Senior Omnichannel Merchandise Planner

Lilly Pulitzer•King of Prussia, PA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Sr. Omni Channel Merchandise Planner has responsibility for building and executing the Merchandise Financial and Assortment Plans that support the company's product strategies, optimize gross profit volume, full-price sell through, and achieve growth in the business. Doing this well will delight the consumer and lead to the profitable growth of the company. The Sr. Planner must execute a metrics-based approach to merchandise and assortment planning within each quarter, and match the tradeoffs of projecting upside and taking risk on the downside within the business. Managing the balance between historical information, current trends and quarterly merchandise strategies, along with having good judgement on risk versus growth opportunities, are key responsibilities for the Merchandise Planner.

Requirements

A four-year college degree is required.
Generally, 3-5 years of experience in the apparel retailing business is required, preferably with a women’s fashion, branded, lifestyle apparel company.
Effectively collaborate with colleagues, fit with the Company Core Values, and Core Leadership Qualities.
The ability to interact effectively with several other departments, including Merchandising, Design, Production, Retail, E-commerce, Sales, Communications, and the Distribution Center is required.
Genuine excitement for and appreciation of the Lilly Pulitzer concept.
Spend sufficient time in retail stores to understand the customer, merchandise and marketplace.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
The sense of urgency necessary in the apparel industry is required.
Strong capabilities with Microsoft Windows, Excel and Word are important.

Nice To Haves

A degree in fashion apparel management or a related subject is helpful.
Knowledge or experience in Centric, Looker, Power BI, S5 Stratos or similar product management, merchandise planning, BI tools are preferred

Responsibilities

Work with the Sr. Manager to develop and execute a merchandise financial plan annually and each quarter at the class and attribute level that supports the company’s product strategies and achieves top and bottom line growth in the business.
Collaborate cross functionally to marry the product plan with the channel plans and the company’s financial plan.
Establish targets for sales, inventory, SCP count, AUR, IMU and ST% by category.
Establish targets for surface, delivery (or alternate time horizon), assortment breakdown, end use, and price tier.
Adjust targets each stage as necessary and communicate changes effectively.
Work closely with Merchants and Location Planners on projecting SCP unit quantities that achieve DTC needs, Wholesale Bookings Targets, Total Company Net Sales and Full-Price Sell Through
Collaborate with partners in product development and production to maximize profitability via costing and unit plans.
Provide tools and information as needed for various stages of line development and sign off milestones. This includes assortment plans, plotting templates, inventory maps, annual and quarterly recaps, sign off decks and exhibits.
Marry financial plans to data points generated by other departments (examples include: brand framework, consumers insights, merch strategies and product vision).
Marry financial plans using fashion sense and knowledge of the customer/Lilly Pulitzer® lifestyle.
With the Sr. Manager, take fresh and modern approach to planning process. Seek opportunities for change and improvement that provide a higher degree of accuracy in our product plans and maximize the strategies we’re developing.
The Sr. Planner must provide a high level of attention to Sell Through, AUR and IMU in order to plan future assortments.
Conduct a post season assessment of our planning strategies, selling and sell through to improve future assortments and depth opportunities.
Partner with Manager of Location Planning & Allocation to identify methods to communicate to Merchandising what excess inventory issues there are at the end of the cycle. Using this as a tool to improve future line development, identifying the difference between a depth issue or style issue.
Utilize tools such as S5|Stratos and Power BI Merchant Workbench for assessing the business and providing recommendations to help drive the business forward
Provide regular updates on the current business via weekly performance recaps and product insights.
Collaborate with merchant and allocation partners to identify and lean into opportunities for growth within the current assortments and for future lines in development.
Tie back to merchandise financial plans to inform and adjust future plans.
Use analytical skills and discipline to recommend tradeoffs in merchandise assortment which contribute to the profitability of the company, while maintaining long-term fashion leadership position of the brand, are critical.
Know from a fashion and aesthetic standpoint why merchandise sells or doesn’t sell, and be comfortable supporting with quantitative analysis of selling, assortment mix, attribute mix and gross profit.
Support current business with ad hoc analysis and reporting as needed.
Note, associates may be asked to perform duties that are outside the specific functions that are listed.