An appliance repair inventory specialist keeps parts for each brand and model on the shelf and on every tech's van. They order and chase back-ordered parts, send unused or wrong parts back before the return window closes, and pack failed cores so the credit comes through.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, household goods repair shops · BLS, May 2025
As an Inventory Specialist, you will play a pivotal role in maintaining the efficiency and effectiveness of our appliance repair services. You will be responsible for tracking stock levels, reordering parts, and maintaining accurate records. Your diligent work will contribute to the smooth operation of our services, ensuring our clients always receive prompt and quality assistance.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Monitor and maintain current inventory levels.
Process purchasing orders as required; track orders and investigate problems.
Record purchases, maintain database, perform physical count of inventory, and reconcile actual stock count to computer-generated reports.
Coordinate with the service team to ensure availability of parts for scheduled repairs.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Check stock to determine inventory levels.
Anticipate needed supplies; place and expedite orders for supplies.
Verify receipt of supply orders.
Handle customer interactions with professionalism and empathy.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Inventory Turnover Rate: >6 times per year.
Stockout Rate: <5%.
Order Accuracy: >99%.
Purchase Order Cycle Time: <48 hours.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
High School diploma or equivalent.
Minimum of 2 years of experience in inventory management.
Proficiency in using inventory management software.
Excellent organizational and multitasking abilities.
6. Preferred Experience
Previous experience in the appliance repair industry or a related field.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to lift up to 50 lbs.
Comfortable working in a warehouse environment.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours are Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM.
Occasional weekend shifts may be required during peak periods.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range of $40,000 - $50,000 annually, commensurate with experience.
Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance.
401k Retirement Plan with company match.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE], we believe in fostering a growth-oriented environment. We strive to help our employees level up their skills, offering opportunities for personal and professional development. We value teamwork, integrity, and dedication to customer satisfaction.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
An appliance shop stocks thousands of part numbers across many brands, and most repairs need one exact part. A big share of the job is tracking parts that belong to a single waiting customer.
Old part numbers point to new ones
A maker may retire a part number and replace it with a new one, so the board a tech orders can arrive under a number nobody on staff has seen. Record the old number, the new one and the models they fit in your inventory software. Otherwise the shelf holds a part the system can't find, and the shop buys another.
Each van carries its tech's brands
Vans shouldn't all carry the same stock. A tech cleared for one brand's warranty calls needs that brand's common failures on board, and a tech who mostly runs laundry calls needs pumps, belts and lid switches. Build each van's list from the parts that tech really used, review it every few months, and pull back parts that only ride around.
Special orders belong to a ticket
Control boards and many other parts get ordered for one customer. While the part is on order, check the distributor's ship date every few days, update the ticket, and tell the operations manager the day a date slips. When it lands, label the box with the ticket number and customer name and shelve it by date. If the customer cancels, cancel the order or start the return that day.
Returns run on a short clock
Unused and wrong parts go back only inside the seller's window. Encompass, which runs LG's parts store, for example, wants new parts back within 30 days of shipment, still resalable, with a return number made online that's good for 15 days, and no writing on the original box. A part forgotten on a van for six weeks becomes a cost, so sweep vans and shelves for returns every week. Source: LG Parts (run by Encompass Supply Chain Solutions): Returns and exchanges, including core returns.
Cores go back in the new part's box
When a part is sold on exchange, the old one has to come back. The same Encompass terms give full core credit only within 30 days of the invoice, require the core to ship in the box the new part came in, and turn away cores that are cracked, burnt or missing pieces. So techs keep the new box, pack the old part in it at the house, and hand it in that night. Source: LG Parts (run by Encompass Supply Chain Solutions): Returns and exchanges, including core returns.
How much appliance repair inventory specialists make
The closest BLS group for appliance repair inventory specialists is shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks. Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks who work for household goods repair shops earned a median of $19.42 an hour ($40,390 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $45,260 median for shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks in all industries. About 690 of the 816,870 shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks in that survey work for household goods repair shops.
The template pays a salary and benefits. Any bonus you add should rest on count accuracy and core credits received, not on how much gets ordered.
