Supply Chain, Procurement and Logistics job titles

It's clear that position titles can vary massively from one company to the next.

At Jobsinsupplychain, we have taken time out to consider listing the most commonly used titles across supply chain, logistics and procurement. The purpose of this is to ensure you are aware of every possible connotation of role title pertaining to your area of responsibility.

For a comprehensive list of position titles in supply chain, procurement and logistics jobs visit Jobsinsupplychain.com.au.

Who are the best Supply Chain and Procurement Recruiters?

Save yourself time and get the best possible results

This article will outline how to identify the most credible supply chain recruiters out there in the market, ensuring you work with the best consultants who can find you the perfect job.
First and foremost, there wont be any naming of agencies or a ranking list! The reason for this is simple.... One supply chain recruitment agency may be well equipped with the consultants and client base to meet the requirements of a particular candidate from a given location working in a specific sector, however this doesn't automatically mean all supply chain candidates should engage with them. Certain agencies perform very well within niche industry sectors or at particular levels of management, whereas other can be really well entrenched within the supply chain market of Sydney (for instance) but not necessarily on a national scale.
Add to this the fact that there may be varying levels of expertise of consultants even within the same agency and it can become a rather daunting prospect of who to engage with first.
OK - so how can we ascertain who are the best consultants to meet your own aspirations?
This decision is made easier by taking the time to identify the types of roles, industry sectors and location that you are interested in - Already you have narrowed the field to a number of key players so what's next?
A good way to find out who plays in your space is to conduct a job search on a career site with your desired job title and location. You may see one particular recruitment company has a number of roles advertised that closely match your desired criteria. The next step is to see if there is a particular consultant at that company who is consistently advertising these types of roles.
It is important to state at this stage that your level of seniority will dictate how useful this exercise may be. For instance, Director/VP level positions tend not to be regularly advertised and therefore may fall into the search and selection domain. Even senior managerial roles tend not to be frequently advertised, and it becomes harder to identify specialists as they may only be advertising one or two vacancies at a given time.
Don't be afraid to leverage your network. If you are aware of ex colleagues or friends who work in a similar space, you should ask their opinion wherever possible - especially if they have recently changed positions. This advice could save you a great deal of time in identifying who to approach to handle your career search.
Of course, much of this advice assumes you haven't already been engaging with recruiters in your current role. If you have been fortunate enough to have enlisted the services of specialist recruitment consultancies to find you candidates for openings within your department or immediate team, then you may already have a good idea of who performed well, understood the brief, and presented the best shortlisted candidates. Better still, you are most likely working with these companies as they bring a strong understanding of your industry sector (FMCG, Heavy industry, Logistics etc)
By browsing career sites, running some well crafted Google searches, seeking advice from your immediate network and potentially using your own experience of engaging recruiters, you should now have something approaching a shortlist of agencies to approach.
Most specialist agencies will have a team of consultants who manage particular areas or industry sectors within supply chain, some deployed to certain geographical locations and others working on roles within set salary brackets. Usually there will be one consultant who recruits roles that meet your set criteria, however depending on your salary expectations and sectors of choice it may be beneficial to engage with another consultant within that agency. Executive Search firms tend to be structured in divisions by industry rather than functional specialty.
Before submitting your details to a recruitment consultant (either in application for a particular role or in order to become registered with them) you should call them to introduce yourself and ask a few questions to ascertain their level of expertise and track record. If you have noticed a particular role advertised by the consultant then this provides a good point of reference for the conversation.
Prior to the conversation, you could always browse the recruiter's public Linkedin profile to see how long they have worked in their current role and in this particular field.
Take a few moments to tell them about your current/most recent role, why you are looking, and the type of positions you are interested in. If the call is in relation to a particular role then the following questions should provide you with a clearer idea of the credibility and expertise of the recruiter:
1. Tell me some more about the company/business unit - number of employees, turnover, challenges, company culture etc.
2. The role - what are the expectations of the employer? Key deliverables - how is success measured? How is the role integrated into the team/department? Reason for the vacancy?
3. What is the manager like? What's their style?
4. Have you met with the hiring manager?
5. Are you the sole recruiter assigned to this vacancy?
6. Where is the process up to?
IMPORTANT - do not under any circumstances call a recruitment consultant and attempt to ask a list of questions if you have haven't previously engaged with them. The best approach is to:
A) Check the consultant has a few minutes to talk - imagine..... a recruitment consultant who has 10 roles advertised may have received 40+ applications per role and is therefore receiving a high number of calls and could be interviewing more than half a dozen candidates per day.
B) Introduce yourself and by opening up to the recruitment consultant and sharing this confidential information you are now entitled to hear more about the vacancy.
Clearly you may not be required to ask all of the questions outlined above if the consultant demonstrates a really strong appreciation of the company and the current vacancy. If you feel comfortable with the level of information provided and the consultant feels your experience fits the requirements of the role then the next step would be to meet in person.
On the other hand, you may literally have just decided to consider your future career options and have been recommended a particular recruiter or have noticed a number of roles advertised by the consultant. The initial call would then be slightly different in context:
A) Explain the reason for the call - recommendation/seen a number of roles advertised, then briefly introduce yourself and outline your current position and what is leading you to consider your options.
B) Ask the consultant about the types of roles they typically work on - management level, industry sector, how frequently do they work on matching assignments (this is critical as it may not be worth investing too much time in a relationship with a consultant who only works on two assignments per year that meet your desired criteria). Another good questions to ask them is regarding the current state of the market - is it competitive? Which sectors are hiring? Are people looking to move?
Again, be polite and courteous and try not to interrogate the consultant! If they are able to provide you with some really good examples of recent/current assignments that fall inline with your aspirations then clearly there are grounds to facilitate a face to face meeting. However if they worked on a matching role 7 months ago then you may wish to keep an arms length relationship and spend your time establishing more valuable relationships.
Having spoken to your shortlisted recruitment companies/consultants you will now have a more refined shortlist of who to meet "in person". No recruitment consultancy can (or will) profess to be working with every client in the market, however by selecting 3 to 4 well established agencies, you are guaranteed to have a really good level of market coverage.
When you do finally meet with your shortlisted consultants, this is a great opportunity to talk through your experience and core competencies in finer detail and outline your aspirations. A good consultant will be able to manage your expectations based on their own experience of candidates of similar situations and experience levels, coupled with hindsight of shortlist presentation and interview processes on past assignments matching your career aspirations.
It's always a good idea to set some parameters for how the relationship will be managed going forward - frequency and method of communication is a great one to agree on at this stage. Sometimes it's better to drop a consultant an e-mail to arrange a convenient time to talk, other consultants may prefer to touch base once per week on a set day. The same can be said from your side - if you find it really hard to answer the phone during work hours then inform the consultant of the best way to reach you - is it by text or calling after 5,30pm?
This is especially critical if the consultant is attempting to organise an interview on your behalf with a client and is under pressure to confirm the details.
In any case, agreeing upon this early in the relationship will reduce the chances of either party being disappointed along the way.
These tips are designed to save you time and hopefully ensure you get better results quickly with less effort. The best relationships are those that foster longevity - it is not uncommon for a recruitment consultant to successfully assist a candidate to transition into a new role more than once in their career.
Good luck ...and by taking some time to research and screen your initial recruitment options based on the advice in this article, I am positive you will see some good results and meet some outstanding people!