Inventory / Supply Specialist
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
An Inventory or Supply Specialist specializes in tracking and managing inventory and supplies to improve production or distribution at a company or organization. Manages purchase orders, or distribution of materials between different centers of a large company.
Job Outlook
There were 2053 Inventory / Supply Specialist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 64502 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Inventory / Supply Specialist industry, which includes the Inventory / Supply Specialist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Inventory / Supply Specialist 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 $45,869.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $45,319.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Inventory / Supply Specialist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $39,656.
Education and Experience
Posted Inventory / Supply Specialist 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 Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 10.86% |
| Master's Degree | 4.62% |
| Doctoral Degree | 1.04% |
| Other | 46.52% |
Posted Inventory / Supply Specialist 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 Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 74.9% |
| 3 to 5 years | 22.55% |
| 6 to 8 years | 1.71% |
| 9+ years | 0.85% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Inventory / Supply Specialist 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.
- Communication (44.46%)
- Management (40.15%)
- Customer Service (35.1%)
- Detail Oriented (33.32%)
- Sales (30.62%)
- Operations (27.85%)
- Lifting Ability (20.91%)
- Leadership (19.97%)
- Microsoft Excel (17.81%)
- Multitasking (15.04%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Direct Store Delivery (8.37%)
- Cycle Counting (25.28%)
- Warehousing (41.13%)
- Inventory Control (33.46%)
- Package Delivery (8.3%)
- Inventory Management (42.71%)
- Physical Inventory (23.93%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Cash Handling (8.63%)
- Shipping And Receiving (7.95%)
- Pallet Jacks (9.44%)
- Merchandise Returns (9.82%)
- Supply Chain (10.79%)
- Inventory Monitoring (7.98%)
- Auditing (25.5%)
- Asset Protection (8.87%)
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (2.14%)
- Cashiering (8.41%)
- Data Entry (7.91%)
- Forklift Truck (12.05%)
- Standard Operating Procedure (15.07%)
- Warehouse Management Systems (5.27%)
- Invoicing (16.38%)
- Planogram (10.86%)
- Procurement (8.17%)
- Purchasing (18.23%)
- Inventory Management System (21.25%)
- Supply Chain Management (4.06%)
- Medical Prescription (9.68%)
- Merchandising (29.26%)
- Safety Training (9.04%)
- SAP Applications (5.77%)
- Point Of Sale (9.64%)
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.
- Direct Store Delivery (100%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Inventory / Supply Specialist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Inventory Specialist
- Inventory Control Specialist
- Inventory Coordinator
- Sales Service Representative/Merchandiser/Order Writer
- Supply Technician
- Inventory Technician
- Inventory Control Coordinator
- Replenishment Buyer
- Inventory Supervisor
- Materials Specialist
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 Inventory / Supply Specialist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Walgreens Boots Alliance (4913)
- Mondelez International (2645)
- Whole Foods (1976)
- JOANN (1078)
- Copart (680)
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs (641)
- PICS | Inventory Specialists (616)
- Crossmark (496)
- Restaurant Depot (486)
- Randstad (421)
North Carolina
- Walgreens Boots Alliance (140)
- Mondelez International (70)
- Whole Foods (58)
- PICS | Inventory Specialists (33)
- Cracker Barrel (32)
- JOANN (30)
- Advance Auto Parts (25)
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs (25)
- Randstad (22)
- CVS Health (17)
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!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.