Manager, Planning & Allocations

Left On Friday, Inc.; Vancouver; Hybrid; CAD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Left On Friday, Inc. is seeking a Manager, Planning & Allocations to lead merchandise planning, inventory management, and Open-to-Buy across ecommerce, retail and wholesale. Reporting to the VP, Merchandising, you will build scalable processes and coach a small team.

This hybrid role blends strategic thinking with rigorous analysis, guiding forecast accuracy, inventory investment, and allocation philosophy to drive profitable growth.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in a similar planning/allocations role within fashion/apparel.
• Strong analytical and forecasting capabilities.
• Ability to develop and own OTB and inventory strategies.
• Experience partnering with Merchandising, Retail, Finance and Marketing.
• Proven track record of cross-functional collaboration and communication.
• Comfort with implementing planning processes and new systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead topline sales planning across channels and countries.
• Own annual, seasonal, monthly and weekly forecasts.
• Develop inventory investment strategies aligned to revenue and margins.
• Oversee Open-to-Buy planning and inventory flow.
• Partner to establish seasonal assortment financial plans.
• Present forecasts and risks to leadership and implement improvements.
• Coach and develop the planning team.
• Lead lifecycle inventory and transfer strategies.

Skills

Analytical skills

Strategic thinking

Sales planning

Inventory management

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication skills

Process improvement

Data analysis

Job description

Reporting to the VP, Merchandising, the Manager, Planning & Allocations is responsible for leading the merchandise planning and inventory management function across ecommerce, retail and wholesale. This role owns the financial planning framework, demand forecasting, inventory investment strategy and allocation philosophy that enables Left On Friday to achieve profitable growth while maximizing inventory productivity.

As the leader of the Planning & Allocation team, this role develops planning processes, coaches the team, drives cross-functional alignment and partners closely with Merchandising, Retail, Operations, Finance and Marketing.

This role balances strategic thinking with strong analytical execution and is responsible for building a scalable planning function that supports the next stage of growth. In this role, you will get to work with a small, brilliant team on one of the most desirable, fast growing DTC brands out there today!

Core Responsibilities:

• Lead topline sales planning across all channels and countries.
• Own annual, seasonal, monthly and weekly sales forecasts.
• Develop inventory investment strategies that support revenue, margin and inventory turn objectives.
• Partner with Merchandising to establish seasonal assortment financial plans.
• Own Open-to-Buy (OTB) planning and inventory flow.
• Develop scenario plans to support changing business conditions.
• Agile and able to embrace new systems as the business evolves
• Monitor performance against plan and recommend actions.
• Oversee category financial plans.
• Guide assortment architecture from an inventory perspective.
• Partner on buy quantities and receipt planning.
• Review productivity by category, collection and channel.
• Ensure inventory supports financial targets.
• Develop allocation philosophies across Ecom, Retail and Wholesale.
• Define launch allocation strategies.
• Lead lifecycle inventory strategies.
• Develop transfer and rebalancing strategies.
• Drive inventory productivity improvements.
• Lead, coach and develop the Planner and Allocator.
• Establish planning calendars and business cadence.
• Review work for accuracy and strategic alignment.
• Build a culture of curiosity, accountability and continuous improvement.

Business Analysis

• Own weekly business reviews.
• Present forecasts, risks and opportunities to leadership.
• Provide recommendations around inventory investments.
• Lead post-season hindsight analysis.
• Identify opportunities to improve margin and inventory productivity.

Process & Systems

• Partner on implementation of future planning technology.
• Improve reporting automation.
• Maintain planning tools and templates.

Key traits/experience we’re looking for:

• 5+ years experience in a similar role within a fashion apparel environment
• Analytical Skills: Ability to analyze data and derive actionable insights.
• Strategic Thinking: Experience in developing effective planning and allocation strategies.
• Sales Planning: Background in driving sales planning processes and revenue forecasting.
• Inventory Management: Expertise in developing inventory plans and managing stock allocation.
• Collaboration: Proven ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Communication Skills: Strong verbal and written skills for conveying insights clearly.
• Process Improvement: Track record of identifying and implementing planning process improvements.
• Data Analysis: Proficiency in analyzing historical sales data for demand forecasting.

Hybrid - Work from home and in person

Typical hiring range for this position: $110,000 to $140,000 CAD