Business Analyst

Pivot Apparel; Mumbai; On-site; INR 800,000 - 1,100,000; Full time

Job summary

Pivot Apparel seeks a detail-oriented Business Analyst to support Global Planning and Strategy across Wholesale, Retail Stores, and E-Commerce. You will transform large data sets into actionable recommendations that improve sales, inventory productivity, and margins across all categories.

The role requires hands-on experience in a specialty apparel brand, fluency in retail math, and knowledge of open-to-buy principles.

Qualifications

• 2-3+ years in a Business Analyst, Merchandise Planning, Buying, or Allocation role within a specialty contemporary apparel brand.
• Strong command of retail math and inventory concepts (GMROI, turnover, sell-through).
• Experience with Open-to-Buy interpretation and management.
• Ability to pull, clean, reconcile, and synthesize large multi-source data into actionable recommendations.
• Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, complex formulas) and familiarity with BI/planning tools.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Merchandise Planning to build, maintain, and analyze sales, margin, and inventory plans at department, class, and SKU levels.
• Support Demand Forecasting by validating forecast accuracy and surfacing risks or opportunities.
• Collaborate with Buying to analyze OTB positions, productivity, and vendor performance; advise on receipts and markdown risk.
• Work with Allocation & Replenishment to evaluate weeks of supply, sell-through, and in-stock performance by door/DC.
• Support Store Planning with door-level financials, clustering analysis, and space productivity insights.
• Build and maintain reporting tools and dashboards that synthesize multi-source data for cross-functional use.
• Conduct ad hoc analyses (80/20, price elasticity, reconciliation) to inform buys and pricing decisions.
• Translate findings into clear recommendations for non-analytical stakeholders.
• Act as a bridge across functions to ensure aligned data, timelines, and decisions.
• Support seasonal calendar milestones with timely analysis.

Skills

Open-to-Buy interpretation

Retail math

Advanced Excel

BI tools

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Finance/Economics or related field

Tools

Power BI

Tableau

OTB/ Allocation planning system

Pivot/SUMIFS/INDEX-MATCH Excel

Job description

Pivot Apparel is seeking a detail-oriented and analytically driven Business Analyst to support our Global Planning and Strategy organization across all channels - Wholesale, Retail Stores, and E-Commerce. This role partners closely across the planning and merchandising ecosystem to turn large, complex data sets into clear, actionable recommendations that drive sales, inventory productivity, and margin across all categories - apparel and non-apparel. The ideal candidate has hands-on experience within a specialty contemporary apparel brand and is fluent in retail math, open-to-buy principles, and the cross-functional rhythm of a merchandising organization.

What You'll Do

• Partner with Merchandise Planning to build, maintain, and analyze seasonal sales, margin, and inventory plans at the department, class, and SKU level across all categories.
• Support Demand Forecasting by validating forecast accuracy, identifying trend shifts, and surfacing risks or opportunities in the sales forecast versus plan and versus prior year.
• Collaborate with Buying teams to analyze open-to-buy (OTB) positions, style/color productivity, and vendor performance, providing recommendations on receipt flow, chase opportunities, and markdown risk.
• Work with Allocation & Replenishment to evaluate weeks of supply (WOS), sell-through, and in-stock performance by door/DC and channel, recommending allocation strategy adjustments.
• Support Store Planning with door-level financial plans, cluster/segmentation analysis, and space or fixture productivity insights.
• Build and maintain reporting tools and dashboards (Excel-based and/or BI platforms) that synthesize large, multi-source data sets into digestible, decision-ready outputs for cross-functional partners.
• Conduct ad hoc analyses — such as 80/20 (Pareto) reviews, price elasticity, wholesale specialty account reconciliation, and style/color performance — to inform buy, allocation, and pricing decisions.
• Reconcile and validate data across multiple source systems (buy files, POS, financial plans, vendor files) to ensure a single source of truth for cross-functional decision-making.
• Translate analytical findings into clear recommendations and action plans that non-analytical stakeholders can act on quickly.
• Act as a connective thread across Merchandise Planning, Buying, Merchandising, Design, Marketing, Finance, Production, and Logistics — ensuring data, timelines, and decisions stay aligned across functions.
• Support seasonal calendar milestones (line sheet reviews, buy meetings, financial reconciliations, market prep) with timely, accurate analysis.

What You Bring

• 2-3+ years of experience in a Business Analyst, Merchandise Planning, Buying, or Allocation role within a specialty contemporary apparel brand, with exposure to multiple categories.
• Strong command of retail math and understanding of nomenclature including inventory turn, seasonality, GMROI, cumulative sell-through, sell-through %, markdown %, and receipt flow planning.
• Learned in Open-to-Buy interpretation and management.
• Demonstrated ability to work confidently with large, complex data sets — pulling, cleaning, reconciling, and synthesizing data from multiple sources into clear recommendations and action plans, not just reports.
• Advanced Excel skills required (pivot tables, complex formulas, SUMIFS/INDEX-MATCH, data modeling); experience with BI or planning tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, or an OTB/allocation planning system) is a plus.
• Working knowledge of how Merchandise Planning, Buying, Merchandising, Design, Marketing, Finance, Production, and Logistics collaborate across the seasonal calendar, and how decisions in one function ripple into the others.
• Strong business acumen paired with sharp attention to detail — comfortable moving between big-picture strategic recommendations and granular data validation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to present analysis and recommendations clearly to both analytical and non-analytical stakeholders.
• Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and deadlines in a fast-paced, seasonal retail environment.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, Finance, Economics, Merchandising, Supply Chain, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting non-apparel or hardlines categories in addition to apparel.
• Familiarity with store planning concepts such as door clustering, space productivity, and fixture/adjacency planning.
• Exposure to demand forecasting or elasticity modeling, and an understanding of the operational factors (allocation, replenishment, buy depth) that can mask or influence price signals.

Why Join Pivot Apparel

• You’ll work at the intersection of data and product, helping shape how Pivot Apparel plans, buys, and delivers merchandise across all categories and channels. This role offers high visibility with senior Planning and Allocation leadership and the opportunity to directly influence buy strategy, inventory health, and store-level performance