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

What is a process leader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

The process leadership theory suggests that leadership is an event that depends on the interaction between the leader and the follower. A process leader is someone who creates conditions that allow others to succeed. They are the people who guide, support, nurture and facilitate others.

Your duties as a process leader will include planning, organizing, and leading kaizen events. Meanwhile, you'll also be managing demanding customer expectations and utilizing a dynamic team through strategic planning, communication, and optimization of available resources. Process leaders also roll out visual office for customer service and logistics organization, develop and implement process metrics and KPIs to measure development progress. You'll be working side-by-side with software managers and handling all logistics, including shipping schedules of vessels, air shipments, etc.

A bachelor's degree in a relevant field is the norm requirement. Work experience in an industry-related field of five or more years is also essential. The average hourly salary for a traditional workweek is $44.07, which amounts to $91,659 annually. The job has a lot of duties to fulfill, but it also compensates graciously.

ScoreProcess LeaderUS Average

Salary

6.9

Avg. Salary $88,400

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.1

Growth Rate 11%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.72%

Asian 5.37%

Black or African American 11.63%

Hispanic or Latino 17.87%

Unknown 4.20%

White 60.22%

Gender

female 41.16%

male 58.84%

Age - 47

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 - 47

Stress Level

8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.1

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.3

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a process leader

Explore process leader education requirements

Most common process leader degrees

Bachelor's

58.5 %

Master's

14.1 %

Associate

11.7 %

Start to develop specific process leader skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	12.59%
Cleanliness	8.30%
Sales Floor	7.60%
Continuous Improvement	7.20%
Project Management	6.16%

Complete relevant process leader training and internships

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

Gain additional process leader certifications

Process leader 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 process leader certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for process leaders include Six Sigma Green Belt and Project Management Professional (PMP).

More About Certifications

Research process leader duties and responsibilities

Lead process cost, capacity, and ROI forecasting
Manage the movement of work in progress (WIP) through the departments.
Manage day-to-day logistics of work orders to ensure they are progressing as scheduled and customer commitments are being meet.
Design, build, train and manage new cross site data team to support integrate ERP system for change control.

Get process leader experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a process leader. The most common roles before becoming a process leader include customer service representative, team leader team lead and cashier.

Prepare your process leader resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your process 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 process 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 Process Leader Resume templates

Build a professional Process 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 Process Leader resume.

Apply for process leader jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a process leader job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do process leaders rate their job?