Merchandise Planner
About The Position
Backcountry is looking for a Merchandise Planner to own open-to-buy planning, demand forecasting, and inventory management across product categories. As Merchandise Planner, you will partner closely with the Merchandising team to build comprehensive merchandise plans, manage inventory levels, and deliver margin and pricing recommendations that directly impact the financial health of your division(s). Within your first six months, you will have full ownership of your division's open-to-buy process, be leading monthly reviews with senior leadership, and be delivering data-driven recommendations that optimize sales, margin, and inventory turn. This is a lean team. You will own a lot, move fast, and make decisions with full end-to-end responsibility.
Requirements
- 3+ years of assortment, demand, or merchandise planning experience, including 2+ years in a retail ecommerce environment
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with exceptional aptitude for numbers and retail math
- High proficiency with Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, and beyond) and strong aptitude to learn new technical applications quickly
- Demonstrated daily use of AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, or similar) for real work—you iterate on prompts, evaluate outputs critically, and know when AI is the right tool vs. when it is not
- Exceptional communication and presentation skills—able to present complex information concisely to varied audiences
- Ability to develop and maintain strong working relationships across peers and cross-functional teams, and influence critical stakeholders
- Flexible and adaptive to changing priorities; able to organize and prioritize workload under pressure to meet deadlines
Nice To Haves
- Softgoods planning experience
- Experience planning a mixed-brand business
- Knowledge of demand planning, allocation, and forecasting systems (e.g., JDA, Oracle, SAP, Anaplan)
Responsibilities
- Develop comprehensive merchandise plans that align with company goals, sales targets, and market trends across multiple product categories
- Own and manage Open-to-Buy meetings and monthly reviews with senior leadership
- Forecast demand using historical data, market trends, and customer insights to drive accurate sales projections, inventory needs, and replenishment strategies
- Monitor inventory levels, analyze sell-through rates, and recommend actions to optimize on-order quantities, minimize stock-outs, and reduce overstock
- Conduct regular financial analysis of sales performance, margin trends, and product profitability—identify opportunities and risks, and present actionable recommendations
- Manage the financial success of your division(s) by meeting sales, margin, and inventory turn goals
- Ensure structured reporting deliverables are met, evaluating reports for accuracy, performance efficiency, and standardized best practices
- Proactively identify opportunities beyond day-to-day operations to maximize sales potential and drive incremental growth
Benefits
- Paid time off policies
- 401(k) match
- medical/dental/vision and a variety of supplemental policies
- employee discounts across our portfolio of brands
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
Associate degree
