Associate Director, Merchandise Planning

About the role

You own end to end inventory planning for our catalog, shaping forecasts and open-to-buy that protect service and margin. You will set the direction of our planning roadmap while partnering with technology and merchandising to deliver new tools. Your work will directly support our social and environmental mission while driving exceptional business results. You will translate complex data into clear narratives that align stakeholders and inform decision making at scale. You will balance analytical rigor with business intuition to navigate uncertainty and maintain momentum in a fast evolving environment. You will act as a strategic thought partner to merchandising and finance, elevating the influence of planning across the business.

Key facts

What you'll do

Design forecasting and inventory KPIs for every category while holding the team to accuracy and timeliness.

Evolve the open-to-buy and consensus process with merchandising and finance to align budgets and department targets.

Partner with technology on planning system implementation and adoption of demand planning and reporting tools.

Adapt models and workflows to integrate with enterprise systems, replacing gaps with durable, scalable solutions.

Automate recurring analysis using AI tools and drive rollout of new AI-enabled planning workflows across the function.

Manage, coach, and develop a growing planning team through feedback, clear objectives, and mentoring.

Elevate planning fluency across the business by mentoring cross-functional partners and representing planning to executive leadership.

Build experience with attribute-based planning for precious metals and gemstones, balancing service levels against inventory productivity.

Lead system implementations and cross-functional programs from requirements through adoption, including forecasting tools and process redesign.

Use AI assistants and BI-native AI features to streamline analysis and connect tools to live data sources such as data warehouses or ERP.

Champion data integrity and governance, ensuring assumptions, filters, and definitions are transparent and consistently applied.

Collaborate with category managers to stress test plans, challenge assumptions, and align on action scenarios.

Synthesize insights from disparate sources into cohesive narratives that inform strategic and operational decisions.

Promote a culture of continuous improvement by documenting learnings, refining playbooks, and sharing best practices.

Act as the primary planning partner for merchandising, providing frameworks, tools, and analysis that de risk decisions.

Requirements

Bring 10+ years in merchandise planning, inventory planning, forecasting, or quantitative analysis within retail, product, or e-commerce, including demonstrated success leading a team.

Hold a Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Business, Finance, Economics, or a related field; an advanced degree or relevant certification is a plus.

Show experience with attribute-based or commodity inventory planning for items such as precious metals, gemstones, or other specification-driven categories.

Master complex Excel with advanced formulas, pivot tables, financial modeling, and efficient handling of large datasets; retail math should be second nature.

Have hands-on experience with demand planning software such as Blue Yonder, Logility, Demantra, o9, or MI9, and reporting/BI tools like Domo, Tableau, or Power BI; NetSuite or comparable ERP experience is a plus.

Demonstrate a track record of leading system implementations and cross-functional programs end to end, from defining requirements through adoption, including forecasting tools, report automation, and process redesign.

Use AI-assisted tools such as Claude, Excel Copilot, or BI-native AI features to automate analysis; familiarity with prompt engineering and connecting AI tools to live data sources is highly valued.

Operate comfortably in an evolving systems environment, spotting gaps, building workarounds, and converting them into lasting processes.

Communicate with clear, direct, and concise presentations to broader teams and executive leadership.

Act as a self starter with an entrepreneurial mindset, thinking critically and adapting quickly in a fast paced environment.

Respect and inclusion are core commitments in our workplace.

You are interested in socially and environmentally responsible organizations and products.

Nice to have

Experience with system implementations and change management in a planning or operations role.

Practical notes

Compensation range is $140,000 to $170,000 USD; 3-5 years of experience.

Location is Remote; Engagement is Remote.