Associate Merchandise Planning Manager

Hot Topic • Hot Topic HQ - City of Industry, CA

82d • $80,000 - $105,000

About The Position

We're looking for an Omnichannel Associate Planning Manager to join our Planning team. In this role you'll plan and analyze assigned merchandise categories across our retail business. You'll also communicate hits, misses and go-forward strategies with key business partners at Hot Topic! This role operates on a hybrid schedule and will require two to three days a week at our HQ located in the City of Industry, CA.

Requirements

• 5-7 years of retail allocation and merchandise planning experience
• 1-2 years of previous managerial experience
• Associate or Bachelor's Degree or equivalent work experience
• Strong communication skills including ability to foster a creative and collaborative environment, give direct feedback, and possess solid verbal and written communication skills

Responsibilities

• Lead a direct report to develop their planning and critical thinking skill set
• Reviews plans and challenges strategies and thinking to ensure the most accurate plans
• Develop pre-season plans for sales, inventory, markdowns and margin in partnership with the buyers for both Retail Locations and Ecommerce
• Manages the in-season reforecast process, focusing on future opportunities as well as minimizing sales/inventory risks, and develop pricing and promotional strategies
• Lead style out, hindsight, and business review processes with standard and ad-hoc analysis
• Drive cross-functional strategies, partnering with allocation, ecom, marketing, and store ops
• Develop predictive models that predict customer demand, account for factors like seasonality, promotions, and property release dates
• Manages the Open to Buy with the Buyer, communicating over/under-bought situations, provide recommendations for resolution
• Partners with buying team to develop sourcing strategy that will fit within profitability goals
• Works continually to improve profitability of areas through sourcing, inventory management, pricing strategies, etc.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Industry: Clothing, Clothing Accessories, Shoe, and Jewelry Retailers
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees