A custom closet inventory specialist keeps board, edge banding, hardware and accessories counted and on hand for the shop and install crews. They reorder before a color or slide runs out, log what each order used, and pack every job's hardware before it ships.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, building finishing contractors · BLS, May 2025
Serve as a key contributor in managing and maintaining the inventory for custom closet projects by accurately ordering parts, logging usage, and updating stock records to support operational efficiency.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Order and replenish parts required for custom closet installations.
Manage and log product usage to maintain updated stock records.
Maintain accurate inventory levels through routine audits.
Collaborate with installation teams to ensure timely supply of necessary components.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review daily inventory levels and place orders for low stock parts.
Update stock records in the inventory management system consistently.
Monitor usage reports and adjust reordering processes as needed.
Communicate with vendors and suppliers for order confirmations and delivery updates.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Inventory Accuracy: Maintain a minimum of 98% accuracy in stock records.
Order Fulfillment Time: Achieve less than 24 hours turnaround for critical parts orders.
Usage Reporting: Ensure 100% daily logging of parts usage.
Stock Turnover Ratio: Maintain a target ratio that minimizes excess inventory while ensuring ample supply.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
High school diploma or equivalent; Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree preferred.
2+ years of experience in inventory management or a related field.
Proficiency with inventory management software and Microsoft Office.
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail in handling stock records.
6. Preferred Experience
Previous experience in home services or custom closet installation industries.
Familiarity with automated inventory tracking systems.
Experience working in a fast-paced, customer-centric environment.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to lift items weighing up to 25 lbs.
Frequent standing, walking, and bending during inventory audits.
Work in environments with variable temperatures (warehouse conditions).
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Occasional overtime based on project needs and seasonal demand.
Limited travel to vendor sites and branch locations as needed.
No on-call duties required.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $18-$22 per hour based on qualifications and experience.
Eligible for annual performance bonuses.
Health, Dental, and Vision insurance.
401(k) plan with company match.
Paid time off and holiday benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
Our company fosters a collaborative and growth-oriented culture that values innovation, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
We are committed to employee development and offer various training programs to help you level up and succeed professionally.
We celebrate diversity and strive to create a welcoming environment where every team member feels valued and empowered.
Join us to be a part of a forward-thinking team dedicated to delivering exceptional custom closet solutions to our loyal customers.
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
A closet shop stocks a short list of products in a long list of colors and finishes. One missing hinge or a sold-out color can hold up an install that's otherwise ready.
Every finish is its own item
A sheet of white in two thicknesses is two items, and the edge band that matches each is two more. Every rod, handle and hinge finish counts on its own, too. A system that tracks "white board" or "closet rod" will look fine while the shelf runs empty. Set up each color, thickness and finish as a separate item, and log edge band by the roll.
Hardware leaves in job kits
The design program lists every slide, hinge, cam, rod and bracket an order needs. The specialist picks that list into a labeled kit, checks it a second time, and logs the use against the order, which is the template's daily usage report. A kit short one hinge strands an installer in a customer's home, so any short item is flagged before the order is marked ready.
Remakes and warranty need the old finish
A remade panel has to match the closet already on the wall. Keep a few sheets and a roll of band in any color you stop selling, set aside for remakes and warranty claims, and note when each runs out. When a new delivery of a long-running color arrives, hold a piece next to stock you already have before a remake is cut from it.
Some parts can't wait
The template asks for fast turnaround on critical parts. In a closet company, that's whatever is holding up an install or a remake: a drawer slide in an odd length, a wall bed mechanism part, a driver for the lighting. Keep a short list of those items, a second supplier for each, and the name of a distributor that can deliver the next day.
Designers need to hear about backorders
Designers sell from the design program's catalog, and the catalog doesn't know what's on your shelf. When a color, handle or accessory is backordered or discontinued, tell the sales manager and whoever keeps the catalog that day, so designers stop selling it. Finding out after a customer signs means a call to change the order.
How much custom closet inventory specialists make
The closest BLS group for custom closet inventory specialists is shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks. Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks who work for building finishing contractors earned a median of $23.23 an hour ($48,310 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $45,260 median for shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks in all industries. About 1,370 of the 816,870 shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks in that survey work for building finishing contractors.
