Getting the right stuff to the right place: buyers, planners, brokers and managers who move goods around the world.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Purchasing Manager: Leads the team that buys everything a company needs, from raw materials to software, at the best price and quality. Typical pay $140k.
Supply Chain Director: Runs the whole flow of goods for a company, from suppliers to factories to warehouses to customers. Typical pay $160k.
Global Sourcing Manager: Finds and manages factories and suppliers around the world, often traveling to Asia, Mexico or Europe. Typical pay $130k.
Shipbroker: Matches cargo owners with ships for hire, negotiating deals to move oil, grain or iron ore across oceans. Typical pay $120k.
S&OP Manager: Gets sales, manufacturing and finance to agree each month on how much to make and sell. Typical pay $130k.
Procurement Category Manager: Owns a company's buying for a whole category, like packaging or IT, and negotiates the big contracts. Typical pay $140k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Logistician: Plans how products move: where they're stored, how they're shipped and how to get them there on time and cheap. Typical pay $81k.
Buyer / Purchasing Agent: Buys parts, supplies and services for a company, comparing vendors and negotiating prices. Typical pay $72k.
Warehouse Shift Supervisor: Leads a crew of warehouse workers during a shift at an e-commerce, retail or logistics warehouse, assigning tasks and making sure orders ship safely. Typical pay $55k.
Materials Manager: Makes sure a factory has the right parts and raw materials when it needs them, without overstocking. Typical pay $100k.
Procurement Spend Analyst: Studies everything a company buys to find where it overpays. Typical pay $75k.
Supplier Diversity Manager: Helps small, local, veteran-owned and minority-owned businesses win contracts with a big company or government. Typical pay $90k.
Supply Chain Sustainability Manager: Makes sure the suppliers a company buys from treat workers fairly and reduce pollution. Typical pay $100k.
Cold Chain Logistics Manager: Keeps vaccines, medicines, ice cream, seafood and flowers at the right temperature from factory to store, with sensors, packaging and refrigerated trucks. Typical pay $100k.
Government Property Administrator: Tracks the millions of dollars of government-owned tools, test gear and equipment that defense and space contractors are allowed to use. Typical pay $80k.
Fresh Produce Buyer: Buys fruits and vegetables for grocery chains, restaurants or wholesalers, often at dawn, judging quality and price before it all goes bad. Typical pay $74k.
Shipping & Receiving Clerk: Checks incoming and outgoing shipments and makes sure the paperwork matches. Typical pay $40k.
Cargo & Freight Agent: Arranges shipments at airlines, ports and freight companies, handling the paperwork and tracking. Typical pay $49k.
Procurement Clerk: Processes purchase orders, tracks deliveries and keeps buying records straight. Typical pay $49k.
Import Coordinator: Tracks shipments coming from overseas and handles the paperwork so they clear customs. Typical pay $50k.
Freight Claims Analyst: Gets money back when shipments arrive broken, wet, late or missing, by filing claims against trucking, rail and ocean carriers. Typical pay $52k.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.