How to hire a supply chain planner

How to hire a supply chain planner, step by step

Here's a step-by-step supply chain planner hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a supply chain planner job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new supply chain planner
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a supply chain planner do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your supply chain planner job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a supply chain planner for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

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   Hiring the perfect supply chain planner also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of supply chain planner salaries for various roles:

   Type of Supply Chain Planner	Description	Hourly rate
   Supply Chain Planner		$27-52
   Procurement Analyst	Procurement analysts procure favorable contracts by acting as liaisons between suppliers and their employers. They are hired by organizations that rely on supply chain management to analyze and evaluate potential suppliers, prepare reports about monthly supply costs, and negotiate contracts... Show more	$21-43
   Procurement Agent	A procurement agent develops profitable measures to save the client money and ensure the quality of goods supplied. Procurement agents obtain the purchased items through suppliers, monitor them, and expedite the orders... Show more	$23-50

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Supply Chain
   • Customer Service
   • Supply Chain Planning
   • Logistics
   • Continuous Improvement
   • Demand Planning
   • Purchase Orders
   • MRP
   • ERP
   • Strong Analytical
   • Inventory Management
   • Process Improvement
   • Lean Six Sigma
   • Inventory Targets

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage communication among freight forwarders, trucking companies, and warehouse representatives.
   • Manage the preparation and analysis of material forecasts, interpreting MRP output and negotiating purchases.
   • Maintain the accuracy of BOM, inventory and other product attributes as identified with SAP/MDM/Impulse (ERP systems).
   • Administer ERP data for manufacturing, shipping, materials and quality control; run variance reports and reconcile variances.
   • Monitor and analyze all opportunities to reduce logistics costs and improve efficiency.
   • Select applicant will analyze technicaldata and reports to determine spares and support equipment provisioning requirements.

   More supply chain planner duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your supply chain planner job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A supply chain planner salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a supply chain planner in Florida may be lower than in California, and an entry-level supply chain planner usually earns less than a senior-level supply chain planner. Additionally, a supply chain planner with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average supply chain planner salary

   $80,668yearly

   $38.78 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level supply chain planner salary

   $58,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average supply chain planner salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$110,015	$53
   2	Washington	$103,184	$50
   3	Oregon	$98,484	$47
   4	Massachusetts	$82,969	$40
   5	Arizona	$82,070	$39
   6	New York	$79,663	$38
   7	New Jersey	$79,108	$38
   8	Michigan	$77,522	$37
   9	Texas	$77,033	$37
   10	Louisiana	$75,633	$36
   11	New Hampshire	$74,570	$36
   12	Tennessee	$67,186	$32
   13	Ohio	$65,887	$32
   14	Indiana	$65,873	$32
   15	Colorado	$65,709	$32
   16	Minnesota	$64,994	$31
   17	Missouri	$64,777	$31
   18	Illinois	$61,923	$30
   19	Georgia	$60,901	$29

   Average supply chain planner salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Microsoft	$124,596	$59.90	36
   2	GoPro	$106,072	$51.00
   3	AstraZeneca	$104,514	$50.25	1
   4	AbbVie	$104,320	$50.15	8
   5	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$103,012	$49.52	19
   6	Amd	$102,985	$49.51	4
   7	Novo Nordisk	$101,452	$48.77	1
   8	Biogen	$100,734	$48.43	2
   9	Entegris	$99,520	$47.85	3
   10	FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies	$99,093	$47.64	5
   11	Cordis	$98,093	$47.16
   12	Occidental Petroleum	$97,599	$46.92
   13	De'Longhi	$95,767	$46.04
   14	Trinseo	$95,277	$45.81
   15	Burlington	$94,091	$45.24
   16	Lam Research	$93,640	$45.02	2
   17	Stepan	$92,226	$44.34
   18	Wabtec Corporation	$91,853	$44.16
   19	Analog Devices	$91,300	$43.89	5
   20	BASF	$90,853	$43.68	6

4. Writing a supply chain planner job description

   A good supply chain planner job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a supply chain planner job description:

   Supply chain planner job description example

   Quidel's mission is to provide patients with immediate and frequent access to highly accurate, affordable testing for the good of our families, our communities and the world. We are a leading manufacturer of point of care diagnostic solutions. Quidel's comprehensive product portfolio includes tests for a wide range of infectious diseases, cardiac and autoimmune biomarkers, as well as a host of products to detect COVID-19.
   
   We are excited to announce that Quidel Corporation is now becoming QuidelOrtho! This transaction will bring together two world-class teams and complementary product portfolios to serve patients around the world. During this transition period, we encourage you to continue visiting our career site and also check out more career opportunities at Careers at Ortho Clinical Diagnostics | Ortho Clinical Diagnostics jobs Join our journey as we become one global diagnostics leader!
   
   The Planner is responsible for maintaining and executing the production planning and inventory control activities within designated line of business to meet organizational goals.
   #LI-AP1
   ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: Maintains planning parameters in master item data to drive MRP orders. Facilitates production planning with manufacturing teams to ensure on-time completion of production orders. Performs production planning using Material Requirements Planning (MRP) or manual planning methods while exercising judgment on order quantities thus ensuring timely production and appropriate inventory levels of manufactured items. Works with manufacturing to optimize production planning parameters and scheduling methods. Investigates production planning issues and shipping shortages to prevent missed shipments and backorders. Applies metrics to ensure production planning effectiveness. Conducts, distributes and transacts scrap reports and monitors inventory of planning area responsibility and corrects production planning parameters for over productions or missed forecasts. Interfaces with other departments on production schedule(s) and changes for holidays and other calendar events as required. Performs master production scheduling functions in the absence of the Manager, Planning. Leads or facilitates process improvement projects.
   EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:HS diploma or equivalent required, Bachelor's degree preferred. 3-5 years' experience planning in manufacturing environment required. Certifications: APICS CPIM, CFPIM, or CIRM; or NAPM CPM preferred.
   KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:Experience with MRP system required, E-mail, word processing, spreadsheet, database and presentation software skills required.Basic problem-solving skills required.
   Before you apply, please make sure you share Quidel' s values. We pride ourselves on keeping these values in mind every day as we execute on goals and plan for the future. We are seeking employees who share the same mindset and commitment to be customer driven, focused on execution, and new product oriented. We succeed by being determined, optimistic team players.
   
   Quidel is proud to be an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer (Minorities/Women/Disabled/Veterans). We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right supply chain planner for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with supply chain planners they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit supply chain planners who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your supply chain planner job on Zippia to find and recruit supply chain planner candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting supply chain planners requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new supply chain planner

   Once you've found the supply chain planner candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new supply chain planner first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a supply chain planner?