Hourly in the template, with an annual bonus. Even its top rate is lower than what BLS reports as typical for these clerks at building finishing contractors, so check what local cabinet shops and supply houses pay before you post. Kits that leave complete and counts that match make fair bonus measures.
Building finishing contractors
$48,310$48,310 median Middle half $41,450–$57,520 10th–90th $34,510–$65,780
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$80k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Building finishing contractors
$34,510
$41,450
$48,310
$57,520
$65,780
All industries
$34,650
$38,200
$45,260
$51,570
$62,190
BLS doesn’t publish pay for closet companies on their own. These figures cover building finishing contractors, 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
Keeps counts exact across many colors, sizes and finishes
Reads an order's hardware list and packs it without misses
Catches a near-match color or finish before it reaches a kit
Finds a second source fast when a slide or hinge is backordered
Tells sales and the shop about a shortage the day it's known
Teach these on the job
Your board colors, edge bands and hardware lines
Your design program's hardware lists and order numbers
Your inventory software's counts and reorder points
Which parts your distributors can deliver overnight
Your kit labels and staging spots
The template names inventory software and spreadsheets; add a scanner and a printer for bin and kit labels. Each order's hardware list comes straight from the design program, so kits are picked from the same order the customer signed.
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 · Matching finishes
A job needs a finish color of board that's low in stock, and the supplier's next batch may look slightly different. What do you do?
A strong answer: Checks whether there's enough for the whole job, tells production and the designer, and keeps one job's parts from mixed batches where it could show.
Behavioral · Logging usage
Tell me about a time you set up a better way to track hardware or accessories used on each job.
A strong answer: Describes the system, such as job kits or scanning, how they got people to use it and how accuracy improved.
Keep hardware and board on separate lines, since a missed hinge and a missed sheet cause different problems. Set targets once you've seen the numbers through a busy stretch and a slow one.
Inventory Accuracy
Counts that match the system, for board by color and thickness, edge band by roll and hardware by finish. A right count of the wrong finish is a miss, so check the label as well as the number.
Order Fulfillment Time
Hours from a critical-part request to the part in hand, for every request. A part that needed a second supplier or a will-call pickup still counts if it arrived in time.
Usage Reporting
Days on which every order's hardware and board use was logged against that order. Spot-check a few packed kits against the log each week.
Stock Turnover Ratio
Materials used in a period, at cost, over the average stock held. Run it item by item too, since a color designers rarely sell can tie up a whole rack of board.
Career path
Shop helper or stockerMoves board, stages orders and learns the colors.
Inventory specialistKeeps board, band and hardware counted and every kit complete.
Shop managerAdds the saws, the shop crew and deliveries.
After the office releases the order to the shop, not at signing. Until then, the customer can still cancel inside the window, and the check measure can still change the drawing. A kit picked for a changed order has to be unpacked and recounted. Pick each kit by the staging date the operations manager sets, so the counts on screen stay true until then.
How much does a custom closet inventory specialist make?
Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks who work for building finishing contractors earned a median of $23.23 an hour ($48,310 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $41,450 and $57,520 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Should closet installers carry spare hardware in the van?
A small stock of the parts that go missing or break most, such as cams, shelf pins, screws and a few common hinges, saves a return trip over one small part. Keep one list for every van, refill them on a fixed schedule, and log what was used against the orders it went to, so van stock doesn't hide real shortages.
What happens to offcuts and leftover hardware?
Set a rule with the shop manager. Usable offcuts go on a marked rack by color and size and get counted like other stock, so the shop checks the rack before opening a full sheet. Unused hardware that comes back from a job is counted back into stock that day, against the order it left on. Anything damaged goes in a separate bin, so it never ends up in a kit.
What does the template's warehouse conditions line mean?
For this job, it means lifting boxes of hardware and accessories, which the template limits to 25 pounds, bending through counts, and a stockroom that can be chilly in winter and warm in summer. Full sheets of board move on carts or with trained forklift drivers. Say so in the ad, task by task, and welcome accommodation requests.
