Strategic Merchandise Finance Lead

RPG Commerce; Petaling Jaya; On-site; MYR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

RPG Commerce is seeking a Merchandise Financial Planner in Malaysia to bridge finance, merchandising, and operations. You will develop and manage financial frameworks guiding assortment, inventory, and sales decisions, and lead monthly reforecasting with cross-functional partners.

You will monitor metrics like GMROI, stock turn, and markdowns, and translate insights into actionable plans while supporting new product launches and channel expansions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Business, Merchandising, or related field.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in FP&A, merchandise financial planning, or commercial finance within retail.
• Strong command of retail math and metrics: sales, margin, markdown, GMROI, stock turn.
• Experience managing OTB, forecasting cycles, and cross-functional alignment in retail.
• Excellent analytical and communication skills able to present complex data clearly.
• Advanced knowledge of MS Office; proficiency in Excel; planning systems preferred.
• Experience managing a small team is an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Develop seasonal and annual merchandise financial plans covering sales, gross margin, markdowns, and inventory.
• Set financial guardrails and investment guidance for the merchandise planning and buying teams.
• Build and manage Open-to-Buy (OTB) budgets by category, channel, and region.
• Partner with Finance and Commercial teams to align merchandise plans with corporate revenue and profitability goals.
• Lead monthly and quarterly reforecasting of sales, margin, and inventory, based on actual performance and market trends.
• Partner with Demand Planner to validate forecast assumptions and adjust inventory plans accordingly.
• Conduct variance analyses to identify risks, opportunities, and recommend course corrections.
• Support scenario planning for new product launches, promotions, and channel expansions.
• Analyze performance across categories, collections, and channels to understand drivers of growth and profitability.
• Monitor key retail metrics sell-through, turn, WOS, GMROI, markdown %, and aged inventory.
• Translate insights into strategic actions: buy adjustments, price/margin optimization, or promotional guidance.
• Provide weekly/monthly performance dashboards and executive summaries to senior management.
• Track and review seasonal forecasts on a bi-weekly or monthly basis to develop actionable data-driven recommendations.

Skills

FP&A

Merchandise planning

Forecasting

Data analysis

Excel advanced

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Finance

Tools

Planning software

Job description

RPG Commerce is seeking a Merchandise Financial Planner in Malaysia to bridge finance, merchandising, and operations. You will develop and manage financial frameworks guiding assortment, inventory, and sales decisions, and lead monthly reforecasting with cross-functional partners.

You will monitor metrics like GMROI, stock turn, and markdowns, and translate insights into actionable plans while supporting new product launches and channel expansions.