Logistics Manager: profession features, responsibilities and requirements

Reading the vacancy announcements in newspapers, it is easy to notice that many companies constantly need different managers. One of the varieties is the logistics manager. If you are looking for exactly this, then it is important to understand what are the features of this profession, to represent the responsibilities and requirements in such work. In addition, you need to find out where such a specialist can get a job, and what are his career prospects.

The logistics manager, as the name suggests, controls the movement of goods. He needs to make sure that all material values ​​go on a journey and arrive in place in strict accordance with the schedule. Also need:

• look for companies that provide good conditions for transportation;
• draw up and conclude contracts;
• coordinate the organization’s work with customs, warehouses and other external structures.

Strictly speaking, people have been interested in transport logistics since ancient times. True, then (and for a very long time later) it existed only as an appendix to the trade and supply of troops. Later, procurement departments appeared in various organizations. Nowadays, the relevance of logistics procedures is as great as ever. Therefore, the specialists who deal with them are also in demand.

However, one should not think that the logistics and logistics manager are one and the same. Their work is radically different. And the positions in the classifier of professions in Russia should not be confused either. The manager has a wider profile.He is entrusted with completely different tasks. We have to delve into the features of transportation by cars and trains, water and air. It will be necessary to study the routes and be able to build them from scratch. And that means taking into account applied and physical geography.

Logistics managers are in great demand. The commercial success of many structures directly depends on the organization of transportation. And if we take into account the constantly increasing competition, then the importance of optimal cargo transportation is only increasing. Logistics specialists need to alternately visit sites and plan everything with documents, write reports. A change of seats will not allow you to either stay in the office or suffer from bad weather.

The growing demand for all logistics-related professionals makes it possible to count on maintaining a real level of wages in the near future or even on their growth. As skills grow, the credibility of the logistics manager will only increase. It will be possible to apply the same skills when planning a move or (indirectly) when solving a complex life problem.

However, not everything is so rosy:

• the consequences of any mistake can result in multimillion-dollar losses;
• despite the real level of wages, work in the warehouse and in transportation is still not prestigious enough, and will remain so in the foreseeable future;
• stress is very likely (and problems in the logistics sphere are an integral part of the profession).

Describing the functions of a logistics manager and what he does is easiest when referring to a typical job description. Of course, in each organization such documents are developed individually. However, they are still based on the general requirements of everyday practice. Due to the importance of such a position, the appointment and removal of logistics managers is the prerogative of the general directors.

The responsibilities include:

• thorough knowledge of national, regional and industry standards;
• possession of key information about the creation of logistics schemes and their adjustment as necessary;
• possession of the current logistic situation in the company as a whole and in its area of ​​responsibility especially;
• knowledge of the principles of logistic forecasting and their skillful application;
• knowledge of the basics of management, time management, corporate psychology and corporate culture;
• knowledge of marketing and production nuances (if the company is production or production and trading);
• knowledge of the features of the transported goods and taking this into account when selecting transport and personnel for transportation, planning routes, determining delivery times and costs.

All this must be known and tracked in real time. Sometimes, due to a change in the situation, it is necessary to interrupt delivery or adjust the route of traffic directly on the road. Or designate a different point of arrival, the time of arrival at the final and intermediate points.

Logistic forecasts and plans - this is what the logistics manager works as often as possible. If he does not draw up these documents at some point, then, in any case, uses them. The manager will have to develop a budget for logistics costs and monitor how this budget is implemented. He is engaged in logistics and procurement.

The specialist also:

• analyzes supply contracts;
• helps to plan production;
• It helps to plan the volume of stocks in a warehouse, determines the costs of their storage and formation;
• inventorying;
• determines what kind of storage equipment is needed and in what quantity;
• optimizes the movement of goods within the company, including inside warehouses and production facilities;
• contact customs to ensure efficient documentary procedures for cross-border transport;
• coordinates the work of downstream logistics staff.

So, in general terms, it is clear what the logistics manager does in most companies. However, it is clear that he will succeed in fulfilling these duties. only if certain requirements are met.

These include:

• higher professional education;
• fluency in computer, office programs, 1C program, special software;
• knowledge of the basics of workflow, a foreign language (preferably English, German, Chinese);
• knowledge of regulatory documents governing foreign economic activity in general and in a particular state in particular;
• ability to interact with customs, tax authorities;
• the ability to work in close conjunction with international shipping companies;
• Willingness to engage in inventory accounting using special software packages.

The cargo manager is, first of all, the optimal combination of the qualities of a strategist and tactics. He should clearly see the most distant consequences of his actions. But at the same time, the immediate development of the situation should not escape attention. The analysis of a specific situation should be carried out through the prism of both the economy and the practical organization of transportation. For the full implementation of their duties will have to maintain continuous contact with a large number of people.

That's why Only those who are very sociable and easily make new friends will be accepted to such positions. The ability to find contact with the right person sometimes even means more in logistics than the type of truck selected in time, a well-thought-out route or anticipation of a difficult situation at a particular transport terminal. Manager of logistick attentive even to small details. He should be able to quickly switch attention between different processes as needed. The resistance to stresses that this area of ​​activity generates at every step is also useful.

Decent freight manager:

• Doesn’t lose his head, even if something is fundamentally wrong, and it’s not possible to turn the tide (he brings other work processes to the end);
• acts as a first-class organizer;
• knows how to take responsibility in the most difficult situation;
• always disciplined by himself and keeps other people within the strict discipline.

When looking for work, the logistics manager does not have to limit himself to only companies involved in the transportation of goods as such. Similar specialists are needed in other areas. They are waiting in airlines and shipping companies, factories, in the military department and in supermarket chains.

It is also worth looking for work in:

• agriculture;
• bus fleets;
• construction companies;
• trade;
• housing and communal services system;
• organizations involved in sporting events, exhibitions, film festivals and the like involving a large number of people;
• catering system, catering;
• bodies of state power and local self-government;
• police, as well as at customs.

Most logistics managers in the Russian Federation receive from 30 to 40 thousand rubles a month. But keep in mind that Moscow, Moscow region, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region account for at least 50% of all domestic vacancies of this kind. It is curious that in the Amur Region the average payment rate is another 10 thousand rubles higher, the Russian capital is also confidently ahead of Sakhalin and Komi (40-43 thousand).

People who have just received an economic or even specialized education should not immediately count on serious career success. The beginning of the journey is the position of assistant manager. Experience is gained in it, but large profits cannot yet be expected. To succeed and go to the next level, you have to constantly engage in self-training.

Logisticians are trained in any university with a faculty or department of economics (with rare exceptions). A higher economic education of a different profile will make do with retraining courses. A good support base will be the higher school of business at Moscow State University. Also worth a look at the suggestions:

• HSE;
• Voronezh Technical University;
• Novosibirsk University of Economics and Management;
• Moscow MIIT;
• South Ural State University;
• Kemerovo Technical University.