Supply chain finance jobs:The next hot spot in the SCM career market

Filed in archive Employment on April 12, 2010

I have written posts in the pasts on the importance of supply chain finance and the strategies which companies are employwwing these days in order to optimize the flow of materials and inventory from tax or profit perspective.

Today I wanted to write a bit more on this topic but this time more from the career market perspective; my message in this post is simple: Supply chain finance jobs are increasingly becoming important and they are paying big bucks as the salary!

There are reasons behind why this is happening: We have just come out of one of the biggest economic crisis ever and many of the companies are trying to be lean and nimble so that, in the case similar situation happens, they can survive.

Another reason might be the diffusion of knowledge from industries which have been practicing supply chain finance for a while: Pharma companies have worked, as an example, on tax optimization in supply chain and they move around their inventory in such a way which is not necessarily optimum from logistics cost perspective, but they end up paying less tax. Other companies look at such practices and wonder: Why can't we do this?

That is one reason that the demand for experts in the area of supply chain finance is growing and since the capacity is not enough for the market, the pay is good...

In a nutshell, and of course an ideal situation, some of the typical responsibilities of such experts are:

- To lead the production and co-ordination of stockholding, availability and stock profit budgets and forecasts to ensure that the changing shape of the supply network is accurately reflected and appropriate challenges made.

- To provide commercial support in tracking logistics, tax-related, and supplier financing costs and propose initiatives for optimization of such costs

- To manage the integration of supply chain financial processes for distribution centers and link them to company financial control system.

Do you think you have what it takes to be a supply chain finance expert? Stay tuned...