Director, Merchandise Planning

The Director of Merchandise Planning is responsible for driving and managing merchandise and financial plans, and inventory optimization across all channels. This position drives the strategic framework supporting the forecasting of sales, promotions, markdowns, receipt flow and inventory levels. This leader identifies risks to the business and develops strategies and action plans in cooperation with merchandising and cross-functional partners to mitigate those risks profitably. This is an on-site position (Monday through Thursday) based out of our Northbrook, IL office with the flexibility to work remotely on Fridays.

A day in the life as a Director, Merchandise Planning…

• Develop, execute, and communicate pre-season and in-season financial plans, merchandise plans, and strategies to support the merchandising, marketing, and financial objectives of the business
• Develop strategies, create a framework to lead the merchandise planning team to maximize revenue, gross margin, inventory turn goals, and EBIT across stores and e-commerce
• Create and lead the strategy for multi-channel allocation effectiveness, as well as improvements in store performance and productivity
• Manage item planning and forecasting for ordering, receipt flow, allocation, and other cross-functional needs, including key item management and reaction to business trends and risk assessment
• Guide the analysis of monthly open-to-buy and financial sales, in-season product performance reviews, and monthly business reviews
• Build and execute long-term and financially sound assortment plans and growth strategies in partnership with divisional merchandising managers
• Liaise with marketing, stores, and eCommerce to create and execute brand-wide merchandise promotional strategy to drive sales while maximizing gross margin
• Lead cross-functionally with DPMs, DMMs, and Associate Director Strategic Operations to create consistency and strong operational processes across all merchandising functions to manage critical deadlines, coding, hunt path, and product lead times
• Present executive-level recommendations on business results and strategy
• Work with cross-functional leaders and business partners on process, systems, sourcing, supply chain, etc, as needed to drive CBH efficiencies and effective inventory management
• Inspire, coach, develop, and manage the planning and allocation team

What you’ll bring to the table…

• Strong financial and planning acumen and experience in developing strategy and presenting data, and analysis
• Able to develop and maintain strong working relationships with peers, cross-functional partners, and executive/senior leaders
• Superior leadership and communication skills - to communicate high-level vision to senior management as well as tactical direction to the teams.
• Strong ability to prioritize and focus on only key initiatives to drive the business.
• Demonstrated ability to approach opportunities with a problem-solving mindset.
• Strong change management skills and experience
• Ability to make final decisions that impact the effectiveness of the team

We’d love to hear from you if you have…

• 10+ years retail planning experience
• 7+ years leading teams
• Bachelor’s degree in business or related field, or equivalent experience