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 883 Supply Chain Specialist (General) job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 24656 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 2015:
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 $68,817.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $69,255.
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 $47,629.
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 Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 8.18% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 60.23% |
| Master's Degree | 11.98% |
| Doctoral Degree | 1.01% |
| Other | 21.05% |
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 Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 37.85% |
| 3 to 5 years | 42.8% |
| 6 to 8 years | 11.01% |
| 9+ years | 8.33% |
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.
- Communication (32.31%)
- Planning (30.46%)
- Operations (29.87%)
- Management (29.6%)
- Customer Service (29.54%)
- Problem Solving (25.09%)
- Sales (23.65%)
- Detail Oriented (23.26%)
- Microsoft Excel (17.42%)
- Verbal Communication Skills (16.68%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Procurement (30.44%)
- Purchasing (25.67%)
- Supply Chain Planning (20.85%)
- Supply Chain (82.31%)
- Supply Chain Management (24.78%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Finance (10.45%)
- Project Management (11.32%)
- Supply Chain Acumen (7.46%)
- Operations Management (14.85%)
- Order Fulfillment (14.72%)
- SAP Applications (13.86%)
- Inventory Management (32.91%)
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (7.2%)
- Invoicing (7.7%)
- Demand Planning (4.52%)
- Lean Manufacturing (14.27%)
- Process Improvement (9.82%)
- Business To Business (11.24%)
- Material Requirements Planning (7.33%)
- Marketing (13.89%)
- Warehousing (14.46%)
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 Planning (36.16%)
- Procurement (52.8%)
- Supply Chain Management (42.98%)
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 Associate
- Supply Chain Specialist
- Supply Chain Coordinator
- Supply Chain Planner
- Customer Supply Chain Specialist
- Supply Chain Consultant
- Supply Chain Supervisor
- Supply Chain Planning Specialist
- Supply Chain Intern
- Supply Chain Technician
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.
- Supply Chain Director
- Supply Chain Manager
- Supply Chain Analyst
- Materials Analyst
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 (3921)
- Northrop Grumman (734)
- Intel (197)
- US Foods Holding (182)
- Aston Carter (178)
- Boeing (175)
- PricewaterhouseCoopers (131)
- Accenture (131)
- Randstad (124)
- Actalent (107)
North Carolina
- Fastenal (229)
- Duke University (45)
- Novant Health (18)
- Novo Nordisk (10)
- Pfizer (7)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (7)
- Wells Fargo (7)
- Accenture (7)
- Actalent (6)
- Premier (6)
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!
- Management, Marketing Analytics Master's Degrees
- Operations Research Master's Degrees
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.
