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Inventory specialist manager skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Timothy Edwards,

Bruce Heiman Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical inventory specialist manager skills. We ranked the top skills for inventory specialist managers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 45.5% of inventory specialist manager resumes contained project management as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an inventory specialist manager needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 inventory specialist manager skills for your resume and career

1. Project Management

Here's how inventory specialist managers use project management:

Utilized project management skills such as: job costing, material planning, logistics, projections and forecasting.
Inventory Specialist/Case Manager Managed inventory for urgent care facility; maintained accurate documents for use in budgeting and project management.

2. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how inventory specialist managers use customer service:

Provided supplemental customer service and clerical support including heavy-level phones and drafting correspondence for high-ranking management.
Provided excellent customer service; solved any problems customers had through explanation or necessary action.

3. Direct Reports

Here's how inventory specialist managers use direct reports:

Managed high-grossing volume flagship store with over 20 direct reports.
Coached and managed 85 direct reports.

4. ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is computer software used by major corporations and organizations for conducting their management and accounting tasks efficiently. ERP systems bind different business processes with each other allowing smoother flow of data between them resulting in swift project assessment and completion.

Here's how inventory specialist managers use erp:

Monitored application of planning and replenishment/inventory management policies and procedures for consistent and effective utilization of ERP system.
Established and implemented ERP systems operations training for all logistic employees nationally.

5. Loss Prevention

The steps taken by a business to prevent theft is called loss prevention. There are multiple methods for loss prevention for example usage of automated cash handling, secure physical location, product security staff buy-in, and attentive customer service.

Here's how inventory specialist managers use loss prevention:

Prepare store for District Manager and the District Loss Prevention Manager's audit.
Assisted with Loss Prevention practices with all Apple inventory.

6. POS

POS is an abbreviation of "Point of Sale" which is the time and place where a customer completes a transaction. It can either be a physical shop that consists of POS terminals or a virtual shop. A POS system helps simplify the retail functions and track important sales data.

Here's how inventory specialist managers use pos:

Reconciled daily sales, resolving discrepancies with POS transactions and corresponding with corporate office daily.
Worked closely with the IT team in the development and implementation of new inspection and POS systems.

7. Government Agencies

Here's how inventory specialist managers use government agencies:

Provided excellent verbal and written communication to management, customers, supply vendors, and other government agencies when necessary.

8. Sales Floor

The sales floor is the area in a company or a business that is specified for retail activities or is designated as the selling area of the shop. A car showroom can be considered a sales floor, as it has cars in its display which are to be sold. A sales floor is generally crowded with sales assistants who are there to help you out while you can search and check out the products. Generally a sales floor has free access to the public and they can observe, view and get information about the product that is being sold.

Here's how inventory specialist managers use sales floor:

Unloaded pallets of inventory and product from truck to sales floor according to industry and Asset Protection policies and procedures.
Pull items out of the backroom to be put on sales floor using handle held computer.

9. Purchase Orders

Here's how inventory specialist managers use purchase orders:

Manage warehouse at a mid-size soccer specialty store including purchase order management from various manufacturers in our supply chain.
Review purchasing requests, solicit quotes, negotiate and evaluate pricing and vendors before issue purchase orders.

10. Inventory Control

Here's how inventory specialist managers use inventory control:

Increased inventory turns in departments by increasing inventory control in relation to sales resulting in increased return on investment.
Increased profits through strategic marketing, monitoring profit margins and inventory control.

11. Product Knowledge

Product knowledge is the skill of having better information and knowledge about the product you are selling. Product knowledge is essential for the employees of the companies so they can communicate and inform the customers about the product. Having great product knowledge is essential for a better sales pitch and to give the customer a better and complete idea of the product that will influence him to buy the product eventually.

Here's how inventory specialist managers use product knowledge:

Provide excellent product knowledge demonstrations in a friendly, informative, and helpful manner to customers and employees alike.
Presented product knowledge and operational knowledge classes for public audiences, fellow employees and supervisors in various subjects.

12. Cycle Counts

Cycle counts are the procedures used in inventory auditing and enable organizations or businesses to count items in various areas within the organization's warehouse without counting the entire inventory.

Here's how inventory specialist managers use cycle counts:

Processed daily inventory counts, responsible for ZB walk, cycle counts, RTW and RTV's.
Assists/supervised physical inventory & cycle counts, performs random audits to verify the accuracy of the count.

13. Customer Support

Here's how inventory specialist managers use customer support:

Branch and customer support on all IRA products.
Improved efficiency of Google Analytics customer support through improvements of scaled support approaches such as help center and customer forums.

14. Customer Complaints

Here's how inventory specialist managers use customer complaints:

Handle all catering orders, customer complaints, run cash register, prepare take out orders and run shift.
Managed and train a team on business operations Achieved business productivity and profit growth Serviced customer complaints efficiently

15. RAN

RAN stands for "revenue anticipation note," which refers to a practice where an organization (often the government) borrows money to support a specific project. When these funds are then repaid, the money given to the lenders comes from the profits generated by the business originally funded.

