Senior Merchandise Planner

KnitWell Group • Albany, OH

9d • Hybrid

About The Position

Our founder, Lena Bryant didn't set out to change fashion forever, but that's exactly what she did. 120 years later, Lane Bryant remains the iconic plus-size brand. Empowering women is kind of our thing. Our inclusive community of customers and associates champions the acceptance of all sizes, shapes, and people. If you believe in the power of clothes to create confidence and empower self-expression, you'll be at home here.

About the role Accountable for the pro-active management and the day-to-day running of the business, by channel. Ensuring effective inventory management, in total and across channels, to maximize sales and margin. Will normally manage larger/more complex areas of the business and complete special projects. May also be responsible for managing a small team and delivering functional training.

Requirements

• Minimum of 4-6 years in retail as a merchandise planner, Allocation, financial analyst, or Buyer experience a plus in addition to merchandise planning.
• Customer-centric focus with understanding of customer needs and ability to understand market trends
• Ability to build strong relationships with a diverse group of cross functional partners and cascade the proper level of information to support decision making.
• Undergraduate degree in finance, economics, accounting, business or related field-- MBA a plus
• Good systems skills with experience in managing and reporting data in such environments as RPAS, Data Warehouse, Excel, Access, etc.
• Applicants to this position must be authorized to work for any employer in the US without sponsorship. We are not providing sponsorship for this position.

Nice To Haves

• MBA a plus

Responsibilities

• Translation of by channel merchandise and assortment strategies into merchandise plans at a subclass/week level that will achieve financial targets
• Development of assortment architecture and flow in partnership with merchant merchandise strategy
• Understanding of marketing calendar and impact to financial architecture for each channel
• Assessment of past seasons and results providing insight to plan development and recommendations in concert with merchandising partners
• Update plans to react to business trends; prepares contingency plans to drive sales and profit objectives
• Recommends pricing and promotional strategies that optimize margin, freshness and exit strategies, and that balance appropriately with the entire business pricing approach
• Identifies and reacts to opportunities to increase sales, improve margin, optimize inventories, and decrease markdowns
• Management of OTB
• Management of markdowns (promotional and permanent) for all channels
• Responsible for inventory positions for their business (total and by channel)
• Manage and evaluate inventory positions, in all channels, to ensure optimize sales and margin optimization and improve inventory productivity.
• Provide direction and insights to the allocation team to ensure inventory is optimized by channel
• Partner with allocation on store plans and allocation strategies
• Provides cross-functional partners with “what-if” proposals that quantify upside opportunities and risks and can make compelling and persuasive cases for proposals that are grounded in sound facts or assumptions
• Anticipates potential obstacles and works with cross-functional partners to establish contingency plans
• Ensures broad business strategies and objectives are translated into specific “local” objectives and plans
• Presents financial information in a concise, clear, and confident manner in support of the needs of the business
• Synthesizes large, complex data sets into major points and issues that readily facilitate decision-making.

Benefits

• Merchandise discount at select KnitWell Group brands
• Support for individual development plus opportunities for career mobility within our family of brands.
• A culture of giving back – local volunteer opportunities, annual donation and volunteer match to eligible nonprofit organizations, and philanthropic activities to support our communities.
• Medical, dental, vision insurance & 401(K).
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Time off – paid time off & holidays.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior