The IT team leader (commonly called "team lead") is responsible for providing leadership in all aspects of a project or task including but not limited to its technical, administrative and operational needs. The IT team leader manages a team of IT personnel in task scheduling and status report preparation. He or she is also responsible for overseeing problem escalation. The IT team leader collaborates with stakeholders to resolve project issues, manages resource allocation and executes technical strategies with the ultimate goal of increasing project efficiency. The minimum educational requirement for this job is a bachelor's degree in a technical or business field or an equivalent combination of education, work and/or training experience. A minimum of 5 to 8 years of work experience as a senior staff member in a similar project is also required. Strong technical know-how is also a must. The personality characteristics looked for in this position are leadership and organizational skills, great attention to detail, and high tolerance for stress. The IT team leader is usually hired by a project or program manager to whom he or she also reports. In the same manner, a project team consisting of varied technical people such business or systems analysts, application developers, QA testers, and/or documentation specialists reports directly to him or her. The IT team leader works in an office in his company's location. Although he or she is supposed to keep regular hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the IT team leader oftentimes is required to stay late to attend to critical project issues. He or she may also be required to attend meetings. Many organizations hire IT team leaders, especially those that are involved in contracting work or consultancy.
Team Leader, IT Tasks
- Execute technical strategies to increase efficiency and service.
- Interface with other departments to resolve complex or emergent operational problems.
- Supervise IT personnel in scheduling and completing tasks and status reports, assisting with problem escalation.
- Manage resource allocation to scope and estimate user requests by determining their impact and costs.