Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Retail Merchandising, or related field; MBA preferred.
5+ years of experience in retail planning or demand forecasting, ideally at a managerial level.
Strong command of retail math including OTB, GMROI, and sell-through metrics.
Proven ability to present strategic recommendations to senior leadership with executive presence.
Advanced Excel skills, including automation and proficiency with planning/ERP systems; experience with AI tools is a plus.
Experience mentoring or managing junior planners, balancing hands-on contributions with leadership.
Excellent communication skills for building consensus across teams.
Responsibilities
Lead the end-to-end planning strategy for sales, margin, and inventory across multiple channels.
Maintain a rolling 18-month financial plan aligned with divisional budgets and strategies.
Conduct weekly business reviews, highlighting trends and generating reports for senior management.
Mentor and develop junior planners while managing their performance and growth.
Lead financial planning and inventory strategy within a cross-functional team.
Determine assortment targets and manage SKU-intensive buys aligned with Merchant strategies.
Present financial impacts and strategic recommendations to executive management.
Benefits
Comprehensive health coverage.
Financial wellness programs.
Personal wellness support.
Opportunities for career development and training.
Flexible work arrangements.
Full Job Description
Position Summary
The Senior Planner owns sales, margin, and inventory forecasting for a high-complexity department in an omni-channel environment, incorporating top-down, bottoms-up, and demand planning discipline. This role is a leader on the Planning team - providing peer support and, depending on category complexity, formally developing one or more direct-reports - while working closely with cross-functional Merchandising and Allocation partners to create alignment through detailed analysis and recommendations. The Senior Planner is capable of extending scope across multiple categories or a broader division as business needs evolve, and demonstrates strong executive presence, regularly presenting forecasts, business reviews, and strategic recommendations directly to senior leadership.
Responsibilities
Planning Strategy & Ownership - Own and lead the end-to-end pre-season and in-season planning strategy - sales, margin, inventory, and OTB - for an assigned department across brick-and-mortar and digital/DTC channels, setting financial targets by department/category and recalibrating forecasts with cross-functional and field partners in line with the P&L calendar. Scope may extend across multiple categories or a broader division based on business complexity.
Rolling 18-Month Planning - Maintain a rolling 18-month financial plan (sales, margin, and inventory) that ladders up to divisional budgets and Merchant strategy, in addition to seasonal and in-season planning.
Weekly Business Review, Reporting & Reconciliation - Conduct weekly reviews of the business, proactively highlighting both positive and negative trends; generate regular reports and analysis for senior management; and partner with Finance to reconcile actuals to plan on a monthly/quarterly cadence.
Team Leadership & Development - Act as both a hands-on contributor and a coach, mentoring Associate Planners & Planners and, where the role carries direct reports, formally managing their performance and growth - providing training, career development, and talent-retention support.
Cross-Functional Pod Leadership - Lead the financial plan and inventory strategy for the category within a cross-functional pod, creating and maintaining alignment among peers on Merchandising and Allocation teams on forecast changes and inventory strategies, and serving as the primary planning point of contact.
Assortment & Buy Development - Determine style-color and depth targets by attribute and store group, managing SKU/style-intensive and location-intensive assortments, and creating the buy aligned to Merchant strategies and priorities - accounting for variations in demand by store volume and regional preferences.
Executive Strategic Prescence- Create and communicate financial business impacts, and present business reviews, forecasts, and recommendations clearly and concisely to Executive management.
Inventory, OTB & Margin Management - Manage the open-to-buy budget to ensure inventory investment funds sales and margin plans, and lead markdown and end-of-life strategy - including pricing and liquidation decisions for discontinued or non-go-forward product - partnering with Allocation/Replenishment to optimize inventory turnover.
Scenario Planning & Risk Mitigation - Conduct scenario and sensitivity analysis to stress-test plans against demand volatility, competitive activity, and supply disruption, building contingency recommendations to protect the business.
Strategic & Financial Leadership - Demonstrate command of key financial performance indicators for the business, proactively identifying, evaluating, and communicating risks and opportunities to senior planning leadership, and contributing to quarterly and rolling 18-month financial strategy for the assigned department(s).
Process Improvement, Systems & Automation - Drive continuous improvement across the planning organization, serving as a subject-matter expert/power user of planning systems and partnering on enhancements and testing, while leveraging automation and AI-enabled tools to streamline redundant reporting tasks and improve forecasting accuracy.
Market Awareness & Adaptability - Maintain a deep understanding of industry trends and the competitive landscape, corporate awareness, adaptability, adjusting plans quickly in response to emerging trends or unexpected events to maximize opportunities and mitigate risk.
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Retail Merchandising, or a related field; MBA a plus.
5+ years of progressive experience in retail planning, merchandise planning, or demand forecasting - consistent with Manager-level experience benchmarks in the retail industry.
Demonstrated ability to own and deliver results for a large, complex, multi-category business, with strong command of retail math (OTB, GMROI, turn, sell-through).
Proven executive presence, with a track record building and presenting business cases and strategic recommendations directly to senior leadership.
Systems & Tools - Advanced Excel skills, including automation (macros/VBA, Power Query) to streamline reporting and analytics; proficiency with AI-enabled tools to drive efficiency in redundant tasks and enhance data visualization; expert-level PowerPoint skills for building polished, executive-ready decks; experience with planning/ERP systems (e.g., o9, Blue Yonder/JDA, Oracle Retail, SAP) a plus.
Experience mentoring, coaching, or directly managing junior planners, with the ability to operate as both a hands-on contributor and a people leader ("player-coach").
Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to build consensus across cross-functional pod partners and executive stakeholders.
Ability to manage multiple categories and priorities - including expanded scope across a broader division as needed - and lead through ambiguity in a fast-paced, matrixed environment.
High attention to detail balanced with strategic, big-picture thinking; sound retail industry knowledge and understanding of customer behavior.
Must be Philadelphia-based or willing to relocate
Explore our benefits site to discover all the perks and support we offer! From health coverage to financial and personal wellness, we've got you covered-check it out today! benefits.fivebelow.com/public/welcome
About Five Below
Five Below is a discount store chain that sells products that cost up to $5. The company was founded in 2002 by David Schlessinger and Tom Vellios. The company's target market is teenagers and pre-teens, but it also has products for adults. The company has over 1,000 stores in 38 states. The company's revenue has been steadily increasing over the years, and it has been expanding its store count. The company went public in 2012.
