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The differences between senior demand planners and buyers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a senior demand planner, becoming a buyer takes usually requires More than 10 years. Additionally, a senior demand planner has an average salary of $89,229, which is higher than the $54,049 average annual salary of a buyer.
The top three skills for a senior demand planner include demand planning, forecast accuracy and supply chain planning. The most important skills for a buyer are purchase orders, customer service, and logistics.
| Senior Demand Planner | Buyer | |
| Yearly salary | $89,229 | $54,049 |
| Hourly rate | $42.90 | $25.99 |
| Growth rate | 28% | - |
| Number of jobs | 26,865 | 23,589 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 41 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
Senior demand planners are responsible for new product introduction and instrument forecasting inside the demand planning team. Their duty is an important part of the supply chain operation, and they perform closely with business operations, marketing, manufacturing, sourcing, and engineering to make certain service level expectations and inventory accessibility are met. Basic duties include creating planning margins in material requirements planning, evaluating demand trend data, and demonstrating to the leadership organization. Also, they essentially create models, procedures, and databases for data reporting and assimilation. Additionally, they design transition strategies and predictions as well as observe monthly performance to plan, identify, and convey trends that stipulate gaps.
A buyer's duties include product sourcing and comparing resources for the best product range that would suit the specific needs of the business. Buyers must have excellent communication and negotiation skills to evaluate items that most likely benefit the customer and improve the sales of daily operations with cost-efficient products. They also conduct extensive research for market and price trends while considering the highest quality standards. Buyers should also possess strong analytical skills to create purchase orders and statistical analysis.
Senior demand planners and buyers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Demand Planner | Buyer | |
| Average salary | $89,229 | $54,049 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $116,000 | Between $37,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Englewood, NJ |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | NVIDIA |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a senior demand planner and a buyer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Demand Planner | Buyer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | California State University - Bakersfield |
Here are the differences between senior demand planners' and buyers' demographics:
| Senior Demand Planner | Buyer | |
| Average age | 41 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.5% Female, 44.5% | Male, 43.9% Female, 56.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 21.8% Asian, 10.5% White, 51.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 6.7% White, 75.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 15% |