Senior Merchandise Planner

We have an amazing opportunity for a Senior Merchandise Planner to join our growing team! Under the supervision of the Manager, Inventory & Merchandise Planning, this role supports the planning department in all analysis functions, assists in the placement of purchase orders for our growing assortment, provides support for weekly reporting, and supports the liquidation business function. The ideal candidate for this position will be an adept communicator, extremely detail oriented, possess strong cross functional teamwork skills, and have extensive experience with both inventory and assortment planning. This position will bring high energy, teamwork, and a strong attention to detail to the team and will work closely with Planning, Merchandising, Sourcing, Business Analysts, Finance and IT.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Responsible for department forecasting inventory needs, creating purchase orders with precision and accuracy, sending to Vendors, as well as making any adjustments needed due to vendor feedback.
• Prepare insight/action for Seasonal Budgets, Catalog Demand Plans, Initial Buys, Open-To-Buy, and Hindsight Reviews.
• Review weekly backorder and out of stock reports to determine necessary purchase order placement or adjustment needs.
• Monitor weekly inbound purchase order reporting to ensure goods arrive on schedule.
• Ensure adequate stock levels are maintained for all size ranges offered.
• Review stock to sales ratios and respond to changing sales trends to ensure all targets are achieved.
• Lead merchandise planning initiatives, develop strategic plans, and coordinate with various stakeholders.
• Lead and support semi-annual review and maintenance of inventory classifications.
• Develop, implement, monitor, and report on core KPIs to ensure effective execution, integration, and performance against inventory targets. Propose and implement solutions to improve key metrics.
• Communicates over/under-bought situations; Provides recommendations for resolution.
• Partner with merchandising team to identify assortment opportunities.
• Review current assortments and provide recommendations for repeat styles and/or color expansion for subsequent seasons.
• Develop seasonal and event exclusive style count plans.
• Facilitate post season performance reviews and partners with leadership to develop future strategies.
• Responsible for review of inventory adjustments and monthly inventory reconciliations to ensure inventory data accuracy and requesting needed cycle counts.
• Responsible for monitoring and bi-weekly reporting regarding “on hold” Warehouse Inventory.
• Challenge the status quo and offer up new ideas to drive sales.
• Other tasks, duties, and projects as assigned.

REQUIREMENTS

• BA/BS degree in Business, Statistics, Supply Chain, a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• A minimum of 5+ years of experience in Supply, Demand, or Inventory planning and execution.
• Advanced analytical, project management, and leadership skills. Strong understanding of industry trends and best practices.
• Direct experience working with Forecast 21.
• Experienced with organizing and working with large amounts of data.
• Experience managing 40,000+ SKUs in a direct-to-consumer e-commerce environment.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment is a must.
• Supervise planners and take on mentorship role.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Must be able to read, write, and speak English fluently.
• Must be able to work a hybrid schedule, being in office Tuesday & Thursday
• Customer Service: Able to personally provide & inspire the highest level of service to our internal and external customers, while delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Systems & Software: Advanced level knowledge of Excel and the entire suite of Microsoft Office software applications.
• Collaborative Communicator: Ability to share information in an effective and collaborative manner. Provides information to others in a concise manner without overuse of buzzwords or jargon. Receives information from others by using effective listening skills. Working effectively as part of a team through the practices of support, and cooperation.
• Productive Accountability: Assuming responsibility for successfully completing assignments or tasks; self-imposing excellence standards rather than waiting for others to enforce them. Demonstrates integrity by taking ownership, encouraging others to do the same, for actions and outcomes, regardless of positive or negative consequences.
• Initiative: Seeking new/additional responsibilities, projects, tasks; Acting independently in new/routine situations. Goes beyond limits of tasks with little or no supervision, without other priorities suffering. Responds to issues quickly, especially when urgency is required.
• Critical Thinking: Reasoning effectively and coming to logical conclusions. Using problem analysis skills to identify and define issues for resolution and choosing optimum courses of action. Provides sound rationale for decisions. Considers impact on both direct and indirect parties. Identifies alternative courses of action considering implications and consequences.
• Quality Focus: Assuring quality standards are met within appropriate specifications by accurately checking process and tasks over time. Is proactive in anticipating potential omissions, errors, defects, snags, obstacles, or hurdles. Displays a critical eye and fine-tuned, astute attention to detail to check accuracy and thoroughness. Monitors and takes action or notifies appropriate others of quality problems or issues.
• Presentation Skills: Delivers effective and engaging presentations to a wide variety of audiences. Researches presentation content, structures presentation well through the design and content, and delivers presentation effectively both with tone of voice and body language.