Manage Merchandise Planning for Homeware/Furniture categories to drive sales, margin and inventory productivity. Partner with Buying, Supply Chain, Retail, Finance and Marketing to deliver strong customer experience and long-term business growth.
Responsibilities:
Strategy & Leadership
- Define category and territory planning strategy aligned to business goals.
- Own budgets for sales, margin, stock, OTB and turns; track performance through the season.
- Partner cross-functionally to improve sourcing, processes and system effectiveness.
- Drive availability on key lines while optimizing inventory across the network.
- Lead planning calendar, governance and business rhythms.
- Coach and develop the planning team; build strong planning capability.
Seasonal & Range Planning
- Lead post-season reviews and translate insights into future strategies.
- Develop seasonal plans on sales, pricing, assortment, suppliers and brands.
- Build budgets, MFP, store grading and range plans aligned to financial targets.
- Track performance vs plan and ensure adherence to merchandising standards.
In-Season Performance Management
- Monitor OTB, ordering, forecasting, stock cover and inflows.
- Identify over/under-performance and drive actions on reorders, markdowns and allocations.
- Ensure replenishment availability and minimize stock-outs.
- Present performance and actions in weekly and monthly trading reviews.
Market & Store Insights
- Conduct regular store and competitor visits to track trends, pricing and customer behavior.
- Share insights and drive corrective actions with buying and commercial teams.
Systems & Governance
- Ensure strong reporting, data integrity and effective use of planning tools.
- Partner with central teams on system enhancements.
People Management
- Lead hiring, performance management and capability building for the planning team.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):
- Sales vs Plan
- Gross Margin vs Plan
- Inventory Turn & GMROI
- Forecast Accuracy (MAPE) & Bias
- Stock Availability on Key Lines
- Aged Stock %
- Markdown % to Sales
- OTB Adherence
- Sell-through %
- Team Capability & Performance (forecast accuracy improvement, delivery against goals)
Skills:
- Retail planning expertise (WSSI, OTB, MFP, range planning, store grading, allocation, markdown management)
- Demand forecasting & analytics (MAPE, bias, trend analysis, scenario planning)
- In-season trading management (reforecasting, corrective actions, performance tracking)
- Strong commercial acumen (sales, margin, pricing, GMROI mindset)
- Advanced Excel / data analytics capability with the ability to translate data into business insights and actions
- Team management (coaching, performance management, building capability)
- Ability to influence without authority and manage conflicts constructively
- Stakeholder Leadership
- Experience with planning tools (e.g., RELEX, o9, SAP IBP, Oracle, or similar) is a plus
