Inventory Manager

Lolli & Pops•Quinte West, ON

21d•$65,000 - $90,000

About The Position

The Inventory Manager is responsible for planning, replenishing, and optimizing inventory across all Lolli & Pops retail locations. This role ensures stores have the right products at the right time while balancing inventory investment, maximizing in-stock positions, and supporting sales and profitability. Working cross-functionally with Merchandising, Store Operations, Distribution, Finance, Purchasing, and Marketing, the Inventory Manager develops inventory strategies that support seasonal launches, promotional initiatives, and long-term business growth while maintaining inventory accuracy and operational efficiency.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in inventory planning, allocation, replenishment, merchandise planning, or inventory management.
Retail inventory management experience required.
Multi-store retail experience strongly preferred.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
Advanced Microsoft Excel proficiency.
Experience with ERP and POS systems such as CounterPoint, Sage, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, or similar.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Merchandising, Finance, or a related field preferred.
Experience with reporting and business intelligence tools such as Power BI or Tableau preferred.

Responsibilities

Manage inventory levels across all Lolli & Pops retail stores and distribution centers.
Establish inventory targets, safety stock levels, and replenishment parameters by SKU and location.
Allocate inventory for new store openings, seasonal launches, promotions, and marketing initiatives.
Monitor inventory health and proactively resolve overstocks, stockouts, and slow-moving inventory.
Balance inventory investment while maintaining targeted service levels and product availability.
Partner with Merchandising to develop item-level and store-level demand forecasts.
Execute replenishment strategies based on sales trends, seasonality, promotions, and inventory performance.
Manage automated replenishment and purchase recommendations.
Analyze sales trends and forecast accuracy to continuously improve inventory performance.
Adjust inventory plans in response to business trends, promotional activity, and new product launches.
Maintain accurate inventory data within ERP and POS systems (e.g., CounterPoint, Sage, or similar).
Develop dashboards and KPI reporting to monitor inventory performance.
Analyze key inventory metrics, including: Inventory Turns, Weeks of Supply, Fill Rate, In-Stock Percentage, Sell-Through, Inventory Aging, Gross Margin Return on Inventory Investment (GMROII).
Present inventory insights and recommendations that improve productivity, profitability, and inventory efficiency.
Oversee inventory transfers between stores and distribution centers.
Manage store replenishment processes.
Lead cycle count programs and annual physical inventories.
Investigate inventory discrepancies and implement corrective actions.
Partner with Store Operations to improve inventory accuracy and execution across all locations.
Collaborate with Purchasing and vendors to align order timing and quantities with inventory forecasts.
Track inbound shipments and proactively communicate inventory risks or delays.
Support the onboarding of new vendors from an inventory planning and logistics perspective.
Partner with Merchandising on assortment planning, product lifecycle management, and seasonal strategies.
Collaborate with Purchasing to align purchase orders with inventory forecasts and replenishment needs.
Work with Marketing to support promotional events, product launches, and seasonal campaigns.
Partner with Finance on inventory valuation, reserve planning, and inventory reporting.
Support Store Operations with inventory-related initiatives, issue resolution, and process improvements.