Lead Business Planner Kids, NA
About The Position
You will partner across the Nike Planning function and the cross-functional North America Kids organization—including Sport Leadership, Sales Planning, Assortment Planning, Finance, and more—to build and deliver top-down financial forecasts for six rolling seasons. This team collaborates to understand trade‑offs, inform decision‑making, and drive actions that elevate consumer demand, strengthen profitability, and optimize inventory health. The Business Planning Lead plays a pivotal role in defining, shaping, and meeting consumer demand. This person leads multi‑season sales, receipt, and inventory plans and adjusts as needed based on evolving targets and marketplace trends. They translate data into meaningful insights, develop hypotheses, and use strong problem‑solving and critical‑thinking skills to guide business decisions. They bring deep marketplace, product, and inventory planning expertise and ground recommendations in both qualitative and quantitative insights. They excel at building relationships, collaborating across teams, and influencing through clarity, credibility, and strong commercial and financial acumen.
Requirements
- 6+ years of experience in retail, planning, and/or product management
- Strong ability to influence and partner effectively through clear, constructive communication
- Exceptional written/verbal communication skills, analytical strengths, and attention to detail
- Ability to synthesize market data to inform the Operating Plan while assessing risk and solving problems to drive results
- Strong command of retail metrics—Retail Sales, ST%, WOS, Inventory (sellable and available), Brand Revenue, Margin—and understanding of the interplay and trade‑offs among them
- In‑depth knowledge of consumers, competitors, and retail trends; familiarity with the sports apparel and footwear market preferred
- Advanced capabilities in planning tools and Excel
- O9 system knowledge or experience preferred
- Bachelor's degree in Business or related field. Will accept any suitable combination of education, experience and training
Responsibilities
- As the Business Planning Lead for North America Kids, you will work across teams to forecast consumer demand, plan optimal supply, integrate merchandising strategy, and meet financial goals.
- You will create top‑down plans across Gross‑to‑Net and Stock & Sales that balance consumer demand, partner needs, and strategic priorities.
- Your work will guide franchise plans, inform end‑to‑end inventory forecasts, and support financial planning across the business.
- You will reconcile forecasts, recap business results, and clearly communicate decision impacts to cross‑functional partners and leadership.
- You will help shape internal seasonal financial and business reviews and provide context that sharpens seasonal plans.
- Be an integral part of the Kids team, collaborating in a fast‑paced, multi‑functional environment with exposure to multiple levels of leadership
- Define and manage multi‑season Operating Plans grounded in consumer demand and aligned to Retail Sales and Inventory KPIs
- Present risks and opportunities to key partners and clearly articulate how and why forecasts evolve over time
- Adjust and align the Operating Plan to brand architecture and strategy using targets and actual performance
- Participate in milestone moments including Quarterly Business Reviews, NA Nike CODE Moments, AOP, CSR, Seasonal Targeting, and more
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
