Planner Senior

#25-30119

Westchester, Illinois, USA

Job Category

Merchandise Planning

Full-Time/Part-Time

Full-time

Overview

Budgeted Annualized Range: $95k - $105k

Job Description

Position Overview

For more than 145 years, Follett has been bringing together affordable educational content, products, and technologies to prepare learners and educators, term after term.

At Follett, we manage 1000 collegiate campus stores that help bring the specific look and feel of each campus experience to life with design concepts inspired by the latest retail trends and experiences. Our emblematic planning team creates customized apparel and gift assortments for the products that fans, alumni, students, and faculty demand most. Follett partners with top brands and infuses today's apparel trends to enhance the individuality of every school with quality apparel for every type of campus pride, both in-store and online.

The Senior Planner role is responsible for developing financial plans by department, as well as creating customized apparel and gift assortments for large volume stores, multiple locations, or regions. While cross-functionally working with the sourcing partners, they ensure proper execution of merchandise strategy. They manage the Open to Buy process by the store to positively impact inventory goals. In order to identify and exploit sales opportunities they complete store, department, vendor, style, color, and graphic analysis. Additionally, they recommend disposition plans to liquidate aged inventory and overstock.

Responsibilities

• Financial Planning - Develops monthly sales plans by store, by department using corporate goals and strategies. Establish monthly markdown and receipt plans to support the monthly sales plan. Drive department goals to deliver financial components of sales, gross margin, and inventory turnover.
• Assortment Planning - Previews the corporate-approved vendor, style, and graphic options by Sourcing. Provides feedback to Sourcing regarding additional category, vendor, style, color, and graphic needs. Creates custom assortment by store, identifying the appropriate style, graphic, and color choices using the store assortment tool based on store needs. Analyze and report weekly/monthly sales, inventory, and turn position as it relates to planning, last year, and last week/month.
• Financial/Assortment Analysis/Reporting - Manages inventory levels by store using an OTB process. Forecasts future month financial components by store, by the department. Executes purchase order placement/modification/cancellation recommendations based on OTB disposition.
• Store/Vendor Communication Process - Responds to store Email, and phone messages in a timely manner including escalated issues. Responds to merchandise requests in a timely and financially responsible manner. Conducts regular store visits offering solutions to store issues regarding assortment breadth and depth. Ensures stores are scanning re-orders regularly for all key items. Provides purchase orders to vendors in a timely manner with appropriate lead times. Provides item forecasts to vendors as requested by Sourcing. Communicates delivery expectations to all vendors. Fosters open and honest communication with the stores and vendors.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Ability to identify sales opportunities. Develop action plans to maximize sales opportunities through strong analytical skills and partnerships with store, Sourcing, and Manager. Included in the action plan are solid sales forecasting methodology and determination of optimum inventory investment required to support sales growth.
• Ability to identify risks to sales, inventory, or margin plans. Develop action plans to mitigate the risks through strong analytical skills. Included in the action plan are a well-grounded sales forecast, determination of at-risk inventory investment, potential PO cancellation, vendor communication, liquidation plan which could include Promo and/or store level markdown, and subsequent margin implications for current and next year.
  
  
  
  

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree or higher.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office products and computer literacy
• Five plus years in buying and/or planning/allocation capacity.
• Retail apparel experience required; specialty and or department retail, licensed products experience preferred.
• Strong analytical and problem resolution skills.
• Strong organization and prioritization skills.
• Solid verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent analytical and problem resolution skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment
• Travel required - approximately 20 hours during peak periods.
• Non-Traditional hours include, but are not limited to, athletics and special events.