Associate Merchandise Planner

Lucky Brand•New York, NY

10d•$62,700 - $72,100

About The Position

The Associate Merchandise Planner is responsible for planning and forecasting brand business to help achieve company financial objectives. The role provides strategic and analytical support to merchandising throughout the product life cycle, both pre-season and in-season, and collaborates with cross-functional partners to meet sales, gross margin, and investment goals. With guidance from senior planning partners, the Associate Merchandise Planner develops plans, analyzes business performance, identifies risks and opportunities, and creates strategies to align inventory with merchandising objectives. The position also prepares forecasts, action plans, performance recaps, and reports, and partners with Merchandising and cross-functional teams on promotions, markdowns, replenishment, receipt flow, and testing strategies.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university.
Minimum of 2–4 years of experience in Merchandise Planning, Store Planning, Allocation, and/or a related analytical function.
Foundational understanding of retail math, merchandise planning, inventory management, and related KPIs, with the ability to learn and apply measurements across Stores and Ecommerce business channels.
Strong MS Excel skills and exposure to retail planning systems.
Excellent interpersonal skills to partner with cross-functional team members and leadership.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, detail- and deadline-oriented environment with changing business trends.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

Develop, execute, and communicate strategic merchandise financial plans and strategies that support the merchandising and financial objectives of the Company.
With guidance, create pre-season sales, margin, and inventory plans by department, class, and/or Style/Program, and review them with the Senior Planner and Director.
Analyze historical data and current trends to recap business and identify risks and opportunities by department and class.
Partner with the Senior Planner to create strategies that align inventory with Merchant partners.
Collaborate with Merchandising to develop and communicate strategies that align future financial and product opportunities in the area.
Present in-season forecasts and action plans in open-to-buy meetings; create action plans based on forecasts and lead discussions with management and cross-functional teams.
Review in-season and post-season performance by category, share results with cross-functional teams, identify opportunities, and implement strategies for future seasons.
Develop item-level promotional and markdown strategies weekly in partnership with Merchandising.
Create and publish weekly Merchandise Planning reports, including ad hoc recaps.
Collaborate with the CFT on replenishment, receipt flow, and testing strategies, with direction from the Senior Planner.