We are looking for a Value Strategy Consultant owning the business relationship with brand planning teams and serving as the strategic voice of allocation performance. You will not manage the allocation engine or build dashboards; your role is to interpret what the numbers mean, why outcomes occur, and what should change, using automated diagnostic tools to translate insights into clear recommendations for vendors, internal partners, and leadership.
This role is part strategist, part diagnostician, and part trusted advisor, acting as a fiduciary advocate for brands by proactively identifying issues, driving solutions, and communicating with transparency.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Business Performance Ownership
- Lead bi-weekly allocation performance reviews with brand planning teams, covering service level, sales, GM$, GM%, GMROI, sell-through, and allocation accuracy.
- Present KPI diagnostics with root-cause analysis: not just "what happened" but "why it happened" and "what we're doing about it."
- Produce quarterly business reviews for executive leadership that synthesize allocation performance trends and strategic recommendations.
- Diagnostic Analysis & Issue Identification
- Leverage existing dashboards and alerting tools to monitor allocation outcomes across all brands at the store-SKU level.
- Where tools are lacking, work with technical team to get the artifact built or enhanced.
- Identify emerging issues before they become problems: sell-through falling behind pace, inventory building in the wrong stores, stockout patterns that signal a model or grading issue.
- Decompose KPI misses into demand-side drivers (forecast accuracy, trend shifts) and supply-side drivers (misallocation, replenishment lag, pack constraints) to pinpoint actionable root causes.
- Analyze outcomes across product lifecycle types (basics, seasonal basics, fashion) and tailor diagnostic frameworks to each.
- Action & Accountability
- Translate diagnostic findings into specific vendor improvement tickets with clear success criteria - push the vendor to improve their model where the data warrants it.
- Define requirements for in-house diagnostic tools and work with the technical team to prioritize development.
- Advise brand planning teams on allocation strategy decisions: store eligibility, DC holdback levels, size curve adjustments, replenishment throttling for end-of-season.
- Own the vendor accountability framework: maintain the RACI, track vendor action rates, and escalate when commitments are not met.
- Communication & Stakeholder Management
- Operate on a proactive communication cadence: reach out to stakeholders with findings and recommendations, don't wait for them to ask.
- Build trust as a fiduciary partner - the brands should believe you are watching their business and will advocate for their outcomes.
- Manage the narrative during the transition from the prior consulting model: demonstrate early wins, set realistic expectations, and build confidence in the new capability.
Requirements- 10+ years of experience in strategy consulting role, preferably serving retail clients.
- Deep understanding of fashion retail allocation and replenishment processes, including how strategies differ for basics, seasonal basics, and fashion/trend products.
- Fluency in retail KPIs: service level, sell-through, WOS, GMROI, allocation accuracy, markdown rate, and how allocation decisions drive each.
- Strong analytical intuition. You can look at a performance dashboard and quickly identify which numbers don't make sense and where to dig deeper.
- Exceptional communication and executive presence: you are equally comfortable presenting to a VP of Merchandising and coaching a junior team member.
- MBA or equivalent advanced degree, or equivalent depth of experience in strategy and analytics.
Preferred- Direct experience at a multi-brand fashion retailer (specialty, department store, or fast fashion).
- Background that combines both operator experience (retailer-side) and advisory experience (consulting or vendor-side).
- Familiarity with statistical concepts used in allocation diagnostics: forecast accuracy metrics (MAPE, bias), variance decomposition, demand signal analysis.
- Experience building or managing a small team and working with contingent/contract technical resources.
- Comfort with ambiguity and building a function from scratch - this is not a role where you inherit a playbook; you write the playbook.
- Experience working with third-party allocation/planning vendors and managing vendor performance.
BenefitsSignificant career development opportunities exist as the company grows. The position offers a unique opportunity to be part of a small, fast-growing, challenging and entrepreneurial environment, with a high degree of individual responsibility.
