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

What is an inventory planner and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

An inventory planner is responsible for creating effective strategies to boost the profitability of an organization. It is expected of an inventory planner to track records of shipments of goods and ensure that databases are updated in the organization's inventory system to avoid discrepancies.

It is also your duty as an inventory planner to predict future inventory needs and construct pre-season plans that will ensure the free flow of goods based on requirements. You will be required to work with the sales and marketing department to take in monthly sales inventory and also share information with team members.

Employers require an inventory planner to have a bachelor's degree in finances, accounting, and other related fields. For this role, you need to have effective communication skills, ability to monitor individuals and organization activities at a go. Adequate planning skills and knowledge of how to use inventory management software are also necessary. An inventory planner earns an average salary of $61,000 in a year.

ScoreInventory PlannerUS Average

Salary

5.1

Avg. Salary $65,504

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 7.12%

Black or African American 9.39%

Hispanic or Latino 17.27%

Unknown 4.97%

White 60.72%

Gender

female 47.01%

male 52.99%

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 planner

Explore inventory planner education requirements

Most common inventory planner degrees

Bachelor's

74.2 %

Associate

11.6 %

Master's

8.2 %

Start to develop specific inventory planner skills

Skills	Percentages
Supply Chain	12.48%
Purchase Orders	8.54%
Logistics	7.63%
Manage Inventory	7.52%
Inventory Planning	7.16%

Complete relevant inventory planner training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New inventory planners 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 planner based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real inventory planner resumes.

Research inventory planner duties and responsibilities

Develop process to manage import orders to manage time and inventory more effectively JDA E3 certify.
Participate in SIOP meeting and coordinate with all function teams and regional/global team to achieve corporate KPI.
Develop and implement purchasing and contract management, policies and procedures and manage ISO documents and improvements.
Review stock levels, imbalances and data integrity in JDA to ensure the supply plan is generating accurate information.

Prepare your inventory planner resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your inventory planner 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 planner 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 planner resume templates

Build a professional inventory planner 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 planner resume.