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Business Management and Operations | Supply Chain Specialist (General)

Supply Chain Specialist (General)

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Supply Chain Specialist 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.

Job Outlook

There were 603 Supply Chain Specialist (General) job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 17207 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Logistician / Supply Chain Specialist industry, which includes the Supply Chain Specialist (General) career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:

Salary

Many new Supply Chain Specialist (General) jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $94,865.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $94,513.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Supply Chain Specialist (General) postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $69,877.

Education and Experience

Posted Supply Chain Specialist (General) jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree57.26%
Master's Degree14.76%
Doctoral Degree0.95%
Other21.75%

Posted Supply Chain Specialist (General) jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years35.16%
3 to 5 years40.12%
6 to 8 years13.83%
9+ years10.89%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Supply Chain Specialist (General) positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

  • Operations (48.49%)
  • Management (44.54%)
  • Communication (43.24%)
  • Problem Solving (37.81%)
  • Customer Service (34.37%)
  • Planning (33.13%)
  • Detail Oriented (28.58%)
  • Microsoft Excel (26.22%)
  • Sales (25.51%)
  • Leadership (24.9%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

  • Supply Chain (94.62%)
  • Supply Chain Planning (16.76%)
  • Procurement (41.8%)
  • Inventory Management (31.8%)
  • Supply Chain Management (34.73%)
  • Purchasing (41.87%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Supplier Management (5.1%)
  • Logistics (10.22%)
  • Continuous Improvement Process (14.82%)
  • Data Analysis (14.16%)
  • Accounts Receivable (11.05%)
  • Business To Business (11.19%)
  • Auditing (8.09%)
  • Cycle Counting (6.59%)
  • Inventory Control (8.01%)
  • Enterprise Resource Planning (10.84%)
  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (10.88%)
  • Finance (12.8%)
  • Lean Manufacturing (6.06%)
  • Warehousing (16.16%)
  • Operations Management (15.6%)
  • Invoicing (9.58%)
  • Marketing (14.94%)
  • Material Requirements Planning (5.99%)
  • Project Management (15.81%)
  • Process Improvement (14.6%)
  • SAP Applications (15%)
  • Supplier Performance Management (6.63%)
  • Supplier Relationship Management (5.34%)
  • Supply Chain Acumen (13.38%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

  • Supply Chain Strategy (4.11%)
  • Supply Chain Analysis (4.66%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

  • Supply Chain Strategy (11.26%)
  • Supply Chain Management (95.22%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Supply Chain Specialist (General) skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • Supply Chain Specialist
  • Supply Chain Associate
  • Supply Chain Coordinator
  • Supply Chain Technician
  • Supply Chain Intern
  • Supply Chain Manager
  • Supply Chain Consultant
  • Supply Chain Leader
  • Supply Chain Planning Specialist
  • Supply Chain Operations Manager

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Supply Chain Specialist (General) jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • Fastenal (1842)
  • Northrop Grumman (516)
  • Accenture (342)
  • Kroger (209)
  • HCA Healthcare (198)
  • Boeing (174)
  • Cognizant Technology Solutions (159)
  • GE Aerospace (128)
  • AdventHealth (123)
  • Amazon (114)

North Carolina

  • Fastenal (84)
  • Wells Fargo (16)
  • Actalent (15)
  • Accenture (14)
  • Duke University (13)
  • Premier (9)
  • Duke Energy (9)
  • Denso (8)
  • Lowe's (7)
  • Honda (7)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!