Parts Manager Career Guide,
Salary, Licence & Jobs 2026

Automotive parts managers are counted under First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers (SOC 41-1011), with a BLS OEWS May 2025 median of $48,520 a year, or $23.33 an hour, ranging from $33,120 to $77,080. Many parts managers add gross-profit incentives on top, so real dealership earnings often run above that base.

Start on the parts counter learning catalog lookup, stocking and wholesale and retail sales, then master inventory management — fill rate, obsolescence, ordering and gross control. Manufacturer parts-management academies certify the skills, and most step through an assistant role owning inventory and purchasing before running the department.

You set your career intent, target role, location, salary, credentials, and timeline, in 3 minutes. Our recruiters benchmark your pay against BLS data and live employer requirements, then bring matching permanent job opportunities directly to you. No applications. No job boards. We verify your credentials so employers see a complete, credible profile. After placement, we pay your licence renewal fees. Permanent, full-time, direct-hire only.

A parts manager runs the dealership parts department — controlling inventory, wholesale and retail sales, and the counter and delivery team that supplies service technicians and customers. The work centers on balancing fill rate against obsolescence, hitting department gross, placing orders, and supporting the service department's parts needs.

It is a solid fixed-operations role with a $48,520 median plus gross-profit incentives and a path toward fixed-operations-director positions near $77,080. The trade-off is that BLS projects the retail-supervisor code to decline 5% through 2034, though its size still opens about 125,100 jobs a year and inventory skill stays in demand.

Manufacturer parts-management certifications from OEM academies are the most valued, covering parts inventory, financials and leadership. Inventory-management training in fill rate and obsolescence control grounds the day-to-day, and fixed-operations and financial training in gross profit rounds out the parts manager's toolkit.

A parts advisor works the counter looking up and selling parts to customers and technicians, while a parts manager runs the whole department — inventory, gross, purchasing and the counter team. The advisor is a counter sales role, while the parts manager maps to the First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers code (SOC 41-1011).