Americas - Associate Merchandise Planner
ASSOCIATE MERCHANDISE PLANNER
The Associate Merchandise Planner will be accountable in driving profitable sales & margin for their department. They will also be responsible for assisting in the management of sales & inventory activities by maintaining bottoms up open-to-buy plans, assortment plans, monitoring sales & inventory, and providing stock productivity analysis. They will create and analyze forecasts across the channels and report into the Planning Manager.
What you'll do:
- Work cross functionally with other departments within the organization in order to optimize buy plan, sku optimization, as well as time phased category plans. Work closely with Merchant/Product teams.
- Maintaining OTB flow for current buying season and an extended 18 month strategic open to buy plan for future product seasons.
- Assist with the in-season inventory activities such as forecasting a roll forward projection and adjusting based on the agreed top-down plan. Support Planning Manager with markdown and closeout process.
- Create and update inventory productivity analysis including stock aging, pareto, velocity, flow optimization, and seasonal mix.
- Review current position against the top-down plan; identify risks and opportunities for optimization.
- Provide analysis on an as needed basis including assortment analysis by distribution grade/cluster; productivity and profitability by category; markdown cadence optimization; stockouts and service levels, etc.
- Responsible for collaborating with the Merchant team to create buy targets by channel. Breaking the future plans to lower classification levels in order to improve forecast accuracy. Time-phasing category plans in order to improve cash flow and deliver products just in time to maximize sales.
- Support in the development of standard weekly and monthly reports and evaluating performance versus agreed upon KPIs.
What You'll Bring:
- Experience retail merchandise planning, buying, demand and supply planning, footwear a plus.
- Knowledge of different business operating models – Retail, Franchise, Outlet, Ecommerce, Wholesale.
- Finance – Retail Merchandise Planning – Budgets, Forecasts, Sales, Margin, Margin %.
- Supply Chain – Merchandise metrics and Supply Chain logistics.
- Experience in key distribution channels – wholesale, retail, and digital.
- Comprehensive understanding of overall business operations.
- Ability to analyze trends and use that information to effectively plan and forecast.
- Strong analytical and verbal skills.
- Decision making skills.
- Practical understanding of financial, range, space and demand planning processes.
- Practical understanding of trading and marketing planning processes.
- Strong computer skills including the following tools:
- Data warehouse/data mart query and report development tools.
- Advance Microsoft Excel.
- Planning Software (MID, Arthur, Enterprise Planning, NSB/STS/MMS, I2, Retek, Evant, etc.
- Organizational skills to coordinate feedback from a variety of sources.
Minimum salary:
53,000
Maximum salary:
65,000
Rewards and benefits
Our rewards and benefits are as varied as our customers and our people, depending on your role, and which part of the business you join. The one thing they have in common is that they’re designed to recognise your contribution to our success.
Flexible & hybrid working
Generous holiday allowance (often including your birthday!)
Dental coverage
Life, accidental death, dismemberment and disability insurance
401k with employer match
Real estate assistance program
Employee Assistance Programme
Discount on Clarks products
Exclusive employee discounts on a wide range of products and brands
Investing in your development
We’re constantly on the move, staying ahead of a changing world by keeping our minds sharp and our skills fresh. That’s why, wherever in the world you join us, you’ll find a wide range of learning opportunities at your fingertips, to make sure you keep growing and progressing.
From apprenticeships in the UK, to internships in the US and Singapore. Support for professional qualifications, to targeted leadership development programmes, and LearnerVerse, our corporate online training portal. Not to mention the chance to experience life in different parts of the business, and learn first-hand from experienced colleagues. So, if you’re looking to build on your skills, the opportunities are yours for the taking.
What we can offer youMeet some of the team
To give you a real insight into what it’s like to work at Clarks, we thought we’d ask the people who know it best.
The people who already work here. And in their own words.
Esther
Senior Manager Wholesale Account Management
Sam
Manager Wholesale Management
Natalia
Franchise Regional Business Manager
What to expect from our process
We know every person is unique – and we embrace it. So, you’ll find our recruitment process is a little different, depending on the role you apply for and where it’s based. But you’ll always find it’s:
Transparent
Right from the start, you’ll know what to expect. We’ll be honest about the role, the team, the division, and the business, as well as the process.
Fair
Our family values mean it’s in our DNA to treat people fairly. So, you can expect a process that’s respectful, whatever the outcome.
A two-way process
We’ll make sure you find out as much about us as we do about you, so you’re sure we’re the right fit for you.
Communicative
We’ll keep you in the loop at every step – so you always know where you stand. And at each stage, you’ll learn more about our culture, our brand, and what it means to be part of our journey.
Ready to
apply?
Americas - Associate Merchandise Planner
Location: Needham
Reference number: 21143