The ideal planning manager is motivated, results oriented and committed to providing outstanding customer service every day.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the MM to define seasonal, annual and multi-year strategies that identify future opportunities and trends and produce competitive advantage and superior results
• Foster a comprehensive understanding of how the customer strategy translates to the financial and buy plans
• Set the buy planning calendar and direct the timely creation, review, re-projection and execution of plans
• Effectively balance objective information with subjective inputs to give guidance for merchandising teams
• Ensure financial planners develop executable financial plans at channel as well as location level sales and inventory turns
• Approve quantification of the buy, ensuring buy planners create compelling assortment plans that realize the merchandise strategy
• Ensure execution of strategies within the boundaries of financial plans
• Act as a change leader to support company initiatives and ensure adoption by merchandising team
• Identify and develop future merchant leaders to become superior partners in planning assortments and managers of their business

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience
• Minimum of three years of retail planning/inventory management or related experience
• Minimum of two years of retail buying experience
• Minimum of one year of retail experience interacting directly with customers
• Expertise in merchandise category
• Demonstrated understanding of retail and the service environment
• Proficiency in MS Office suite
• Clear and effective written and verbal communication and strong interpersonal skills