Merchandise Planner

Job Summary

Planners are responsible for the overall financial direction of a category or department(s) with the goal of meeting/exceeding sales, margin and turn targets.  Planners are primarily responsible for developing seasonal merchandise financial plans, developing, and managing the allocation strategy, and supporting the Buyer with a department(s) open to buy.  Planners also work with Buyers in assortment and buy planning by facilitating layering of assortments and validating the integrity of initial allocation volumes.  In-season, Planners provide in-depth analysis of product performance and make recommendations to maximize business opportunities.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Manage the financial success of a department by meeting sales, gross margin and inventory turn goals.
• Develop pre-season merchandise financial plans to the classification level that support department strategies
• Reconcile merchandise plans against top-side goals and assortment plans
• Analyze historical data and current trends to identify risks and opportunities by department and class.
• Provide analytical inputs to support the Buyer in merchandise strategy planning, assortment planning and buy planning processes 
• Collaborate with merchandising to develop and communicate a comprehensive strategy that aligns future financial and product opportunities by department and class.
• Recap and analyze actual sales results to plan, forecasts in-season sales and inventories on a weekly/monthly/quarterly basis
• Develop monthly forecasts of sales and inventory for all basic styles and develop strategies to meet department financial goals.
• Lead Open-to-Buy Process; present financial forecast and supporting action plans in monthly open-to-buy forecast meeting
• Communicate financial results, forecasts, and action plans to manager and buying team on a weekly basis.
• Provide pricing and promotional recommendations that align with department financial goals
• Present financial plans, forecasts, and strategies in key meetings
• Support a collaborative, innovative and results-oriented environment with peers and cross-functional team.
• Develop Key Item plans and provide analytics required for planning and managing key items in-season
• Oversee the development of allocations by store and replenishment analysis/forecasting
• Oversee style/SKU count analysis
• Build a high-functioning planning team by developing partnerships, leading, coaching and providing constructive feedback
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with members of cross-functional team 
• Prioritize and set expectations around key deliverables with direct reports and buying team
• Oversee store clustering process and provide location recommendations regarding product placement and maximization of trend performance
• Partners with buyer on development of reinventions, visual initiatives, and collaborations
• Assist the buy process by performing planning functions within the assortment planning/item planning tool
• Manage and develop direct report

Qualifications and Competencies

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required
• 4-7 years of retail buying, planning or related analytical experience
• 2-3 years of experience in merchandise or financial planning roles
• Demonstrate strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrates leadership and decision-making skills
• Demonstrates strong listening, written and oral communication skills
• Able to develop and maintain strong working relationship with peers and cross-functional teams
• Flexible and adaptive to changing priorities
• Reacts to business trends in a timely and efficient manner
• Takes calculated risks to achieve results
• Able to organize and prioritize workload to meet deadline
• Provides clear direction, counseling and coaching to staff
• High level of proficiency with Microsoft Excel and strong aptitude to learn technical applications quickly

When you’re a part of our team, you have the full support of a diverse, close-knit team in our stores. We consider all applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, gender identity and expression, marital or military status. We also provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and applicable state and local  law.  At Home is committed to knitting diversity and inclusion into the fabric of our culture; we respect, appreciate and celebrate the experiences and qualities that differentiate everyone on the At Home team.