Your Role:Director of Planning for Victoria's Secret International leads the Merchandise Planning team to manage the order/buy process and ensure the best investments to maximize sales in Victoria's Secret businesses around the world. The director serves as the key liaison between Merchants, Finance, Marketing, Store Operations, Sourcing, and Demand Planning in the development of the plans (volume / markdowns, IMU, MMU, receipts, and inventory) to achieve agreed upon financial targets for specified books of business. The director manages the merchandise planning for the VS business which requires analyzing current business trend, market data and feedback, historical data and recommend course corrections and improvements based on these assessments.
Your Impact:- Partner with North America Planning and Merchant teams to translate assortment strategies, launch cadence, and category objectives into aligned inventory buys for International markets.
- Develop, manage, and approve comprehensive merchandise and financial plans (sales, margin, profit, receipts, inventory, and markdowns) across multiple businesses, operating models, and store/ecommerce formats.
- Lead category planning processes, including assortment distortion, pricing strategy, events, markdowns, and inventory optimization to maximize growth and margin realization.
- Analyze historical and current performance, market trends, and regional insights to inform forward looking strategies; proactively identify risks and opportunities and recommend corrective actions.
- Support global inventory processes within the VS Global production and sourcing model, ensuring timely, accurate commitments and projections.
- Partner with deployment teams to ensure optimal in region inventory availability, daily execution, and priority management that aligns to partner's financial budgets and targets.
- Review weekly sales, demand, margin, and inventory results, incorporating regional feedback to drive continuous improvement in performance.
- Build consensus with merchants and cross functional partners on forecasts financial outcomes; including revenue, margin, receipts, and inventory levels by partner, region, and operating model.
- Lead and approve financial implications of pricing changes, promotional events, and exit strategies for discontinued product.
- Assess price positioning relative to category strategy, top line growth, and margin objectives.
- Participate in enterprise Victoria's Secret International initiatives, with a focus on technology implementation & adoption and business process optimization.
- Foster a culture of teamwork, transparency, and accountability aligned with VS Global values.
- Recruit, develop, and retain top planning talent; lead team strategy and succession planning to ensure organizational excellence.
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Your Experience:- 10+ years of merchandise planning, demand planning, replenishment experience
- 5+ years management experience in retail. International experience an asset.
- Ability to multitask, while working in a fast-paced environment with tight deadlines
- Demonstrated ability to lead the team through ambiguity
- Excellent communication and influencing skills
- Demonstrated partnership and relationship building skills
- Demonstrated business acumen
- Creative problem-solving skills, strategic thinking, and analytical skills
- Familiar with various forecasting methodologies
- Must be detail oriented and highly organized
- Ability to manage & lead multi-functional teams across disparate time zones and calendars
- Proficient to advanced computer literacy - Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, Teams, PowerPoint), MicroStrategy Reporting
- Proficient in relevant planning, allocation, replenishment, analytical, data management, and financial systems
- Bachelor's degree in finance, Supply Chain or related discipline, preferred
