The role of a Supply Chain Lead is to oversee and manage the production of a company's products. They are involved in every part, from the acquisition of the raw materials to the finished product and sometimes even further to its shipment off to stores and customers.
Of course, due to the nature of their job, the Lead will have to interact and build relationships with a number of different people, such as procurement managers and customers, suppliers, and inventory and product managers, and other leads. They will also have to negotiate contracts, do research on materials, factories, and manufacturing processes, manage budgets and deadlines, oversee the storage of materials and products, oversee inventory, and plan and apply strategies.
A person hoping to work in this position should generally have a university degree in a subject relevant to the position, such as business or supply chain management, finance or transport management, or a similar field. Excellent planning and communication skills are a must, as are computer literacy, negotiation, and risk assessment and management.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a supply chain lead. For example, did you know that they make an average of $46.57 an hour? That's $96,859 a year!
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a supply chain lead, we found that a lot of resumes listed 24.7% of supply chain leads included supply chain, while 10.9% of resumes included customer service, and 8.2% 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 supply chain lead job title. But what industry to start with? Most supply chain leads actually find jobs in the manufacturing and technology industries.
If you're interested in becoming a supply chain lead, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 44.9% of supply chain leads have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 36.5% of supply chain leads have master's degrees. Even though most supply chain leads 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 supply chain lead. When we researched the most common majors for a supply chain lead, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on supply chain lead resumes include high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a supply chain lead. In fact, many supply chain lead jobs require experience in a role such as purchasing manager. Meanwhile, many supply chain leads also have previous career experience in roles such as supply chain manager or buyer.