Merchandise Planning Manager

Citi Trends • New York, NY

74d

About The Position

The Merchandise Planning Manager is responsible for executing the strategic initiatives within their division, while ensuring the accuracy and consistency of all pre-season and in-season merchandise plans. The Manager will lead his or her team to effectively analyze multi-dimensional plans including sales trends, inventory levels, inventory turn and open to buy. The Manager will partner closely with Merchandising, Store Planning and Allocation teams to identify business opportunities and risks and make recommendations accordingly. The ideal candidate will demonstrate the ability to independently provide sound analytics, draw, summarize and communicate conclusions and gain consensus with cross-functional business partners and leadership. The Merchandise Planning Manager will play a critical role in building a positive work culture, driving employee involvement, and supporting change management efforts within the retail organization.

Requirements

• Exceptional communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
• Detail-oriented with a focus on accuracy.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage a team and multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Knowledge of retail industry trends and best practices.
• A passion for retail and a customer-centric mindset.
• Bachelor's degree in business, Retail Management, or a related field.
• Proven experience in retail planning or inventory management, with a track record of leadership.
• Strong analytical skills, proficiency in data interpretation, and an understanding of retail metrics.
• Proficiency in planning and inventory management software.

Responsibilities

• Analyze, plan, forecast and evaluate financial data to implement and support profitable merchandise strategies.
• Develop seasonal merchandise plans with teams to maximize opportunities and minimize risks.
• Manage inventory levels, open to buy and flow of goods to support sales and product turn targets.
• Evaluate and build in-season strategies for key classifications and items to drive top-line sales.
• Build Assortment strategies by store cluster that support open to buy by volume groups, weather zone and other key store and product attributes.
• Build seasonal strategies that support profitable product entry and exit by weather zone and/or store attribute.
• Ensure assortment plans are incorporated through store planning and allocation processes to execute merchandise vision downstream.
• Build and maintain strong collaborative relationships with merchant counterparts in furtherance of business objectives.
• Collaborate with store planning and allocation teams to maintain synergy between top down and bottom-up sales and inventory targets and ensure product strategies are executed downstream.
• Participate in company initiatives and/or produce company level analyses as applicable.
• Performs other duties as may be assigned.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Industry: Clothing, Clothing Accessories, Shoe, and Jewelry Retailers
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees