Senior Merchandise Planner

Magnolia•Waco, TX

10d

About The Position

At Magnolia, the Senior Merchandise Planner is responsible for forecasting, analysis, and inventory management across a diverse portfolio of departments and categories. This leadership role may be performed onsite, in a hybrid environment, or remotely. It reports to the Director of Merchandise Planning and has supervisory responsibilities. The position develops retail assortment sales plans, manages inventory, and makes data-driven decisions to meet sales, gross margin, and inventory targets. It creates weekly, monthly, and seasonal forecasts; oversees inventory and order plans; analyzes trends and promotional opportunities; and reports performance and recommendations to management and cross-functional partners. The Senior Merchandise Planner leads financial and business reviews and collaborates with teams across merchandising, ecommerce, visual merchandising, store operations, warehouse operations, product development, supply chain, and external vendors. The role also manages, develops, trains, and coaches team members. Performance is evaluated on metrics included in the performance review. Magnolia is an equal opportunity employer. This description indicates the general nature and level of work and is not a comprehensive list of duties or qualifications; management may revise it as needed.

Requirements

Proficiency in Microsoft Excel.
Business acumen and knowledge of retail math.
Ability to analyze financial metrics, budgeting, and resource allocation.
Bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university preferred.
1–3 years of management experience and/or 5+ years of related work experience, or a combination, preferred.
Ability to perform the stated physical demands, with reasonable accommodation as applicable.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university.
1–3 years of management experience and/or 5+ years of related work experience, or a combination.

Responsibilities

Develop retail assortment sales plans and manage inventory for assigned departments to meet targets.
Use data-driven decisions to achieve sales, gross margin, and inventory targets.
Develop weekly, monthly, and seasonal sales forecasts using sales history, market trends, and business insights; identify opportunities and recommend focused investments within approved financial targets.
Manage inventory and order plans to support sales forecasts and align purchase orders and inventory investments with demand, financial targets, and assortment needs.
Analyze historical performance and current trends to identify promotional opportunities, risks, and category insights; recommend promotional strategies and markdowns to optimize sales, margin, and inventory.
Report business performance for areas of ownership, including sales, gross margin, and inventory, to upper management and cross-functional partners.
Lead seasonal business and financial meetings, including season hindsight, assortment and collection reviews, and investment reviews, and provide insights and recommendations.
Partner with Merchandising, Ecommerce, Visual Merchandising, Store Operations, and Warehouse teams to manage performance and inventory in assigned areas.
Manage, develop, train, and coach direct reports and team members to improve individual and team performance and cross-functional collaboration.
Review stock-to-sales ratios, optimize inventory levels, monitor inventory turnover, and make recommendations.
Manage and optimize open-to-buy (OTB) and inventory investment to align receipts and inventory levels with sales, margin, and financial plans.
Partner with Merchandising to develop and optimize assortments, balancing newness, core or continuing items, and category needs against customer demand and financial performance.
Partner with Product Development, Supply Chain, and external vendors to manage third-party and direct-sourced products and align on order placement, delivery timelines, inventory flow, and performance.
Perform other duties as assigned.