Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between supply chain planners and supply chain directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a supply chain planner and a supply chain director. Additionally, a supply chain director has an average salary of $129,438, which is higher than the $80,668 average annual salary of a supply chain planner.
The top three skills for a supply chain planner include supply chain, customer service and supply chain planning. The most important skills for a supply chain director are supply chain, logistics, and chain operations.
| Supply Chain Planner | Supply Chain Director | |
| Yearly salary | $80,668 | $129,438 |
| Hourly rate | $38.78 | $62.23 |
| Growth rate | 28% | - |
| Number of jobs | 36,145 | 37,396 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
The job of supply chain planners, or logisticians, is to plan, develop, and schedule project management tools in support of an organization's operations. They are responsible for managing and monitoring inventories, forecasting production and sales levels, and tracking response time and delivery performance. Other duties include analyzing the levels of finished products, developing and monitoring production plans, and generating reports. Supply chain planners are also responsible for supervising other team members and ensuring that customer service best practices are followed.
A supply chain director is primarily in charge of the overall supply chain operations in a company. Their responsibilities revolve around devising strategies to improve processes, creating business plans and sales forecasts, delegating tasks, coordinating and selecting suppliers and vendors, creating new supply chain policies when necessary, and spearheading the inventory and delivery processes. There are also instances when a supply chain director must report to higher-ranking officials, produce progress reports, and craft presentations. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead the workforce while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Supply chain planners and supply chain directors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Supply Chain Planner | Supply Chain Director | |
| Average salary | $80,668 | $129,438 |
| Salary range | Between $58,000 And $110,000 | Between $90,000 And $185,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Chewy |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a supply chain planner and a supply chain director in terms of educational background:
| Supply Chain Planner | Supply Chain Director | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between supply chain planners' and supply chain directors' demographics:
| Supply Chain Planner | Supply Chain Director | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.0% Female, 45.0% | Male, 83.1% Female, 16.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 7.4% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |