Senior Director of Merchandising Strategy & Planning

Reformation • Los Angeles, CA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

As the Senior Director, Merchandising Strategy & Planning, you will lead one of the most strategic functions within Reformation’s Merchandising organization—owning how we plan, invest in, and scale our assortments end to end across every channel. Working in close partnership with Merchandising and Buying, you are responsible for translating merchandise strategy into clear, data-informed assortment, investment, and financial plans that drive both growth and margin. This role sits at the intersection of brand vision, product strategy, and financial planning. You will own the investment framework behind the assortment and the in-season reads that turn it into action—guiding decisions around assortment structure, buy-type investment, receipt placement, full-price selling, markdown, and risk allocation. You’ll ensure we are putting the right bets in the right places—by category, channel, and moment—while maintaining the discipline and agility that power our test-and-iterate model as the business scales.

Requirements

• 10–15+ years of experience in Merchandise Planning, Assortment Planning, or related roles within retail or e-commerce, including senior people-leadership experience.
• Proven experience partnering closely with Merchandising and Buying teams to shape assortment and investment strategies.
• Strong command of buy-type architecture, assortment construction, open-to-buy, and risk allocation.
• Demonstrated ownership of gross margin, full-price sell-through, and markdown performance.
• Experience operating in a fast-cadence, test-and-react or chase/recut model.
• Strategic mindset with the ability to zoom out to category and business-level decisions while still grounding plans in data.
• Excellent analytical and storytelling skills—able to translate complex data into clear recommendations.
• A strong systems and tools orientation, with proficiency in planning systems, analytics tools, and financial modeling.
• Demonstrated people-leadership experience, with a track record of developing high-performing teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Merchandising Strategy & Planning Function: Own and evolve the end-to-end planning function, ensuring planning is a true strategic partner to Merchandising and Buying rather than a downstream inventory executor.
• Build, mentor, and manage a high-performing team of planners who think holistically about assortment, investment, and risk across channels.
• Establish a culture of curiosity, accountability, and fast, disciplined decision-making within the team.
• Own Category, Assortment & Investment Strategy: Partner with Merchandising and Buying to shape seasonal and annual assortment strategies, including depth, breadth, and mix by category and channel.
• Shape category architecture and the resulting assortment mix—including fabric and silhouette mix—as a direct output of category and assortment planning.
• Lead investment planning by buy type (core, seasonal, newness, fashion risk), ensuring dollars are intentionally allocated in line with brand and growth priorities.
• Translate merchandise vision into actionable receipt plans, balancing innovation with proven programs and financial targets.
• Guide decisions on where and when to place receipts across channels to maximize impact, flexibility, and speed to customer.
• Own Financial Plans, OTB & Margin: Develop and own merchandise financial plans and open-to-buy that align topline sales, margin, and inventory-productivity goals.
• Own gross margin end to end—effectively balancing IMU and full-price sell-through to achieve targets.
• Proactively own and drive full-price sell-through performance by identifying opportunities, developing solutions, and leading the implementation of actions and process changes to improve results.
• Own markdown strategy—timing, depth, and cadence—to protect margin and clear efficiently.
• Protect in-season open-to-buy liquidity so there is always capital to chase proven winners.
• Partner closely with Finance and Supply Chain to ensure plans are executable and appropriately risk-balanced.
• Enable Omni-Channel Planning: Take an omni-channel view of assortment and investment, ensuring cohesive strategies across e-commerce, retail, and wholesale while allowing for channel-specific nuances.
• Leverage all channels (direct, wholesale, offprice) to both maximize in-stock and minimize inventory risk (e.g., pooled replenishment stock).
• Power the Test-and-Iterate Model with Data: Leverage historical performance, test-and-learn data, and real-time reads to inform assortment decisions and adjust investment dynamically (e.g., recuts).
• Own the in-season read and chase economics that let us start small and chase big—concentrating investment into proven winners and exiting non-performers fast.
• Provide clear, actionable insights to Merchandising leadership around what’s working, where to lean in, and where to pull back.
• Develop planning narratives that connect data to strategy and decision-making.
• Evolve Planning Tools, Systems & Process: Continuously evolve planning tools, frameworks, and ways of working—including analytics and automation—to support faster decision-making and greater strategic impact.
• Help define how planning interfaces with Merchandising, Buying, and Supply Chain as the business scales.
• Champion clarity and simplicity in planning outputs so insights are easily understood and acted upon.

Benefits

• Employer-sponsored private medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Commuter benefits
• Competitive paid time off policies including vacation, sick leave, and company holidays
• Retirement planning support with the option to invest in Environmental Social Governance-aligned funds
• Fertility care support through Carrot, with up to a $5,000 USD reimbursement for related fertility expenses after 1 year of employment
• Donations to community efforts on a yearly basis
• Clothing discount
• Culture events (like our annual Ref Values week and Volunteer Time Off)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed