Americas - Inventory Planner - Women's

Clarks•Needham, MA

About The Position

Analyze and execute inventory forecasts across three seasons; managing products through the lifecycle and ensuring that inventory is in alignment with the company budget and quarterly finance forecasts.

Requirements

Experience in footwear demand and supply planning, merchandising, buying
Knowledge of different business operating models – Retail, Franchise, Factory, MCR, Wholesale
Merchandise planning and forecasting
Successful Demand and Supply Planning, Buying, and Merchandising experience
Experience in key distribution channels – wholesale, retail, franchise and digital
Understanding of overall business operations and supply chains
Strong organizational skills to coordinate feedback from a variety of sources
Practical understanding of demand planning and inventory management processes
Strong computer skills including the following tools:
Advanced Microsoft Excel (if statements, linking, pivot tables, etc.)
Data warehouse/data mart query and report development tools
Ability to analyze trends and use that information to effectively plan and forecast
Strong analytical and verbal skills
Decision making skills
Planning Software (SAP, Demand Manager, MFP, Business Objects, Power BI, D360)
Commercial Awareness
Analytical/ highly numerate and able to identify key information
Ability to problem solve and manage conflict situations
Excellent interpersonal and motivational skills
Team player, goal oriented
Ability to analyze, interpret and act on market intelligence
Commercial skills to maximize opportunities that arise
Communication
Customer Focus
Effective Decision Making
Delivering Results
Planning and Organizing
Numerical Skills
Analytical ability to disseminate information

Responsibilities

Collaborate with Wholesale and Retail Planning teams to support demand forecasts and create a supply forecast that fits within company receipt budget and factory capacities while considering factory lead-times
Maintain Demand Manager Planning System consensus forecast at an article level which sends time phased Available to Promise signal to Customer Service and a Factory Purchase Plan signal to Supply Chain.
Analyze historical inventory cycles and distribution channels.
Adapt and react to market trends during each biweekly forecast/purchasing cycle.
Review demand forecast reports at account and channel distribution levels.
Deliver to Supply Planning monthly factory purchase plans for current buying season that fit within factory capacity and targeted receipt plans.
Support new ideas, processes, and be open to change as we find better ways to reduce inventory while still servicing our customers and aligning to company receipt plans.
Share best practices and communicate information as needed.
Responsible for executing monthly factory purchase order placement, including:
Creating monthly purchase orders and managing SKU profiles.
Analyzing customer orders at the SKU level to ensure proper inventory balance and agreement with the consensus forecast.
Plan and execute Direct Ship PO process in collaboration with customer service and supply planning.
Bundle by factory, container minimums and account transit times.
Support Pre Season Planning maintaining time phased program level placeholders.
Within Demand Planning System create historical time phased plans to support seasonal Assortment Plan totals which are used to provide preliminary capacity requirements to Supply Planning.
Cross Functional weekly supply review with Supply Planning, Demand Allocations and Inventory Planning teams to determine if improvement can be made to support demand supply mismatches.
Monitor in season available inventory to ensure targeted stock and replenishment styles reflect correct available picture in SAP. Work with cross functional teams to trouble shoot CTP pictures.
Responsible for ensuring the integrity of the data in the system, including buffer stock setting, color/size/width profiles, planning, forecasting, and product life cycle flags to support seasonal assortment plans.
Accountable for delivering financial and inventory productivity performance in-line with or above annual targets in the Americas Region. This includes executing the capacity and factory purchase plan cycles and PO writing process with a focus on reducing purchases and improving time phase of receipts.
Periodic business and market/channel reviews including KPIs as well as product and distribution performance against targets.
Effective management of inventory purchases, ensuring Sales Forecast is supported within factory capacity while meeting inventory receipts targets
Effective execution of high-quality forecasts based on pre-agreed guidelines and deadlines.
Timely and accurate systems data management for the relevant Footwear Category including buffer stock settings, capacities, lead-times, color/size/width profiles, planning, forecasting and product life-cycle flags, etc.