Planning Manager - Retail Sales and Inventory

AlFuttaim; Dubai; On-site; AED 22,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

AlFuttaim is seeking a Planning Manager - Retail Sales and Inventory based in Dubai, UAE. This senior role focuses on merchandise planning and commercial forecasting to improve stock performance and business growth.

The ideal candidate will lead financial planning across various channels, ensure alignment of inventory investments, and deliver timely reports to senior management.

Strong experience in retail planning and proven skills in analytics and commercial decision-making are essential for success in this role.

Qualifications

• Strong experience in retail merchandise planning, sales forecasting, or inventory management.
• Demonstrated ability to develop annual and seasonal commercial plans.
• Experience producing and managing WSSI reports.

Responsibilities

• Lead the annual business planning process by market, channel, and Business Unit.
• Develop robust commercial plans for various product categories.
• Forecast gross sales, gross profit, and markdown exposure.

Skills

Retail merchandise planning

Sales forecasting

Financial planning

WSSI reporting

Gross margin planning

Inventory optimization

Promotional planning

Job description

Job Title: Planning Manager - Retail Sales and Inventory

Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Industry: Retail

Function: Merchandise Planning and Buying

Job Type: Full‑time

Salary: 22,000-32,000

Overview

Planning Manager - Retail Sales and Inventory in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is a senior Retail opportunity focused on commercial forecasting, merchandise planning, markdown optimization, stock performance, and profitable business growth. The role leads financial and sales planning across fashion, food, digital, store, and regional channels while aligning inventory investment with customer demand and business targets.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the annual business planning process by market, region, channel, and Business Unit.
• Convert strategic growth objectives into measurable sales, margin, markdown, and inventory targets.
• Develop robust commercial plans for clothing and home, food, digital, and total business performance.
• Deliver accurate weekly WSSI reporting and ensure assumptions reflect current trading conditions.
• Track achievement against sales, cash margin, markdown cost, gross profit, and closing stock targets.
• Identify gaps between business plans and current forecasts and coordinate timely corrective action.
• Build sales forecasts across fashion, food, stores, digital channels, regions, and product categories.
• Prepare market, store, and category plans at seasonal, monthly, weekly, and daily levels.
• Forecast gross sales, gross profit, gross margin, promotional activity, and markdown exposure.
• Compare forecast performance with actual results and explain significant variances.
• Reforecast expected outcomes using current trading trends, stock availability, customer demand, and market conditions.
• Highlight commercial risks and opportunities before they affect financial performance.
• Partner with merchandising, buying, and operations teams to turn financial objectives into executable trading plans.
• Lead Business Unit sales planning by season and incorporate new product, category, and range strategies.
• Align seasonal planning with product launches, promotional calendars, and assortment changes.
• Work with buying teams to evaluate product investment levels and expected commercial returns.
• Coordinate with allocation teams to ensure stock is distributed according to demand and sales potential.
• Review Business Unit performance and recommend changes to pricing, stock deployment, promotions, or intake.
• Own markdown planning across regions, channels, stores, and product categories.
• Develop markdown phasing, price reduction, and promotional plans that improve sell‑through.
• Balance inventory clearance with gross margin protection and brand positioning.
• Analyze the financial effect of markdown decisions and provide evidence‑based recommendations.
• Collaborate with retail and e‑commerce teams to implement price changes accurately and on schedule.
• Monitor markdown cost, promotional effectiveness, aged inventory, and residual stock exposure.
• Ensure municipality permission lists are prepared and submitted within required regulatory timelines.
• Prepare weekly sales and inventory reports by Business Unit, channel, store, region, and category.
• Report sales, gross profit, gross margin, markdown, stock ageing, sell‑through, and closing inventory.
• Produce concise commercial insights for senior leadership rather than relying only on historical reporting.
• Present forecasts, performance variances, risks, and commercial opportunities to decision‑makers.
• Recommend actions that improve revenue, margin, stock productivity, and cash generation.
• Maintain consistency between planning reports, financial targets, and operational trading information.
• Work closely with merchandising and buying teams on assortment depth, product mix, and investment decisions.
• Coordinate with allocation and supply chain teams to align intake and stock movement with demand.
• Partner with store operations and e‑commerce teams to improve channel‑level sales and inventory performance.
• Support leadership discussions concerning promotional strategy, product launches, stock risk, and financial delivery.
• Maintain planning models, dashboards, reporting templates, and commercial decision‑support tools.
• Improve forecast accuracy by refining assumptions, methodologies, and performance tracking.
• Standardize planning processes across markets and Business Units where practical.
• Automate recurring reports and reduce manual data handling.
• Strengthen data quality, reporting timeliness, and visibility of commercial performance.
• Promote disciplined planning practices and continuous improvement across stakeholder teams.

Ideal Profile

• Strong experience in retail merchandise planning, sales forecasting, financial planning, or inventory management.
• Demonstrated ability to develop annual, seasonal, monthly, weekly, and daily commercial plans.
• Practical knowledge of fashion, food, store, and digital retail channels is advantageous.
• Strong understanding of sales, gross profit, gross margin, markdown cost, sell‑through, and closing stock.
• Experience producing and managing WSSI reports.
• Proven ability to design markdown strategies and evaluate their financial impact.
• Sound knowledge of assortment planning, product investment, allocation, and stock flow.
• Advanced analytical capability with confidence interpreting complex sales and inventory data.
• Strong commercial judgment and ability to connect planning decisions with profitability.
• Experience presenting forecasts, risks, and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Ability to influence merchandising, buying, supply chain, retail, and e‑commerce stakeholders.
• Skilled in identifying performance variances and implementing corrective commercial actions.
• Strong planning, prioritization, and deadline management capability.
• Experience improving planning systems, dashboards, reporting, or workflow automation.
• Ability to operate effectively across multiple markets, product categories, and Business Units.
• Strategic mindset supported by detailed operational understanding.
• Clear communication and collaborative decision‑making skills.

Skills Set

• Retail merchandise planning
• Sales forecasting
• Financial planning
• WSSI reporting
• Gross margin planning
• Gross profit forecasting
• Markdown management
• Markdown phasing
• Price reduction planning
• Inventory optimization
• Closing stock management
• Stock ageing analysis
• Full‑price sell‑through
• Cash margin management
• Business planning
• Seasonal planning
• Store sales planning
• Category planning
• Digital retail planning
• Fashion retail planning
• Food retail planning
• Assortment investment
• Product launch planning
• Promotional planning
• Stock allocation
• Supply chain coordination
• Variance analysis
• Commercial reporting
• Forecast accuracy
• KPI management
• Business intelligence dashboards
• Reporting automation
• Cross‑functional leadership
• Senior management presentations
• Municipality permission coordination