Manager - Planning

Manager Of Company Planning

The Manager of Company Planning is responsible for driving enterprise-level financial and inventory planning strategies that support the company's sales, margin, and profitability objectives across channels. This role partners closely with senior leadership and cross-functional teams to develop, manage, and continuously refine sales, gross margin, inventory, and EBITDA forecasts.

The ideal candidate is a highly analytical and strategic business partner with strong omni-channel planning expertise, exceptional communication skills, and the ability to influence decision-making across the organization. This individual must thrive in a fast-paced environment, demonstrate sound business judgment, and effectively translate an array of data into actionable insights and recommendations.

The impact you can have:

• Lead the development and management of company-level financial plans, including sales, gross margin, inventory, and EBITDA forecasts across channels.
• Maintain and update in-season weekly and daily forecasts based on business trends, performance drivers, and evolving company strategies.
• Drive OTB forecasting and inventory strategies to support financial goals, balancing risk and opportunity.
• Analyze business performance to identify trends, risks, and opportunities, providing actionable recommendations to leadership.
• Partner with Merch Planning teams to align top-down financial targets with bottom-up departmental plans.
• Develop and recommend markdown, liquidation, and inventory optimization strategies to maximize profitability and improve inventory productivity.
• Monitor KPI's and proactively identify opportunities to improve sales, margin, and operational efficiency.
• Serve as a strategic business partner across Merchandising, Finance, Marketing, Allocation, E-Commerce, Store Operations, and Supply Chain teams.
• Cross-functional collaboration to evaluate performance and drive strategic initiatives & enterprise priorities.
• Drive decision-making through data-driven insights, clear communication & thoughtful recommendations.
• Lead and contribute to cross-functional initiatives involving systems, tools, reporting enhancements, and process improvements.
• Partner with Business Process and Technology teams to identify reporting and analytical needs that improve planning effectiveness and business visibility.
• Prepare and deliver clear, concise, and impactful business presentations to senior leadership.
• Communicate financial risks, opportunities, and strategic recommendations with confidence and credibility.
• Build strong relationships across all levels of the organization through collaboration, responsiveness, business partnership; act as trusted advisor and planning subject matter expert.
• Support organizational change initiatives and help drive adoption of new tools, processes, and ways of working.

You'll bring to the role:

• Bachelor's degree required;
  Business, Finance, Merchandising, Econ, or a related field preferred.
• 7–10+ years of retail planning, merchandise planning, financial planning, or related analytical business experience.
• Experience supporting omni-channel or multi-channel retail businesses preferred.
• Strong understanding of retail financial metrics, inventory management, forecasting, and planning processes.
• Experience working cross-functionally in a highly collaborative environment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to synthesize complex data into meaningful business insights.
• Excellent presentation, written, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor messaging to different audiences, including senior leadership.
• Proven ability to influence cross-functional partners and drive alignment without direct authority.
• Highly collaborative with strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated sense of ownership, accountability, and urgency.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel required.
• Experience with planning and ERP systems such as JDA, Oracle, SAP, or similar platforms preferred.
• Experience with reporting and business intelligence…