Merchandise Planner - North Ryde

Freedom Furniture Australia Pty Limited; Australia; Hybrid; AUD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working arrangements

Competitive salary with superannuation

25% staff discount on Freedom products

Freedom to Flex – work from anywhere (

Monthly themed Town Halls

Job summary

Freedom Furniture Australia Pty Limited is seeking two experienced Merchandise Planners for 6-month fixed-term contracts. You will own merchandising planning for Furniture or Homewares, partnering with Buying and Merchandise to maximise profitability, optimise inventory and provide strong commercial insights.

Join one of Australia’s leading furniture and homewares retailers and take ownership of a significant product category.

Qualifications

• Around 5 years' experience in merchandise planning within a retail environment.
• Strong understanding of sales, margin, stock turn, sell-through, markdowns and Open-to-Buy.
• Advanced Excel skills; BI and planning tools such as Power BI and TM1 highly regarded.
• Experience working with large datasets and translating data into meaningful business insights.
• Experience in furniture, homewares or adjacent retail categories is highly regarded.

Responsibilities

• Managing stock allocation and replenishment planning.
• Analysing sales trends, market conditions and historical data to forecast future demand.
• Managing Open-to-Buy processes to maintain balanced and profitable inventory.
• Partnering with Buying to optimise category and assortment performance.
• Monitoring sales, margin, sell-through, stock turn and markdown performance.
• Creating comprehensive reports and dashboards using advanced Excel and BI tools.
• Translating complex data into clear and actionable commercial insights.
• Identifying risks and opportunities within your category and recommending appropriate actions.
• Supporting decisions around product mix, seasonal planning and inventory investment.

Skills

Merchandise Planning

Commercial Acumen

Forecasting

Excel Skills

Data Management

Stakeholder Management

Category Experience

Tools

Power BI

TM1

Excel

Job description

Why You'll Be Excited About This Role

We're looking for two experienced Merchandise Planners to join Freedom on 6-month fixed-term contracts:

These are high-impact opportunities where your analytical and commercial insights will directly influence the performance of your respective category.

As a Merchandise Planner, you'll work at the heart of strategic decision-making, partnering closely with our Buying and Merchandise teams to maximise profitability, optimise inventory and ensure our customers can find the products they love.

You'll take ownership of planning within either our Furniture or Homewares category, using sales performance, customer demand and inventory data to guide decisions around forecasting, stock investment and product performance.

How This Will Transform Your Career

These 6-month contracts provide an opportunity to make an immediate impact within one of Australia's leading furniture and homewares retailers.

Whether your expertise sits within Furniture or Homewares, you'll have ownership of a significant product category and work closely with key stakeholders to influence commercial outcomes.

You'll apply your forecasting and analytical capability across complex datasets, strengthen your exposure to large-scale retail planning and contribute to decisions that directly impact sales, margin and inventory performance.

Why You'll Like Working Here

At Freedom, we've earned our certification as a Great Place to Work by putting our people first. We've created an environment where innovation thrives and every team member has the opportunity to make their mark.

• Hybrid working arrangements that support work-life balance
• A competitive salary package with superannuation
• Generous 25% staff discount on all Freedom products, including sale items
• True flexibility through our 'Freedom to Flex' program – work from anywhere in the world for up to 4 weeks annually
• Monthly themed pop-up Town Halls to connect with our wider Support Centre teams

What You'll Be Working On

You'll take ownership of merchandise planning across either Furniture or Homewares, using data and commercial insight to drive profitability, inventory efficiency and category performance.

Key responsibilities include:

• Managing stock allocation and replenishment planning
• Analysing sales trends, market conditions and historical data to forecast future demand
• Managing Open-to-Buy processes to maintain balanced and profitable inventory
• Partnering with Buying to optimise category and assortment performance
• Monitoring sales, margin, sell-through, stock turn and markdown performance
• Creating comprehensive reports and dashboards using advanced Excel skills
• Translating complex data into clear and actionable commercial insights
• Identifying risks and opportunities within your category and recommending appropriate actions
• Supporting decisions around product mix, seasonal planning and inventory investment

What Type of Person Will Succeed

We're looking for two commercially minded planners who can quickly understand their category, confidently challenge the numbers and turn insights into action.

You'll bring:

• Merchandise Planning Experience: Around 5 years' experience in merchandise planning within a retail environment
• Commercial Acumen: Strong understanding of sales, margin, stock turn, sell-through, markdowns and Open-to-Buy
• Forecasting Capability: Confidence forecasting demand and identifying emerging risks and opportunities
• Technical Proficiency: Advanced Excel skills, with experience using BI and planning tools such as Power BI and TM1 highly regarded
• Data Management: Confidence working with large datasets and translating complex information into meaningful business insights
• Stakeholder Management: Ability to partner effectively with Buyers and broader commercial teams
• Category Experience: Previous experience within furniture, homewares or adjacent retail categories will be highly regarded