Merchandise planner Jobs in North Charleston, SC

Demand Planner

ROLE OVERVIEW

Our client was founded to bring deep seeded expertise across all outdoor categories to the industry. Their unparalleled knowledge and understanding of the needs surrounding the outdoor world created a corporation like no other. Innovative designs and technologically focused products create the foundation and bring their core focus of authentic outdoor apparel into the industry. You are a motivated and analytical professional with experience in inventory planning in a DTC business (both e-commerce and stores) and a strong understanding of Excel. If youre prepared to work hard, create impact, and have fun while doing it, we would love to have you join us.

The Demand Planner will regularly collaborate with cross-functional team members to guide the business toward growth through the optimization of inventory. You will create seasonal demand & inventory plans for DTC channels using historical data, pre-season projections, in-season forecasting, inventory / budget management and insightful analysis to achieve revenue and profitability goals. A great candidate will have outstanding critical thinking and problem-solving skills, a deep understanding of how to use data to drive decisions, and advanced Excel skills including the ability to work with large data sets.

The ideal candidate will also have experience with inventory planning processes / tools (category / assortment planning, open-to-buy, re-orders, clearance / markdowns, etc.) in an apparel business, the ability to collaborate effectively with and manage execution across multiple teams, and experience managing inventory in apparel or another high-SKU category with size or color variations.

JOB TITLE : Demand Planner

REPORTS TO : Director of Planning

LOCATION : Charleston, SC In-office

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

Generate seasonal demand plans for ecommerce and retail stores.

Collaborate with Sales, Merchandising, Marketing, Finance and Operations teams to understand demand forecast drivers, reconcile variances, and communicate risks & opportunities, documenting and integrating assumptions into the demand plan and style-level forecasts.

Monitor Production order due dates to ensure buy plans / POs are submitted to Production in a timely manner.

Oversee tracking of ETAs & allocation of incoming shipments to confirm alignment with demand plans and marketing events, proposing expedited shipping if / when necessary.

Keep Open-to-Buy updated with most recent data (sales plans, EOM inventories, Open Orders, etc.).

Analyze sales, inventory, and website data to uncover insights that guide product assortment and inventory decisions.

Ensure Core / Evergreen styles are always in stock by updating demand forecasts regularly and coordinating overall inventory needs with sales & production teams.

Identify and communicate need for additional buys outside of seasonal cadence as needed.

Recap and analyze sales results and variances to plan on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis.

Perform independent analysis and recommend courses of action to drive profitable sales and improve inventory efficiency / turnover.

Play a key role in product allocation strategy for Outlet locations.

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS

Requires minimum of 3-5 years of apparel (or another high sku category) merchandise planning experience involving sales and inventory planning, sales forecasting, and OTB

4-year college degree required or equivalent work experience.

Outstanding critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

A deep understanding of how to use data to drive decisions.

Demonstrated experience gathering and manipulating data to answer questions and solve problems.

Advanced Excel skills including the ability to work with large data sets.

Strong organizational and time management skills; able to effectively manage multiple priorities.

Ability to collaborate effectively with and manage execution across multiple teams.

Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Comfort with ambiguity and passion / excitement for building new tools and processes.