Household goods repair shops
$40,390$40,390 median Middle half $33,870–$46,890 10th–90th $30,980–$49,250
All industries
$45,260$45,260 median Middle half $38,200–$51,570 10th–90th $34,650–$62,190
$20k$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Household goods repair shops
$30,980
$33,870
$40,390
$46,890
$49,250
All industries
$34,650
$38,200
$45,260
$51,570
$62,190
BLS doesn’t publish pay for appliance repair companies on their own. These figures cover personal and household goods repair businesses, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Reads model and part numbers exactly, digit by digit
Keeps a special-order shelf where any part can be found by its ticket in a minute
Chases distributors for ship dates without being reminded
Tracks return and core deadlines and ships before they pass
Asks the tech the same day when a van part was used but no ticket shows it
Teach these on the job
Appliance part names such as drain pumps, igniters, defrost boards and door gaskets
Each distributor's ordering site, return rules and core terms
The parts screens in your field service or inventory software
How brand warranty parts are ordered and tracked
Which parts each van must carry, and the count that sets off a reorder
Hire someone who can work three screens at once: the purchase orders in your job software, a distributor's parts diagram for the model, and the ticket the part belongs to. A label printer and scanner tag each bin and special order.
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Catching wrong parts
A part arrives for tomorrow's return visit, but it doesn't match the photo of the old part. What do you do?
A strong answer: Compares part numbers, checks for a replacement number, asks the tech, contacts the supplier and warns dispatch before the visit.
Behavioral · Chasing backordered parts
Tell me about a time a part was backordered for weeks and a customer was without their appliance.
A strong answer: Checked other distributors and the manufacturer, looked for an approved replacement part number, gave dispatch and the customer a real date, and tracked the order until it shipped.
Count special orders apart from shelf and van stock, since a customer's special-order part never turns like a belt that sells every week. The template's figures are samples; three months of your own logs will show better ones.
Inventory Turnover Rate
Yearly cost of stocked parts used, divided by what the shelves and vans hold on average. Figure shelves and vans separately, and list slow movers by brand.
Stockout Rate
Repairs that needed a second trip because a part you mean to stock was out, divided by repairs that used stocked parts. Leave special orders out, since they aren't meant to be on hand.
Order Accuracy
Of the parts received each month, how many matched the part number ordered, the unit's model and the count. Mark each miss as yours or the supplier's.
Purchase Order Cycle Time
Hours from a tech's parts request to the order being placed, from the time stamps in your software. Go over the slow ones each week with whoever asked for the part.
Career path
Parts counter clerkLearns part numbers and returns at an appliance parts distributor.
Inventory specialistKeeps shelves, vans and special orders straight for every brand.
Warehouse managerRuns the parts room, its team and the distributor accounts.
Should an appliance repair shop stock parts or order them per job?
Both, and where you draw the line depends on your distributors. If one nearby delivers twice a day or has a will-call counter, its shelf can stand in for yours on slower parts. Stock what techs need on first visits, such as pumps, belts, igniters and door switches for the brands you see most. Control boards vary so much by model that most are better ordered once the tech has the model number.
How much does an appliance repair inventory specialist make?
Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks who work for household goods repair shops earned a median of $19.42 an hour ($40,390 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $33,870 and $46,890 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Should failed warranty parts go in the core bin?
No. A core earns a distributor credit, a failed warranty part may be called back by the brand that paid the claim, and an unused part goes back for resale. Give each its own labeled bin. Keep warranty parts with their claim number until the claim is closed and the brand's terms say they can go.
What does the 50-pound lifting line mean in an appliance parts room?
The template's 50-pound line covers boxed parts such as washer tubs, dryer drums and motors coming off a delivery and going onto shelves, and sometimes out to a van at restock. Say in the ad how often that happens and that you'll make reasonable accommodations.
What should happen when a distributor sends the wrong part?
Leave it in its box, unmarked, and start the return the same day. Tell the office which customer was waiting, so they can reorder and give a new date. A wrong part that sits on a shelf for a month may no longer be returnable, and its cost lands on the shop.
