Supply Chain Specialist
Career Area: Business Management and Operations
Occupation Group: Logistics and Supply Chain Analysts/Specialists
Salary
Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.
An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.
A typical Supply Chain Specialist earns the following wages (national and state):
State
The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $73,293
National
The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $70,005
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Coordinates shipments and works to improve supply chain processes at a company or organization. Procures materials and manages order prices and quantities; receives shipments and organizes inventories; forecasts demand, responds to changes in demand, and resolves supply chain issues.
Employment Trends
The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.
Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:
| Location | Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 264 | +8.6% |
| Nationwide | 7294 | +4.8% |
Skills
A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:
Baseline Skills
The following are baseline skills every Supply Chain Specialist is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:
- Planning: Working experience with the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve desired goals.
- Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
- Microsoft Excel: Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications.
- Problem Solving: Problem solving consists of using generic or ad hoc methods, in an orderly manner, for finding solutions to problems.
- Microsoft Office: Microsoft Office is an office suite of applications, servers, and services developed by Microsoft.
Specialized Skills
These skills are specific to working in this career:
- Supply Chain Knowledge: A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer.
- Supply Chain Management: In commerce, supply chain management (SCM), the management of the flow of goods and services, involves the movement and storage of raw materials, of work-in-process inventory, and of finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption.
- Logistics: Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation.
- Procurement: Procurement is the process of finding, agreeing terms and acquiring goods, services or works from an external source, often via a tendering or competitive bidding process.
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of core business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.
Distinguishing Skills
Any Supply Chain Specialist that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:
- Inventory Planning: The process of determining the optimal quantity and timing of inventory for the purpose of aligning it with sales and production capacity.
- Supply Chain Strategy: Working experience of Supply Chain Strategy, which is an iterative process that evaluates the cost- benefit trade-offs of operational components. Business strategy involves leveraging the core competencies of the organization to achieve a defined high-level goal or objective.
- Supply Chain Coordination: Channel coordination (or supply chain coordination) aims at improving supply chain performance by aligning the plans and the objectives of individual enterprises.
- Procure-To-Pay: Procure-to-pay is a term used in the software industry to designate a specific subdivision of the procurement process.
Experience
This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Experience Required | % |
| 0 to 2 years | 32% |
| 3 to 5 years | 44% |
| 6 to 8 years | 11% |
Many of the programs offered through NC State are designed for working professionals who need additional credentials to enhance existing work experience.
Students who do not have the expected level of experience may wish to look into internship and employment opportunities.
Common Job Titles
It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:
- Supply Chain Specialist
- Supply Chain Consultant
- Supply Chain Specialist I
- Supply Chain Operations Specialist
- Senior Supply Chain Specialist
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