Allocation Analyst

Designer Brands Inc.•Columbus, OH

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

As an Allocation Analyst, you’ll play a central role in how product shows up for our customers—deciding what goes where, when it matters most. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys turning data into action, spotting patterns others might miss, and influencing outcomes through thoughtful analysis and collaboration. You’ll be responsible for executing allocation strategies for a specific product category, ensuring the right inventory reaches the right stores at the right time. Working closely with Merchandising and Planning partners, you’ll help shape product flow, improve in-stock performance, and support financial goals across the business. This is a hands-on, highly collaborative role where your ideas, analysis, and curiosity directly impact store performance and customer experience.

Requirements

1–2 years of experience in allocation, planning, analytics, or retail inventory management
BA or BS required, preferably in a business related field
Strong analytical skills, including proficiency in retail math
Ability to interpret data, identify trends, and draw actionable insights
Excel knowledge and skills are required
Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to partner across teams and levels
Ability to clearly share insights, recommendations, and rationale behind decisions
Highly organized, detail oriented, and able to manage multiple priorities
Comfortable making judgment-based decisions and solving problems independently
Able to adapt quickly in a fast-paced, evolving retail environment
Team oriented, with a shared focus on achieving common goals

Nice To Haves

Experience working with retail allocation systems preferred (Blue Yonder/JDA, Oracle, or similar)

Responsibilities

Execute allocations for an assigned product category that aligns to the assortment strategy and store capacity
Monitor product performance at the store and item level; identify risks and opportunities to improve product productivity, maximize in-stocks and propose actionable recommendations
Partner with Merchants and Planning to understand assortment strategies, product life cycles and inform the allocation strategy; participate in weekly cross functional meetings, hindsight and pre-season discussions
Contribute to process improvements that enhance efficiency, accuracy and automation within the allocation system
Develop and maintain ad hoc reporting to analyze performance and support the allocation strategy; share insights and recommendations cross functionally
Ability to use data to inform decisions and identify trends, risks and opportunities; clearly communicate findings to cross functional teams