SUMMARYThe Senior Merchandise Planner owns SKU- and account-level forecasting across wholesale accounts within the North America channel, translating channel targets into account-level plans. You run the monthly forecast process for these accounts, build the supporting analysis, and work with cross-functional partners to drive retailer in-stock performance. Success requires strong analytical skills, data-driven storytelling, and effective collaboration across Sales, Supply Chain, Brand, Demand Planning, and Finance.
Key ResponsibilitiesAccount Planning & Management
- Build bottom-up retail and wholesale plans by account, category, and SKU, and support the channel's top-down plan.
- Partner with Sales and Brand to translate assortment direction into SKU-level plans.
- Maintain account-level OTB and flag risks and opportunities to the planning lead.
- Monitor weekly sell-out and stock-outs and coordinate corrective actions with account merchants.
Forecasting
- Prepare and maintain monthly forecasts, identifying risks and opportunities and recommending actions to chase demand or mitigate risk.
- Contribute to forecast consensus with Demand Planning and flag exceptional demand.
- Partner with Sales and Finance on promo, markdown, and RTV forecasts.
Cross-functional Collaboration
- Track new product launch POs with Supply Chain and escalate delivery risks.
- Provide account-level inputs into monthly and annual sales budgets.
- Support Sales and Brand on account and channel strategies.
Analytics
- Use advanced Excel and enterprise planning tools (Anaplan) to build reporting and analysis.
- Improve forecast accuracy, data quality, and scenario modeling.
- Share best practices with the merchandise planning team.
REQUIREMENTS- 5+years of merchandise planning or wholesale planning experience.
- BA/BS in Business, Finance, Supply Chain, Economics, or a related quantitative field.
- Strong proficiency in Excel (pivot tables, Power Query, advanced functions); experience with an enterprise planning platform, Anaplan a plus.
- Analytical problem-solving, scenario modeling, and data storytelling.
- Negotiation and influencing skills with internal partners and account contacts.
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment and manage multiple priorities against tight deadlines.
- Clear written and verbal communication, strong organizational discipline, high attention to detail, and a growth mindset oriented toward process improvement.
