How To Become A Unit Leader: What It Is and Career Path

What is a unit leader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A unit leader is the one who works as part of a team of heads in a unit, providing opportunities for girls to turn their dreams into reality through the delivery of a fun, challenging, and exciting program. They provide a vision and also establish a productive organizational structure and communication protocols.

It would help if you typically have a diploma or associate's degree to become a unit leader. However, some other skills like honesty and integrity, confidence, commitment, passion, and good communication skills are preferred.

The graduates who gravitate toward this field end up laying claim to annual earnings that top out at $85,966. The current median pay for unit leaders ranges from $79,285 to $94,376 in the U.S. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon your experience, skills, or organization.

ScoreUnit LeaderUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $42,921

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.1

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.67%

Asian 5.07%

Black or African American 12.02%

Hispanic or Latino 15.11%

Unknown 5.57%

White 61.56%

Gender

female 58.19%

male 41.81%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

9.1

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a unit leader

Explore unit leader education requirements

Most common unit leader degrees

Bachelor's

60.7 %

Associate

16.1 %

High School Diploma

9.9 %

Start to develop specific unit leader skills

Skills	Percentages
Conflict Resolution	28.09%
Customer Service	18.54%
Cash Handling	10.30%
Staff Training	8.98%
Role Model	8.33%

Complete relevant unit leader training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New unit leaders 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 unit leader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real unit leader resumes.

Research unit leader duties and responsibilities

Manage the execution of programs that ensure compliance with the FDA, OSHA, and other government agencies.
Manage route efficiency and logistics to maximize territory profits.
Assess patients in active withdrawals and provide interventions to manage physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms.
Med manager, CPR and mandatory reporting certify.

Get unit leader experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a unit leader. The most common roles before becoming a unit leader include internship, customer service representative team lead and cashier.

Prepare your unit leader resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your unit leader 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 unit leader resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable unit leader resume templates

Build a professional unit leader 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 unit leader resume.