Materials Program Manager Overview

There are certain skills that many materials program managers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, decisionmaking skills and math skills.

When it comes to the most important skills required to be a materials program manager, we found that a lot of resumes listed 18.6% of materials program managers included supply chain, while 7.6% of resumes included supplier performance, and 6.8% of resumes included project management. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.

When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the materials program manager job title. But what industry to start with? Most materials program managers actually find jobs in the technology and manufacturing industries.

If you're interested in becoming a materials program manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 42.1% of materials program managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 31.3% of materials program managers have master's degrees. Even though most materials program managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a materials program manager. When we researched the most common majors for a materials program manager, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on materials program manager resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.

You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a materials program manager. In fact, many materials program manager jobs require experience in a role such as senior buyer. Meanwhile, many materials program managers also have previous career experience in roles such as buyer or purchasing manager.