Manager, Strategic Business Planning

The Children's Place

1d•$125,000 - $175,000

About The Position

The Business Planning Manager will be responsible for recognizing changing trends on a day-to-day basis and working collaboratively to mitigate risk and maximize opportunity. This position will be responsible for the complete financial management of an assigned channel(s) including, but not limited to, the pre-season creation of topline financial and merchandise plans and the in-season strategies and tactics to deliver on plan results. The Business Planning Manager must possess a keen ability to identify, communicate, and implement strategic business opportunities at the channel, division, and season code levels. This position will manage sales, markdowns, and inventory forecasts on a regular basis and guide and inform finance leadership while working closely with planning and merchandising leadership to profitably manage the business.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required
5+ years of experience in retail planning and analysis
Proven track record of driving results
Expertise in retail math with strong analytical skills
Strong problem solving and decision making skills
Ability to identify and effectively communicate business opportunities and risks
Excellent organization and workload prioritization skills
Proficiency in Planning Systems and Microsoft Office
Strong team player

Responsibilities

PRE-SEASON Proactively lead the development of the company’s annual topline merchandise financial plan through partnership with corporate finance
Manage and drive the execution of the company’s seasonal financial plan, informing executive teams of growth strategies
Manage the receipt flow by season, ensuring proper inventory levels by quarter
Cross-functionally develop the sales plans by day, in conjunction with Finance and Marketing
Contribute to the preparation of the P&L
Effectively communicate direction from Finance/Business Planning to the business leads in Merchandising and Merchandise Planning
Serve as a liaison between Finance and Merchandise Planning
Develop and leverage cross-functional partnerships within Merchandise Planning, Merchandising, Finance, and Real Estate
IN-SEASON Manage topline/seasonal planning process
Report seasonal results to senior executive team on a weekly basis
Facilitate receipt reconciliation process, managing open to buy on a weekly basis
Lead planning teams in the weekly/monthly markdown/POS forecasts, driving profitable results
Control liability/carry-over inventory levels
Maintain multiple forecast scenarios, determining the optimal solution to a successful business result
Lead the merchandise planning monthly forecast process through proactively identifying changing trends in the business and leveraging historical performance to drive the development of action plans
OTHER Direct, manage, and report results for company-wide tests
Assist the Distribution Team Leads in the development of the unit distribution forecast by providing sales and receipt targets
Provide permanent markdown targets to the store operations team to help determine payroll hours
Develop hindsight reporting for Planning and Merchandising
Create ad hoc recaps/projects