Manager, Merchandise Planning

Dolls Kill•Oakland, CA

1d•$110,000 - $125,000

About The Position

Dolls Kill is a next-level fashion brand for the misfits, the wild ones, and the unapologetically expressive. We move fast, break rules, and create assortments that celebrate subculture, self-expression, and community. As a key member of our Planning team, youâll help shape our financial vision, ensuring we have the right product at the right timeâacross a highly dynamic, multi-channel business. The Manager, Merchandise Planning is a key driver of topline growth, margin performance, and inventory efficiency across assigned categories and channels. This role partners closely with Buying, Sourcing, Finance, and Marketing to translate company goals into actionable financial and inventory strategies. In addition to owning end-to-end planning for your business, you will help elevate planning standards, coach a planner, and influence cross-functional decision-making in a fast-paced, trend-driven environment.

Requirements

5â7+ years of Merchandise Planning, Allocation, or related experience in fast-paced retail or e-commerce (fashion strongly preferred).
Strong command of retail math, forecasting, inventory management, and OTB discipline.
Advanced Excel/Google Sheets skills; experience with BI tools, NetSuite, Shopify, and marketplaces (Amazon/TikTok) is a plus.
Proven ability to translate complex data into clear insights and actions.
Confident communicator with experience influencing cross-functional partners.
Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial, and trend-driven environment.

Responsibilities

Own department-level financial plans, including sales, margin, receipts, markdowns, and inventory targets.
Translate company objectives into monthly, seasonal, and category-level plans by department, subclass, and delivery.
Develop weekly forecasts, scenario models, and risk/opportunity assessments to guide business decisions.
Partner with Finance to align on revenue pacing, IMU, markdown strategy, and margin expectations.
Own OTB management for assigned categories, including monthly reconciliation, buy strategy, and flow optimization.
Analyze performance trends and lead in-season actions to maximize revenue and GM%âchasing winners, managing exits, and adjusting pricing or promotions as needed.
Maintain healthy weeks-of-supply, sell-through, and turn targets across DTC, marketplace, and retail channels.
Identify inventory risks early and recommend mitigation or exit strategies.
Partner with Buyers to build balanced, profitable assortments that support trend moments and major seasonal programs (e.g., Halloween, Festival, Holiday).
Influence product strategy using historical performance, customer insights, and competitive analysis.
Collaborate with Marketing on inventory availability, pricing strategy, and campaign timing to support launches and key moments.
Leverage advanced retail math and analytics to drive fact-based decision-making.
Build and maintain dashboards and reports (Excel, Google Sheets, Metabase) to track KPIs such as forecast accuracy, SKU efficiency, margin, and channel performance.
Ensure data integrity across systems, including NetSuite, Shopify POS, Seller Central, and internal planning tools.
Identify opportunities to improve planning processes, automate reporting, and scale best practice.
Coach and support junior planners to help develop strong planning fundamentals and business acumen.
Present weekly business updates, hindsight recaps, and strategic recommendations to senior leadership.
Act as a trusted thought partner in conversations around pricing, inventory risk, operational constraints, and growth opportunities.