Technical Team Lead: What It Is and Career Path

What is a technical team lead and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Alanah Mitchell Ph.D.

Technical team leads are accountable for technical teams. Their duties vary by industry. Generally, they ensure the smooth running of technical operations. They monitor and review staff progress and performance. They assist with training and recruitment. Also, they set goals and ensure the client is satisfied when the project is completed. These experts determine project requirements and draft work schedules for the team. They engage team members, management, and clients to ensure projects are completed as specified. Furthermore, they identify risks and develop contingency plans to address them. Additionally, they review existing operations and recommend improvements

To succeed in this position, you need multitasking, attention to detail, organization, leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills. Applicants need at least a bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a related discipline. You may need relevant certifications. These experts make an average income of $93,809 yearly. Their salary falls between $62,000 and $143,000.

What general advice would you give to a technical team lead?

Alanah Mitchell Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Drake University

I recommend students work on developing a portfolio of technology knowledge, skills, and tools. Early project and internship experiences can also be very helpful in finding the first career opportunity after graduation.

ScoreTechnical Team LeadUS Average

Salary

7.0

Avg. Salary $90,219

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.41%

Asian 14.55%

Black or African American 11.42%

Hispanic or Latino 14.93%

Unknown 5.29%

White 53.40%

Gender

female 24.18%

male 75.82%

Age - 41

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 - 41

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.4

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a technical team lead

Explore technical team lead education requirements

Most common technical team lead degrees

Bachelor's

52.2 %

Associate

19.8 %

Master's

10.8 %

Start to develop specific technical team lead skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	10.39%
Patients	9.98%
Java	5.79%
Project Management	4.85%
Troubleshoot	4.44%

Complete relevant technical team lead training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New technical team 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 technical team lead based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real technical team lead resumes.

Gain additional technical team lead certifications

Technical team lead certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific technical team lead certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for technical team leads include Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) and Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT).

More About Certifications

Research technical team lead duties and responsibilities

Manage on-shore and off-shore resources to design, develop, review, test, and implement Java base application development.
Coordinate and oversee relevant JAVA development work perform offshore in India and manage offshore consultant relationships.
Develop interfaces to manage the framework using windows services; develop web-applications to manage the process (including starting/stopping/pausing activities).
Use of JavaScript for client side validations, CSS files for UI design and styling.

Get technical team lead experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a technical team lead. The most common roles before becoming a technical team lead include team leader, senior software engineer team lead and technician.

Prepare your technical team lead resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your technical team lead resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a technical team lead resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable technical team lead resume templates

Build a professional technical team lead resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your technical team lead resume.