SUN RED - Senior Manager Merchandising Planning & Operations

The Senior Planning and Operations Manager leads the end-to-end planning function across demand, supply, and inventory to ensure the right product is in the right place at the right time to maximize sales and profitability. The role manages the demand and supply planning cycle, manages open-to-by budgets, and manages the allocation and inventory strategy across regions and sales channels to ensure accurate, and timely sales order management aligned with GTM launch dates.

This position is responsible for managing the demand forecast, supply planning, and open-to-buy process, and setting sales, margin, weeks of supply, and DIO plan by product line. The role is an expert in using data analytics to improve forecast accuracy, align inventory management with revenue forecasts, and utilize sell-through analytics to support inventory strategies. The ideal candidate is a strategic, analytical leader who can partner cross-functionally with Merchandising, Sales, Service, Order Management, Marketing, Supply Chain to ensure brand, product, and go-to-market strategies are supported through the pre-season and in-season processes.

• Build annual, seasonal, and monthly demand and open to buy plan models in alignment with sales channel revenue plans and DIO strategies.
• Ensure alignment between merchandise plans, OTB budgets, and supply/demand plans to drive a cohesive end-to-end planning process.
• Manage the OTB process, ensuring purchasing plans align with financial targets, inventory turn goals, and sales forecasts
• Partner with Finance, Sales, merchandising to build, monitor performance, and adjust OTB budgets by region, sales channel, and category.
• Provide regular OTB reporting and recommendation allocation of OTB dollars to support week of supply and capsule strategies.
• Analyze historical and sell-through data to forecast demand, support product life cycle with inventory strategies, and manage inventory form launch to clearance across sales distribution channels.
• Manage monthly consensus, open to buy, and trade working capital deliverables.
• Manage recommended monthly buy by analyzing sell-through, weeks of supply, revenue plans, and lead-times to support product launch and on time delivery.
• Manage monthly PO buy quantities style and size analysis for initial and replenishment purchase orders.

• Manage the demand forecasting process, integrating statistical models, sell-through data, market trends, and input from Finance, Sale, Merchandising, and Supply Chain Teams.
• Leads both demand and supply planning functions, delivering accurate and timely forecasting results.
• Continuously ensure demand forecast includes brand, product, marketing, sales strategies.
• Monitor category and regional demand signals to identify risks and opportunities during pre-season and in-season forecast process.
• Develops in-season product category forecasts at the style, style-color, and SKU level, aligning to financial forecasts.

• Analyze sell-through, margin, and productivity by category, style, sku to inform demand, supply, and buy decisions, markdown timing, and future assortment strategy.
• Lead pre-season and in-season merchandise planning reviews, sell-through meetings, providing recommendations on product life cycle, replenishment, weeks of supply, capsule metrics.
• Ensure alignment between merchandise plans, OTB budgets, and supply/demand plans to drive a cohesive end to end planning process to support Brand and GTM strategy.

• Translate demand forecasts into supply plans, coordinating with Supply Chain teams to plan capacity.
• Manage capacity constrained supply requirements which support service, inventory, and cost objectives.
• Manage demand and supply forecasts to create monthly and yearly capacity plans by product line.
• Balance supply constraints (Capacity, Lead-times, MOQ) against demand requirements, escalating and resolving gaps.
• Partner with supply chain and logistics to optimize lead-times, costs, and service levels.
• Partner cross functionally to identify product supply risks and provide recommendations on how to action.
• Review weekly and monthly production delivery calendar with Supply Chain, Logistics, Finance, and Operations to review ship mode options to align demand and supply.

• Develop and execute regional inventory allocation strategies to optimize inventory placement across regions and sales…