Merchandise Planner, Canada

Job description

Description

Purpose/Description: The Merchandise Planner serves as the business manager for a book of business (collection of sub-brands or classes of merchandise) and is primarily responsible for translating the Merchants’ vision into viable plans and profitable results. The merchandise Planner is responsible for developing and maintaining sales, inventory and margin plans that tie to financial targets for an assigned Sub-Brand/Category. Plans will begin at the Sub-Brand/Category level and will drive to choice-level (Style/Color or Fragrance) plans, creating targeted assortments by cluster (group of stores with similar selling characteristics). The Planner identifies opportunities in order to mitigate risk or maximize profitability and provides analytics and to support to the Merchandising organization.

Principle Responsibilities:
• On a weekly basis, build preseason financial sales, gross margin and inventory plans that tie to the company’s sales, margin and turnover goals. Monitor performance in season, maintain the open to buy, and recommend strategies to stay on plan
• Provide style color breadth and depth targets for each assortment to align key goals/metrics: unit sales, inventory, receipts, turn and margin expectations. Collaborate with Merchant and Inventory analyst partners throughout the line build to ensure the assortment plan meets financial objectives
• Create and manage key item ladder plans to both pre and in season including managing receipt flow
• Prepare pre-season promotional and markdown strategy through partnership with Merchandising and Marketing. Analyze impact and effectiveness in season and make recommendations for future promotions and markdowns; execute markdowns
• Develop specific reports to support the business and complete ad hoc reporting as needed to drive or react to the current or future business needs
• Visits stores and reports on observations
• Analyzes merchandise performance at the department and item level including sales and stock to identify problems and opportunities

Qualifications

Qualifications/Capabilities:
• 3-7 years of retail merchandise planning experience, financial planning or financial analysis experience (More complex books of business require greater experience – 5-7; less complex – 3-5)
• Bachelor’s degree in finance, operations, economics, business, statistics or related field
• Merchant or merchandising experience a plus
• Assortment/attribute planning experience
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills; strong aptitude with numbers; retail math skills
• Ability to advance to high levels of computer literacy; exposure to relevant planning, finance, analytical, data management systems – systems used: JDA Enterprise Software’s Enterprise Planning suite
• Identifies/influences critical stakeholders – proactively problem solves and recommends solutions
• Strong communication and presentation skills: concisely presents complex information/recommendations in terms meaningful to various audiences
• Optimization Mindset – designs and develops models/plans to optimize decisions
• Builds collaborative partnerships cross-functionally; identifies/influences critical stakeholders
• Ability to articulate detailed action plans to successfully accomplish goal
• Understands and executes against business strategy and goals
• Makes decisions with limited information but also able to synthesize large quantities of data to drive business decisions

 

 

An equal opportunity employer, we do not discriminate in hiring or terms and conditions of employment because of an individual’s race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status or any other protected category recognized by state, federal or local laws. We only hire individuals authorized for employment in the United States.