Senior Manager Footwear / Sport Planning

ZALORA Group; Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retail company is seeking a Senior Manager, Planning to lead the end-to-end planning of the sports and shoes categories. The role involves ownership of the P&L, team leadership, and driving operational strategies. Candidates should have over 10 years of experience in retail fashion, especially e-commerce, with strong analytical and leadership skills. This position is crucial to optimizing sales budgets and stock management in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• At least 10 years previous experience in Retail Fashion, preferably Fashion Ecommerce.
• Understanding of planning and Trading in a pure play e-Commerce environment.
• Strong numeracy and analytical abilities.

Responsibilities

• Own the P&L of the Sports & Footwear category accounting for the majority of our annual budget.
• Lead, mentor, and develop the sports and shoes Planning team.
• Maximize company sales budgets and operating profit.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Strategic thinking

Analytical skills

Relationship management

Leadership

Education

BA or BSc from a reputable institution

Master's degree

Job description

Senior Manager, Planning is responsible for leading and orchestrating the end-to-end planning of the sports and shoes categories for ZALORA’s retail and marketplace businesses across all brands. Reporting to the Commercial Director, this role will own the forecasting, inventory, inbounds, sell-through, revenue, and gross margin, ensuring alignment with business objectives and operational excellence.

We are looking for an experienced leader who is commercial, strategic, with a great eye and passion for sports and shoes brands, willing to problem solve and constantly build and grow the business.

Responsibilities:

• Own the P&L of the Sports & Footwear category accounting for majority of our annual budget across our regional footprint: be responsible for the overall performance of the category from topline sales and revenue to post marketing and markdowns cost profitability, as well as optimizing cash flow and inventory turn.
• Lead, mentor and develop the sports and shoes Planning team, fostering a high-performance culture with a continuous improvement mindset.
• Lead the team through bottom up brand plans building the category with strategic thinking, strong rational and analysis of historical performance to prepare and execute the buying budgets.
• Maximize company sales budgets, margin targets and operating profit through the effective direction and management of all aspects of category buying.
• Champion best practices and uniformity across planning processes.

Commercial & Financial Ownership

• Own the centralised WSSI for sports and shoes & obsessively monitor our KPIs & drive consistent corrective or opportunistic action.
• Manage OTB, intake and stock strategies for retail; develop partner stock frameworks for marketplace.
• Validate OTB with Buying teams, ensuring the right breadth and depth of assortment through an aligned options plan.
• Deliver markdown, clearance and replenishment strategies to protect margin and optimise stock health.

Marketplace Planning

• Manage the marketplace forecasting, by delivering partner stock & trading targets.
• Influence partner trading behaviours to align with platform goals for availability, competitiveness and sell-through.

Operational Excellence

• Partner cross-functionally (Buying, Merchandising, Supply Chain, Marketplace, Finance) to ensure plan execution.
• Drive continuous process improvement for efficiency, responsiveness and stock management discipline.

Requirements:

• BA or BSc from a reputable institution. A Master would be a plus.
• At least 10 years previous experience in Retails Fashion, preferably Fashion Ecommerce.
• Understanding of planning and Trading in a pure play e-Commerce environment.
• Strong numeracy and analytical abilities.
• Exceptional relationship management and negotiation skills.
• Hands-on, extremely pragmatic and entrepreneurial.
• Broad, exploratory and structured thinker.
• Strong Management and leadership skills.
• Strong sense of ownership and accountability.
• High personal standards for the quality of execution.
• Thrives in an uncompromisingly fast paced, pragmatic, ever-changing and hard-working culture.