Associate Planning Director

The Associate Director of Merchandise Planning will lead strategic planning, demand forecasting, and inventory management for a rental-based business model, focusing on optimizing product utilization, minimizing obsolescence, and ensuring smooth product flow. This role will proactively identify obsolete inventory, develop strategic plans to mitigate its impact, and drive initiatives to manage inventory turnover effectively. Given the startup nature of the business, critical thinking and innovative problem-solving are essential, as this position requires exploring unconventional solutions to support business growth.

Role Responsibilities

• Leverage historical data to create precise demand forecasts that align with customer usage patterns and seasonal variations
• Collaborate with Buying teams to set objectives that maximize product availability and customer satisfaction while managing inventory cost
• Develop strategies to optimize inventory turnover across the rental lifecycle, focusing on maximizing utilization while proactively managing underperforming or obsolete stock
• Work closely with Buying, Inventory Planning, and Logistics to drive efficient inventory flow across distribution centers
• Collaborate with Executive Director of Inventory Planning and Merchandising Planning to ensure alignment between rental targets and operational needs
• Engage with cross-functional teams to refine processes that streamline inventory
• Leverage data to provide insights into subscriber usage patterns, inventory performance, and turnover rates, focusing on maximizing product life within the rental cycle
• Develop reporting tools and dashboards that offer visibility into critical KPIs, such as rental utilization rates, damage rate, and availability
• Utilize data to inform strategies that optimize planning accuracy, enhance utilization, and manage inventory effectively across multiple rental cycles
• Bring a startup mindset to the role, developing creative and scalable solutions to navigate the complex and evolving rental business landscape.
• Employ critical thinking to address challenges unique to rental inventory, continually adjusting strategies to meet dynamic market demands
• Proactively identify opportunities for improvement, test new ideas, and drive initiatives that support the business’s growth and operational efficiency
• Lead and mentor a team of planners, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and resilience
• Set performance goals, conduct regular reviews, and ensure the team implements best practices in planning, forecasting, and inventory management
• Encourage critical thinking and develop team members to explore creative solutions for business challenges within the rental model
  
  

Role Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Merchandising, Finance, or related field
• 10 years of experience in merchandise planning, preferably within a speciality retailer and/or startup environment
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with a demonstrated ability to use data to drive business decisions
• Proficiency in planning systems (e.g., Looker, Microstrategy, Qlik, or similar), Excel, Google sheets, and data visualization tools
• Experience managing inventory lifecycles in a retail model, with a focus on reducing obsolescence and maximizing utilization.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
  
  

Core Competencies

• Analytical & Critical Thinking: Ability to analyze complex data sets, identify trends, and translate insights into actionable strategies.
• Proactive Problem-Solving: Focus on identifying and mitigating obsolete inventory to ensure optimal inventory turnover.
• Entrepreneurial Mindset: Adaptable and creative, comfortable working in a fast-paced, startup environment.
• Ownership & Accountability: Takes initiative, demonstrates a strong sense of ownership, and drives results with minimal oversight.
• Collaborative Leadership: Builds strong relationships across departments to align goals and drive rental priorities.
  
  

The Perks

URBN offers comprehensive Perks & Benefits to employees. Availability and eligibility to specific benefits may be subject to your location and employment status. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, PTO, generous employee discounts, retirement savings and much more! For additional information visit www.urbn.com/work-with-us/benefits

EEO Statement

URBN celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We are proud to provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex (including gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression), religion, creed, age, physical or mental disability, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, citizenship, service in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic as established by law. We believe strongly in fostering a safe, fair and respectful work environment. To ensure compliance with our non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies, we offer anti-harassment training to managers and employees.