How To Become An Inventory Lead: What It Is and Career Path

What is an inventory lead and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

An inventory lead is an expert that spends most of the time thinking about stocks. You will keep an eye on companies' records of stock, come up with methods to trace information more smoothly, and request new supplies. As an inventory lead, you will daily monitor records in a database and thoroughly check to ensure that the data is accurate. You will also put in new data anytime more goods are acquired or dispatched and closely examine which stock is needed and which stock is over-delivered to dealers. Furthermore, you don't work as a lone ranger. Instead, you will work with a whole crew of inventory or storehouse staff. You will also analyze the arrangements of inventory and tools management to carry out storehouse operations adequately.

As an inventory lead, you must possess great leadership, interpersonal, communication, and client service skills. You must always give attention to details and be able to analyze and evaluate operations. Additionally, you must obtain a bachelor's degree, and workable skills are much more crucial. A high diploma can be used as a second option too. Serving this role in the United States, you will earn an average salary ranging from $21,000 to $84,000. The benchmark is an average of $42,778 per year, which is $20.57 per hour.

ScoreInventory LeadUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,812

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.53%

Asian 6.96%

Black or African American 10.06%

Hispanic or Latino 16.63%

Unknown 4.93%

White 60.89%

Gender

female 33.66%

male 66.34%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.9

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an inventory lead

Explore inventory lead education requirements

Most common inventory lead degrees

Bachelor's

39.2 %

High School Diploma

28.6 %

Associate

18.9 %

Start to develop specific inventory lead skills

Skills	Percentages
PET	51.79%
Direct Reports	31.95%
Customer Service	3.57%
Highlighted	2.56%
Shipping Receiving	1.49%

Complete relevant inventory lead training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New inventory leads learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an inventory lead based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real inventory lead resumes.

Research inventory lead duties and responsibilities

Nominate as ISO lead for procurement and achieve ISO 9001certification.
Manage inventory and production reports through WMS for efficiency improvement opportunities.
Set up all new items into AS400 system.
Update inventory by making adjustments in AS400 and AS9000.

Get inventory lead experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become an inventory lead. The most common roles before becoming an inventory lead include cashier, sales associate team lead and customer service representative.

Prepare your inventory lead resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your inventory lead resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an inventory lead resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable inventory lead resume templates

Build a professional inventory lead resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your inventory lead resume.

Apply for inventory lead jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an inventory lead job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do inventory leads rate their job?

-/5

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Inventory lead reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Pros

Well when looking in the figures you will understand immediately how the organization doing, then when you send the info and your are correct and they don't listen then they realize that you where right, you look at there faces you will feel like you own the world.