Merchandise Planner

Department: Merchandising – Planning & Allocations

Work Type: 12 Month Contract - Maternity Leave Coverage – Full-time

Location: Vancouver

Seniority: JD Sports welcomes applicants of all levels of experience to apply. Candidates targeting Junior Planner, Merchandise Planner and Senior Planner roles should feel encouraged to apply.

Salary: $80k–$110k + Bonus. Final compensation is based on experience and leadership level.

The Company:

JD Sports is a sports-fashion retail company with the incentive to inspire the emerging generation of globally minded consumers through a connection to the universal culture of sport, music and fashion. Established in 1981, the JD Group is a leading global omnichannel retailer of Sports, Fashion, and Outdoor brands. With our retail stores expanding and evolving throughout Canada, The Group is continuously finding and developing talent that adds to the inclusive and diverse work culture. JD continuously and successfully sets the global standard for retail experience best through the unique delivery of the world’s most authentic brands to the market. Our commitment to showcasing brands in a premium environment and stores remain a key part of the JD strategy.

The Opportunity:

The Merchandise Planner is responsible for high-level strategic inventory planning and forecasting for JD Sports Canada. This person will work closely with buying, allocations, retail and finance departments to ensure sales goals are achieved by anticipating customer demand, ensuring delivery of product to appropriate stores and analyzing opportunities for improvement.

Key Responsibilities/ Duties

Strategy & Future Planning (50%):

• Working with senior merchandise planner/planning manager & buying team, develop annual, seasonal and monthly merchandise strategies.
• Create category level product mix using history, SWOT and SLT guidance.
• Formulate space and ranging plans for store distribution in conjunction with the buying team.
• Actively participate in assortment building, providing data and analysis to guide decision-making.
• Build, Present and Sign off Quarterly brand buys with leadership team.
• Attend key selection meetings with Buyer.

Sales & Inventory Management (50%)

• Manage inventory within KPIs signed off with Merchandise Planning manager.
• Reviews weekly trading performance and achieved KPI's, identifying Issues and the course of action in preparation for the weekly trading meetings and submit to the senior planner/ Merchandise planning manager.
• Manage weekly markdown forecasts by collaborating with buyers to agree on SKUs and price point.
• Propose and agree actions to recover risk and maximise opportunities with the Senior Planner and Buyer at category and line level.
• Visit and understand the store base on a regular basis. Create action plans to Optimise Store performance communicating to the retail Team anything that may impact store performance.
• Manage product allocations to ensure right stock, right place, right quantities, right stores, right time.
• Working with the allocations team, manage the store option plans and capacities to ensure each store has the optimum amount of stock and neither too full nor lacking key styles.
• Develop, maintain and update tools, reports to support the needs of the business
• Establish collaborative working relationships within Team and across functions.

Behavioural:

• Delivering Excellence - Working at a consistently high standard with enthusiasm. You work to deliver a high quality of work to meet personal and team expectations.
• Responsibility (Delivers results) - Take ownership of your work and use your initiative to deliver. Take responsibility for your own actions & decisions.
• Teamwork - You work with others to reach a common goal; sharing information, supporting colleagues and searching out expertise and solutions from relevant stakeholders.
• Leadership - You lead by example through your behaviours and professional approach to work, inspiring your colleagues and driving for results.
• Communication - You communicate clearly and concisely, ensuring that the message is understood by all.

The Requirements:

• Post-secondary education, preferably with a sales or marketing background
• 3+ years of retail experience.
• 2+ years of merchandise planning experience.
• Possess an innate understanding of inventory management, merchandise planning and supply chain in a retail environment.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Entrepreneurship – an ability to make decisions and take calculated risks.
• Experience in data analysis and Microsoft office software, specifically excel.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Proactive and goal-oriented individual

The Perks:

To match our culture, focused on creativity, innovation and love for fashion, we offer our employees unique benefits such as product discounts, learning & development allowance and social events!