Inventory Manager: Career Guide + Job Description (2025)

Job Title: Inventory Manager

Location: [Insert location]

Reports to: [Insert name and title of supervisor]

An inventory manager oversees the inventory levels of an organization. They lead a team to record and receive new stock and keep the inventory supply restocked and replenished, among other things.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Manages employee recruitment and training of new inventory employees.
• In charge of employee schedules, deliveries, and shipments.
• Addresses personnel issues and communicates with inventory employees to meet goals.
• Optimize inventory control procedures and processes.
• Inspect business supplies and raw materials to identify possible shortages and avoid them.
• Ensure adequate product stock for every possible distribution channel to cover direct demand from customers.
• Keep accurate records of daily deliveries and shipments, and replenish inventory when necessary.
• Monitor inventory demand and inventory characteristics.
• Place orders to keep track of and replenish stock when necessary to avoid a shortage of stock or surplus.
• Analyze available data and market trends to anticipate future needs.
• Evaluate suppliers to achieve the most cost-effective deals while maintaining product quality and trust in supplier relations.
• Collaborate and coordinate with warehouse employees and other supply chain professionals to ensure that goals are met on time.
• Report and keep upper management up-to-date on stock levels, issues, etc.

KPIs for this role

• Inventory Turnover Rate: Number of times a company sells or replaces its stock in a certain time (usually one year)
• Days on Hand: The rate of inventory turns in a day.
• Weeks on Hand: Average time that inventory sells per week.
• Stock to Sales Ratio: Measure of inventory amount in storage vs, number of sales.
• Accuracy of Forecast Demand: Percentage of accuracy in the forecast vs how much stock is available.
• Time to Receive: The efficiency of an organization’s stock-receiving process.
• Put Away Time: Average amount of time for a company to store inventory.
• Fill Rate: Measure of all portions of the supply chain, including the order fill, line fill, and unit fill.

Key Skills and Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. logistics or other relevant fields.
• The Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) certification is advantageous
• Proven experience as an inventory manager or similar position with a minimum of 3 years.
• Excellent working knowledge of data analysis and forecasting methods.
• Working knowledge of inventory management software and willingness to learn other relevant supply chain software as needed.
• Ability to accurately track inventory and create concise and well-organized reports.
• Analytical thinking with mathematical skills.
• Excellent organizational and planning skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal abilities.

• Manages employee recruitment and training of new inventory employees.
• In charge of employee schedules, deliveries, and shipments.
• Addresses personnel issues and communicates with inventory employees to meet goals.
• Optimize inventory control procedures and processes.
• Inspect business supplies and raw materials to identify possible shortages and avoid them.
• Ensure adequate product stock for every possible distribution channel to cover direct demand from customers. 
• Keep accurate records of daily deliveries and shipments and replenish inventory when necessary.
• Monitor inventory demand and inventory characteristics.
• Place orders to keep track of and replenish stock when necessary to avoid a shortage of stock or surplus.
• Analyze available data and market trends to anticipate future needs.
• Evaluate suppliers to achieve the most cost-effective deals while maintaining product quality and trust in supplier relations.
• Collaborate and coordinate with warehouse employees and other supply chain professionals to ensure that goals are met on time.
• Report and keep upper management up-to-date on stock levels, issues, etc.

• Inventory tracking: Keeping track of inventory items, stock levels, calculating available storage space, and identifying shortages or possible shortages.
• Inventory control processes: Control processes used to manage stock, monitor perishable goods, and track raw material levels.
• Inventory software or hardware systems: The use of software and hardware systems to monitor products leaving and entering facilities or stores.
• Attention to detail: Accuracy of information and meticulous work practices to achieve goals efficiently and accurately.
• Multitasking: Being able to manage multiple things at once, knowing how to prioritize each by importance and urgency, while maintaining timeliness overall.
• Data analysis and reporting: Evaluating data and planning inventory strategies while keeping upper management in the loop.
• Interpersonal skills: Ability to start and maintain positive relationships with suppliers, co-workers, employees, and other staff.

• Inventory Turnover Rate: Number of times a company sells or replaces its stock in a certain time (usually one year)
• Days on Hand: The rate of inventory turns in a period of one day.
• Weeks on Hand: Average time that inventory sells per week.
• Stock to Sales Ratio: Measure of inventory amount in storage vs, number of sales.
• Accuracy of Forecast Demand: Percentage of accuracy in the forecast vs how much stock is available.
• Time to Receive: The efficiency of an organization’s stock-receiving process.
• Put Away Time: Average amount of time for a company to store inventory.
• Fill Rate: A Measure of all portions of the supply chain the including the order fill, line fill, and unit fill.
• On-Time Shipment: {percentage of orders shipped on time.
• Supply Chain Costs: Costs related to the supply chain and how much of the budget is saved or wasted due to supply chain management.