Merchandise Planning Manager

THIS POSITION IS NOT REMOTE

The Merchandise Planning Manager is responsible the creation and development of seasonal merchandising strategies and product plans, forecasting for future merchandise buys based on history, trend and current inventory levels.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Manage inventory plans from investment through allocation, including ongoing evaluation and updates
• Participate in the development of weekly, monthly, seasonal and annual merchandise plans
• Develop and communicate comprehensive department financial and product strategies
• Manage monthly department level open to buy
• Run and analyze reports in order to react to current business trends as well as anticipate future business trends
• Analyze historic performance and planned strategies to identify areas of opportunity or risk
• Create new store opening assortment and sales plans
• Develop and maintain stores’ assortment for improved sales and inventory efficiency
• Partner with Merchant teams to size and forecast product and profit components
• Establish and maintain accurate demand forecasts and execute/manage product and promotional changes
• Actively participate in assortment development and review, providing data and analysis to support decision making
• Collaborate on best strategies to address product liabilities and develop action plans to liquidate in a timely and profitable manner
• Partner with Merchant teams to implement consistent and profitable replenishment strategies and practices
• Work with Allocation team to maximize inventory balance within the stores as well as ensuring stock levels on promotional merchandise
• Develop department mitigation plans and execute when appropriate
• Develop, maintain and update tools, reports, etc. to support the needs of the business

Qualifications/Required Skills

• Analytical Skills: Ability to think objectively and interpret meaningful conclusions from quantitative and qualitative data
• Financial and Business Acumen: Ability to evaluate financial and business indicators and translate data into actionable information to drive results
• Problem Solving and Decision Quality: Able to use rigorous logic and methods to solve problems with effective solutions
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Wizard-level Excel skills
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• Five years in Retail Merchandise Planning, or a related role (e.g. business analytics, forecasting)