Strategic Retail Planning Manager; Hybrid

The Business Planning Manager will be responsible for recognizing changing trends on a day-to-day basis and working collaboratively to mitigate risk and maximize opportunity. This position will be responsible for the complete financial management of an assigned channel(s) including, but not limited to, the pre-season creation of topline financial and merchandise plans and the in-season strategies and tactics to deliver on plan results.

The Business Planning Manager must possess a keen ability to identify, communicate, and implement strategic business opportunities at the channel, division, and season code levels. This position will manage sales, markdowns, and inventory forecasts on a regular basis and guide and inform finance leadership while working closely with planning and merchandising leadership to profitably manage the business.

Key Accountabilities:

PRE-SEASON

• Proactively lead the development of the company’s annual topline merchandise financial plan through partnership with corporate finance
• Manage and drive the execution of the company’s seasonal financial plan, informing executive teams of growth strategies
• Manage the receipt flow by season, ensuring proper inventory levels by quarter
• Cross-functionally develop the sales plans by day, in conjunction with Finance and Marketing
• Contribute to the preparation of the P&L
• Effectively communicate direction from Finance/Business Planning to the business leads in Merchandising and Merchandise Planning
• Serve as a liaison between Finance and Merchandise Planning
• Develop and leverage cross-functional partnerships within Merchandise Planning, Merchandising, Finance, and Real Estate

IN-SEASON

• Manage topline/seasonal planning process
• Report seasonal results to senior executive team on a weekly basis
• Facilitate receipt reconciliation process, managing open to buy on a weekly basis
• Lead planning teams in the weekly/monthly markdown/POS forecasts, driving profitable results
• Maintain multiple forecast scenarios, determining the optimal solution to a successful business result
• Lead the merchandise planning monthly forecast process through proactively identifying changing trends in the business and leveraging historical performance to drive the development of action plans

OTHER

• Direct, manage, and report results for company-wide tests
• Assist the Distribution Team Leads in the development of the unit distribution forecast by providing sales and receipt targets
• Provide permanent markdown targets to the store operations team to help determine payroll hours
• Develop hindsight reporting for Planning and Merchandising
• Create ad hoc recaps/projects

Education and Experience:

• 5+ years of experience in retail planning and analysis

Skills and Behaviors:

• Proven track record of driving results
• Expertise in retail math with strong analytical skills
• Strong problem solving and decision making skills
• Ability to identify and effectively communicate business opportunities and risks
• Excellent organization and workload prioritization skills
• Proficiency in Planning Systems and Microsoft Office
• Strong team player

Details:

• Full time role located in Secaucus, New Jersey
• Hybrid work model includes in-office days on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
• Health, Vision & Dental Insurance for full-time employees