Lead Demand Planner & Buyer – Apparel & Ecommerce

Thrivin; Liverpool; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Thrivin is a fast-growing, global activewear brand operating in a high-volume ecommerce environment. This role owns demand planning, purchasing and inventory across the business, ensuring product availability at the right time.

You'll work with product, operations and commercial teams, providing insights to support trading decisions and future growth. The role requires hands-on ownership of OTB, PO progression and stock management.

Qualifications

• 5+ years' experience within apparel planning, merchandising or buying.
• Experience owning an open-to-buy and making commercial buying decisions.
• Hands-on experience creating and placing purchase orders.
• Strong understanding of planning fundamentals: weeks of cover, sell-through, size curves, in-stock rate, gross margin.
• Experience with proforma invoices, MOQs, lead times and supplier follow-ups.

Responsibilities

• Own the open-to-buy (OTB) by category, including sales forecasts, receipt plans and monthly plan vs. actual performance.
• Run the bi-weekly replenishment cycle end-to-end, from analysing demand to PO submission.
• Determine newness buy quantities at style, colour and size level.
• Own the full purchase order lifecycle, including PO creation, submission, amendments and invoicing.
• Own inventory management across categories, maintaining healthy stock levels and strong size availability.
• Monitor inventory performance and identify stock risks, shortages and excess inventory.
• Own markdown and overstock actions to optimise sell-through and health.
• Analyse weeks of cover, sell-through, size curves, gross margin and in-stock performance.
• Deliver planning read and key insights during weekly and monthly trade reviews.
• Work with suppliers on proforma invoices, MOQs, lead times and delivery timelines.

Skills

Demand planning

Open-to-buy

Excel

PO creation

Supplier management

Data analysis

High-growth ecommerce

Stakeholder comms

Tools

Claude Code

Claude Cowork

Job description

Thrivin is a fast-growing, global activewear brand operating in a high-volume ecommerce environment. This role owns demand planning, purchasing and inventory across the business, ensuring product availability at the right time.

You'll work with product, operations and commercial teams, providing insights to support trading decisions and future growth. The role requires hands-on ownership of OTB, PO progression and stock management.