The truth be told, the supply chain management profession is extremely broad and the range of jobs in the industry is vast. There is no single, clear career path—your career could take you just about anywhere.

 

---

The roles and paths suggested below are possibilities that exist within the industry, and might at least give you an idea of where your career-journey might lead—or even where it might start.

---

 

Because there is such a wide spectrum of logistics and supply chain jobs available, it is best to categorise them in the following way: planning, manufacture, sourcing, and delivery.

 

Planning

 

If you have an aptitude for planning, you set your sights on any of the following roles:

• Production Planner: In this post you would oversee your company’s production

 

 

• Demand Planner: Someone who estimates what demand there will be in the future for a company’s products.
• Capacity Planner: A role that mainly comprises optimization of the company’s production capacity
• Load Planner: The holder of this post oversees the loading of customer’s orders into trucks and also plans transport routes.
• Supply Chain Planner: A manager whose main responsibility is to analyse a company’s supply chain performance.

 

Manufacturing

 

There are plenty of supply chain opportunities in manufacturing. They include:

• Maintenance Manager, Supervisor, or Operative
• Purchasing Manager
• Engineer

 

 

 

 

• Production Planner

 

 

 

 

• Warehouse Manager
• Production Manager, Supervisor, or Operative
• Quality Manager

 

Sourcing

 

In procurement, you will focus on making contracts with suppliers and be responsible for making sure the purchased materials or components are delivered to the manufacturing division.

These are the sorts of jobs available in this sector:

• Commodities Manager
• Buyer
• Strategic Sourcing Manager
• Procurement Specialist/Manager
• Purchasing & Inventory Clerk
• Category Manager

 

Delivery

 

This is the logistics management sector which deals with moving materials, information, and goods around.

The following are some of the exciting jobs that exist in logistics and transportation:

 

• Logistics Administrator
• Logistics Manager
• Transport Administrator
• Transport Manager
• Reverse Logistics Manager
• Warehouse Administrator
• Inventory Controller

 

 

 

 

• Warehouse Manager
• Logistics Director

 

 

 

 

Other Supply Chain Opportunities

 

Aside from the planning and operational careers mentioned above, a host of other exciting opportunities exist in the supply chain industry for graduates.

 

 

 

 

These are beyond the scope of this brief article but a little online research will uncover a treasure trove of opportunities.

My main advice to you, if you are serious about a career in logistics/supply chain, is to consider one or more of the jobs described above. All of them will get you a foot in the door—and from there your career path can follow any direction that you want it to.

 

 

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on October 13, 2020, under the title “Pursuing a Career in Logistics and Supply Chain” on Supply Chain Learders Academy’s website.