Senior Merchandise Planner

Accent Group Limited; City of Melbourne; On-site; AUD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Accent Group Limited invites a Senior Merchandise Planner to lead merchandise planning for our Hype DC footwear multi-brand portfolio in Australia and New Zealand. You will drive sales, margin, stock and intake forecasts, collaborating with Buying, Retail Operations, Marketing and brand partners to translate trade performance into commercial actions.

You’ll also mentor a Merchandise Planner and Allocator while supporting the Planning Manager across the Hype DC brands.

Qualifications

• 5+ years’ merchandise planning experience in a fast-paced retail environment, ideally footwear.
• Strong experience across MSSI/WSSI, Open-to-Buy, forecasting, markdown management and stock governance.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to turn data into clear commercial recommendations.
• Experience leading, mentoring or developing team members.

Responsibilities

• Leading sales, margin, stock and intake forecasting and reforecasting.
• Reviewing weekly trade performance and turning insights into clear actions.
• Guiding allocation and replenishment strategies to maximise availability and sell-through.
• Building tactical trade plans to improve underperforming areas.
• Planning for key trade events across sales, stock, promotions and allocations.
• Managing monthly forecast reviews and identifying risks and opportunities.
• Leading brand and post-season reviews to inform future ranges, purchases and store grading.
• Coaching and developing a Merchandise Planner and Allocator.

Skills

Merchandise planning

Forecasting

Open-to-Buy

Stock governance

Excel skills

Stakeholder management

Team leadership

Tools

FSR

Excel

Job description

We’re looking for a Senior Merchandise Planner to join Hype DC and take the lead on merchandise planning across our multi-brand footwear portfolio in Australia and New Zealand.

You’ll be responsible for driving sales, margin, stock and inventory outcomes, working closely with Buying, Retail Operations, Marketing, Digital and our brand partners to turn trade performance into commercial action.

You’ll also lead and develop a Merchandise Planner and Allocator, while supporting the Planning Manager across the broader Hype DC portfolio.

What you’ll get stuck into:

• Leading sales, margin, stock and intake forecasting and reforecasting
• Reviewing weekly trade performance and turning insights into clear actions
• Guiding allocation and replenishment strategies to maximise availability and sell-through
• Building tactical trade plans to improve underperforming areas
• Planning for key trade events across sales, stock, promotions and allocations
• Managing monthly forecast reviews and identifying risks and opportunities
• Leading brand and post-season reviews to inform future ranges, purchases and store grading
• Supporting annual sales, margin, intake and stock budgets
• Coaching and developing a Merchandise Planner and Allocator

What we’re looking for:

• 5+ years’ merchandise planning experience in a fast-paced retail environment, ideally footwear
• Strong experience across MSSI/WSSI, Open-to-Buy, forecasting, markdown management and stock governance
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to turn data into clear commercial recommendations
• Experience leading, mentoring or developing team members
• Confident stakeholder management and presentation skills
• Intermediate to advanced Excel skills, including Lookups, SUMIFS and Pivot Tables
• Experience with merchandise financial planning systems such as FSR
• Experience across assortment planning, width vs depth analysis and price architecture is advantageous
• Strong communication, organisation and attention to detail
• A genuine interest in using AI to find smarter ways of working