Senior Merchandise Planner

Pets at Home; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Job summary

Pets at Home in Handforth, Cheshire, offers a hybrid leadership role overseeing merchandise planning for Accessories. You will influence cross-functional decisions, lead strategic stock planning, and drive initiatives to maximise sales and profitability.

The role requires senior experience in planning, strong commercial acumen, and the ability to coach a team of planners, while promoting continuous improvement and collaboration.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in senior planning or merchandise manager roles.
• Experience leading cross-functional programmes is essential.
• Strong analytical and numerical skills with data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities

• Lead Merchandise Planning strategy for Accessories and align with financial goals.
• Drive weekly trading activities, reporting, and risk/opportunity communication.
• Own WSSI and OTB management with accurate forecasting.
• Shape range architecture and lifecycle planning with commercial alignment.
• Sponsor or lead strategic initiatives affecting performance and efficiency.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Analytics

Stakeholder management

People management

Job description

Hybrid: We welcome applications from those looking for hybrid working, based 2 -3 days per week in our Handforth (Cheshire) Office

In this senior and strategically critical role, you will help to lead the merchandise planning function while also driving key cross-functional projects that shape our commercial success. You will be responsible for delivering a robust range strategy, ensuring optimal stock levels to maximise sales, profit, and customer satisfaction. As a senior leader, you will influence decision-making across the business, lead complex initiatives, and develop a high-performing team to deliver excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Merchandise Planning Leadership

• Working closely with the Head of Merchandise Planning to drive the merchandise planning strategy for Accessories, ensuring alignment with financial objectives and customer expectations.
• Key lead in the Weekly trading Activities and reporting to help drive the Accessories Trade plan
• Accountable for the Accessories WSSI and OTB management, delivering accurate forecasting and clear communication of risks and opportunities.
• Partner with Head of Category and head of Merchandise planning, to shape range architecture and lifecycle planning, ensuring commercial and financial alignment.
• Lead the sign-off processes with Option frameworks, volume forecast and robust analysis with KPI setting to support senior-level decision-making.
• Drive strategic stock planning and optimisation to deliver availability, sales growth, and margin protection.
• Oversee exit strategies to minimise terminal stock and maximise profitability.

Project Leadership & Delivery

• A key Support for a cross-functional project related to range launches, promotional planning, and critical path adherence.
• Challenge and govern CPA timelines, ensuring effective collaboration across Buying, Supply Chain, Marketing, and Trading teams.
• Champion flawless execution of new ranges and promotional activity, delivering right first time outcomes.
• Act as a key sponsor or lead for strategic initiatives that impact commercial performance and operational efficiency.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, coach and develop a team of Merchandise planners and Supply planners, building capability and fostering a high-performance culture.
• Promote continuous improvement, innovation, and collaboration across the planning function and wider business.

About You

• Proven experience in Senior or Merchandise Manager planning roles, with exposure to project leadership or cross-functional programme delivery.
• Ideally, currently operating at a management level, with Junior or Merchandise planners as your direct reports.
• Strong strategic and commercial acumen, with the ability to balance profitability, customer focus, and operational efficiency.
• Exceptional analytical and numeracy skills, with the ability to translate data into actionable insights and influence senior stakeholders.
• A natural leader, able to inspire, coach, and develop talent while fostering collaboration across Commercial, Supply Chain, and wider teams.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills, with a track record of delivering results through others.

We take our inspiration from pets in embracing people from all walks of life, and we value, respect and celebrate difference. We encourage our people to be their best selves so that we can create a better world for Pets, our Planet, and People. Our ambition is to reflect the diversity of the communities we operate in, and we are intentional in addressing and removing barriers to create opportunities for the exceptional talent and potential in our communities. Even if your skills and experience don’t perfectly align, if you think you can make a unique contribution through your values and behaviours, we want to hear from you.