The Merchandise Financial Planning Manager will be an active partner in managing the life cycle in brands in our Men’s and Women’s wholesale business. This individual must be a self-starter and team player who takes initiative, thrives in a fast-paced environment, and is excited about joining a team on a journey to accelerate transformation across the organization. This position will report to the Sr. Manager, Merchandise Financial Planning, as well as collaborating with Sales, Planning, Production and Merchandising to proactively manage the business and achieve our financial goals.
Key Responsibilities
Seasonal Demand Forecasting
- Assist in developing high-level monthly forecasts to inform early fabric commitments, assortment direction, and capacity planning
- Manage and adhere to calendar milestones for priority programs and key fabric initiatives
- Own and drive process alignment across cross-functional teams to ensure forecast accuracy and timely execution
Margin Planning
- Monitor cost updates and seasonal trends to proactively identify margin risk
- Partner with cross?functional teams to align financial targets with product strategy and overall business objectives
- Analyze customer markups and dilutions to accurately determine EBIT by program to understand profitability before sell-in
- Follow up on late adds and final cost updates after orders are submitted
- Review margin files weekly with manager to identify and identify and mitigate risks to budget
Pricing by Item
- Assign sell prices and MSRPs to each program based on historical performance and internal margin targets
- Develop, maintain, and populate pricing lists for sales pre?market
- Partner with overseas teams to ensure accurate and timely pricing setup in systems
Other
- Partner with Retail Planning and Sales to build and maintain a rolling 14?month sales/order management files by account and assist in analyzing the data
- Data management – Assist in identifying and correcting master data issues in the system
- Ad hoc reporting and requests as needed to support the business
Our Best Fit Candidate Would Have
- At least 5-7 years of experience in merchandise planning and/or retail financial planning
- Advanced Excel proficiency (Manage complex spreadsheets, use Vlookups, pivot tables, etc.)
- Strong analytical skills with high attention to detail
- Strong understanding of retail math, including sales, gross margin, markup and markdown rates
- Ability to present materials in a clear and compelling manner
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to work effectively in a team environment
- Ability to interpret data, draw conclusions and make recommendations
- Capable of independently problem solving in a fast paced environment
- Motivated and capable of prioritizing workload to meet changing priorities
- Comfortable working with standardized recaps and reporting formats, but also capable of creating ad-hoc reporting as needed to clearly present business information
- Knowledge of SAP and/or IBT a plus
- Bachelor’s degree
Christine Appleton