Here's how inventory specialist managers use ran:

Managed and ran Priority First, the DME company for Benchmark Healthcare's long term care facilities.
Managed and ran the candy store.Opened and Closed everyday.

What skills help Inventory Specialist Managers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on inventory specialist manager resumes?

Dr. Timothy Edwards

Professor, Interim Director, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Writing and research skills. Analytical and critical thinking skills. Technical skills such as web design, graphic design, audio and video production skills. Employers are interested in potential employees knowledge, intelligence and skills.

What soft skills should all inventory specialist managers possess?

Bruce Heiman Ph.D.

Professor of International Business, San Francisco State University

-Languages beyond English (fluency in written and oral)

-Ability to work collegially in a diverse cultural setting

-Ability to identify good problems on which to work in a competent manner

-Ability/flexibility to interact/work productively with people who have serious constraints on their time owing to other work or personal commitments/issues

-Some of my answers to Q1 above would also apply here

What hard/technical skills are most important for inventory specialist managers?

Bruce Heiman Ph.D.

Professor of International Business, San Francisco State University

-Analytical skills (ability to gather data, clean it, analyze it, write-up results and present on what the meaning of the analysis suggests for action (the last one is most important--"what does it really mean?"

-Some experience and skills with coding in any language (at the moment, Python or C++ are preferred, though Ruby on Rails is also good)

-Deep spreadsheet skills (pivot tables and macros, as examples).

-Relational database skills, including programming (e.g., MySQL)

-Data mining

-AI/Machine Learning experience

What inventory specialist manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Steve Wages Ph.D.

Director, Cloverdale Center for Youth and Family, Faulkner University

I recommend they use this time to fill in the gaps, no pun intended, in their program of studies by expanding their knowledge base. All educational programs have gaps in the training, content areas which are not addressed adequately. For example, my counseling program was highly regarded, yet I had little to no content related to aging studies, parenting, or personal finances, etc. Further, the content of counseling programs is problem-centered or remedial, conceptually focused on tertiary prevention.

Consequently, graduates are not exposed to a large body of research and literature related to human development, individual wellness, and family strengths which would greatly inform and enhance their assessment and intervention strategies employed in counseling. I believe the more we can do to strengthen our understanding of healthy individual and family wellness, the better equipped we will be to address unhealthy relationships and family dynamics. Put another way, being well grounded in primary and secondary prevention will further equip the pastoral counselor's efforts at intervention. Again, use this time to acquire relevant knowledge and content that most counseling programs do not address extensively.

What type of skills will young inventory specialist managers need?

Donna Kukarola

Procurement Director, Forsyth County, Georgia

Without a doubt, the need for computer literacy will continue to expand, the ability to work with people, communication skills, being a team member/collaborative. So, in other words, many of the "soft" skills will need the skills they trained for their industry/vocation.

What technical skills for an inventory specialist manager stand out to employers?

Kerem Cakirer Ph.D.

Senior Lecturer, Indiana University Bloomington

The labor market is not so different than any market with demand and supply. The demand from employers will shift towards more technical (software, coding, computer language programming) and analytical (problem solving on your own) skills than social skills overall. Being capable of writing or/and understanding computer languages will be a must have skill in the very near future. Communication skills over online platforms or social media platforms will play a huge role when employers are making a hiring decision. The data supports that businesses are using more online platforms than ever. I am projecting that there won't be any business travels or on-site client meetings in the near future. Exceling in different types of software, and being able to learn a new one easily, will become more important than people skills in businesses. Employers will seek for candidates, who are capable of achieving tasks in a more off-site (outside the office) environment through a deadline, and who can utilize multiple different softwares at their hand to solve business problems. As far as how the hiring process would go, we might see employers using artificial intelligence to make hiring decisions over some online platform soon. Essentially, this means that the candidates will be assessed with a more quantitative measure than ever. An evaluation measure by the AI, which will take soft and digital skills more into account.My final words are: The pandemic is still a burden to the humankind but the world will prevail. This year could be the inception of a new era in terms of how businesses run.

Do you want to know more?

List of inventory specialist manager skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for an inventory specialist manager resume and required skills for an inventory specialist manager to have include:

Project Management
Customer Service
Direct Reports
ERP
Loss Prevention
POS
Government Agencies
Sales Floor
Purchase Orders
Inventory Control
Product Knowledge
Cycle Counts
Customer Support

Customer Complaints
RAN
Inventory Management
Windows
Store Sales
Computer System
HR
Bank Deposits
Data Collection
Physical Inventory
Trade Shows
Training Programs
Customer Orders

Sales Associates
Customer Inquiries
Retail Store
Cash Drawers
Supply Support
Inventory System
QA
ISO
Business Operations
Fixed Assets
Inventory Reports

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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