Welding foreman vs lead operator

The differences between welding foremen and lead operators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a welding foreman and a lead operator. Additionally, a lead operator has an average salary of $88,429, which is higher than the $52,863 average annual salary of a welding foreman.

The top three skills for a welding foreman include MIG, FCAW and structural steel. The most important skills for a lead operator are customer service, HR, and process improvement.

Welding foreman vs lead operator overview

	Welding Foreman	Lead Operator
Yearly salary	$52,863	$88,429
Hourly rate	$25.41	$42.51
Growth rate	2%	7%
Number of jobs	11,547	87,338
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 46%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	2	2

Welding foreman vs lead operator salary

Welding foremen and lead operators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Welding Foreman	Lead Operator
Average salary	$52,863	$88,429
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $72,000	Between $54,000 And $142,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	Meta
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between welding foreman and lead operator education

There are a few differences between a welding foreman and a lead operator in terms of educational background:

	Welding Foreman	Lead Operator
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 46%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Precision Metal Working	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	Stanford University

Welding foreman vs lead operator demographics

Here are the differences between welding foremen' and lead operators' demographics:

	Welding Foreman	Lead Operator
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 95.9% Female, 4.1%	Male, 73.5% Female, 26.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.7% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 4.7% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 4.6% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between welding foreman and lead operator duties and responsibilities

Welding foreman example responsibilities.

Manage weld process controls of GMAW-P, CV both robotic and semi-automatic; to include GTAW both robotic and semi-automatic.
Improve robot weld process through robot and PLC programming.
Apply flux ti work pie ce before soldering or brazing.
Use MIG gun arc to melt and deposit metal from electrode to work pieces.
Create new and advance program storage system on all CNC equipment for parts and items reproductions.
Establish and qualify new weld procedures and monitor compliance to those WPS in daily production at vendor shops.

Lead operator example responsibilities.

Plan, organize, and lead Kaizen activities as well as managed the cost reduction activities from idea to implementation.
Contact potential REO listing brokers achieving the highest return call rate.
Create UAT scripts and utilize statistical process controls to manage loan process quality and ensure consistency.
Achieve goals in various metrics, from sales to plan, payroll, additional services, print center.
Manage and organize incoming records and publications for use on SharePoint.
Need method to proactively manage the business improving cross-functional collaboration & KPI visibility.

Welding foreman vs lead operator skills

Common welding foreman skills

MIG, 12%
FCAW, 6%
Structural Steel, 5%
SMAW, 5%
Plasma Arc, 5%
GMAW, 5%

Common lead operator skills

Customer Service, 18%
HR, 10%
Process Improvement, 6%
Project Management, 6%
Continuous Improvement, 6%
Safety Procedures, 4%