Senior Manager DTC Planning & Inventory

BRUNT Workwear•Wilmington, NC

17h•Hybrid

About The Position

We’re leading the way in redefining the workwear category. Our mission is to engineer better boots and apparel for our country’s tradesmen and women by working directly with real workers to learn what they actually need to execute their jobs. The BRUNT team is not only devoted to improving on the old workwear standards, but we’re also creating a community that tradesmen and women can call their own. From our weekly hangouts at the BRUNT Garage, to hosting events across the country, we’re all about getting boots on the ground and building something real with the BRUNT crew. As Senior Manager, DTC Planning & Inventory, you'll take full ownership of demand and inventory planning for BRUNT's direct-to-consumer channel translating unit forecasts into revenue plans that ladder up to the company's financial goals, owning inventory flow and the open-to-buy process for our ecommerce channel. You'll drive the recurring cadence of Weekly (WBR), Monthly (MBR), and Seasonal Strategy business reviews for DTC, staying closely attuned to the broader omnichannel picture so DTC plans reflect how Wholesale and Retail are trending as those channels scale. You'll also bring an AI-forward approach to the role, using AI tools to accelerate forecasting, sharpen analysis, and streamline reporting and decision support.

Requirements

5-6 years of sustained success managing demand planning, ideally with a DTC/e-commerce focus.
Advanced technical proficiency with Excel and ERP/planning systems (NetSuite, Toolio, or similar).
Experience managing inventory investment and forecasts for a high-growth DTC or e-commerce business.
Experience translating unit plans into dollar plans (revenue, AUR, margin) tied to company financial targets.
Comfort making category-level trade-off calls based on product newness and trend, not just historical run-rate.
Experience owning recurring business review cadences (WBR/MBR/Seasonal) and turning them into leadership-ready recaps.
Hands-on experience or strong interest in using AI tools to accelerate planning, forecasting, and reporting workflows.
Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to execute within tight timeframes with superior attention to detail and accuracy.
A drive for continuous improvement, streamlining processes and eliminating redundancy.
Sound strategic thinking to ensure all forecasts are rooted in data.
Ability to move seamlessly between tactical day-to-day issues and long-term process improvement projects.
Ability to translate complex data sets into clear insights and recommendations for leadership.
Ability to commute to the office 4x per week.

Nice To Haves

Background in footwear, apparel, retail, or D2C experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Prepare monthly and seasonal unit forecasts for the DTC/e-commerce channel, factoring in seasonality, marketing calendar, product life cycle, and other demand drivers, to be signed off by senior leadership.
Develop a robust forecast plan inclusive of key KPIs revenue, AUR, margin, weeks of supply, turnover, and forecast accuracy not just unit totals.
Manage category-level contributions, shifting investment and inventory based on new product introductions, product life cycle stage, and emerging trend signals.
Own the open-to-buy process for DTC, ensuring purchase orders reflect accurate, up-to-date demand and financial targets before submission.
Collaborate with cross functional stakeholders to meet DTC revenue and inventory goals: weeks of supply, turnover, and in-stock targets.
Partner with marketing and e-commerce teams to align inventory flow with the promotional calendar and launch timing.
Participate in the Weekly Business Review (WBR) for DTC, summarizing sales, inventory, and forecast performance against plan.
Participate in the Monthly Business Review (MBR), synthesizing trends, risks, and recommending actions for senior leadership.
Build and present Seasonal Strategy recaps, tying DTC performance back to the seasonal buy and flow plan.
Use the WBR/MBR/seasonal cadence to surface variances early, articulate the trend behind "actual vs. targeted" performance, and escalate to senior leadership with a clear point of view utilizing data before it becomes a problem.
Stay closely attuned to how DTC performance intersects with Wholesale and Retail promotional cannibalization, cross-channel stockouts, and shifting demand signals to inform DTC decisions.
Proactively flag DTC-specific inventory trends, risks, and insights to senior leadership as they arise, outside the formal business review calendar.
Maintain DTC sell-through reporting that underpins the WBR/MBR/seasonal readouts, and partner with the Director of Planning and Wholesale& Retail Planning leads to ensure consistent methodology and keep DTC's channel-level plan well-informed by and consistent with company-wide demand planning efforts.
Participate in bottoms-up planning and cross-functional line reviews, delivering DTC's inputs into the company-wide line plan.
Identify opportunities to streamline the monthly buy process and reduce manual, time-intensive planning work.
Embed AI as a core part of the planning workflow, building and stress-testing forecast models, drafting WBR/MBR/seasonal readouts, and accelerating hindsight and ad hoc analysis.
Bring a builder's mindset to identify where AI can eliminate manual, repetitive work across the monthly buy process and reporting cadence, freeing capacity for higher-value analysis.
Serve as an active contributor to BRUNT's internal AI Council, sharing workflows, prompts, and tools that raise the bar for the broader planning team.
Exercise sound judgment on where human review and channel expertise remain non-negotiable, using AI to sharpen and accelerate, never replace planning decisions.