Product Owner (Merchandise Planning)

Hunkemöller Deutschland GmbH; Hilversum; Hybrid; EUR 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days leave

Hybrid work model

Work abroad allowed

International team

Travel allowance

Hunkemöller Academy

Employee discount

Job summary

Hunkemöller Deutschland GmbH is seeking a Product Owner for Merchandise Planning to own the Centric Planning roadmap across international retail operations. You will translate business needs into epics and user stories, prioritize the backlog, and drive value through improved forecasting, replenishment, and stock availability.

You will collaborate with Merchandising, Buying, Supply Chain, Retail Ops, and Tech teams to ensure measurable improvements and adoption of the planning platform across

Qualifications

• 5+ years in Product Owner/Product Manager roles in retail planning.
• Experience with Centric Planning or similar platforms.
• Proven backlog management in Agile environments.
• Strong analytical mindset translating data into decisions.

Responsibilities

• Own and optimize Merchandise Planning, Assortment Planning, and Allocation & Replenishment.
• Drive standardization across countries, channels and departments.
• Partner with planning teams to improve forecasting accuracy and decisions.
• Define acceptance criteria and support delivery with development teams.

Skills

Product ownership

Merchandise planning

Agile / Scrum

Stakeholder management

Data-driven decisions

Retail domain

Analytical mindset

SAP S4HANA

Tools

Centric Planning

System integrations

Job description

In this role, you'll be at the heart of the business, connecting Buying, Merchandising, Supply Chain, Retail Operations, and Technology. You'll own the roadmap of our Merchandise Planning platform (Centric Planning), ensuring it delivers tangible business value and supports critical planning and inventory management processes across our international retail business.

If you're passionate about retail planning, product ownership, and turning complex business challenges into scalable solutions, we'd love to hear from you.

What You'll Do

Own and Optimize Merchandise Planning Processes

• Act as the business owner for Merchandise Planning, Assortment Planning, Assortment Strategy, and Allocation & Replenishment capabilities.
• Drive standardization and continuous improvement across countries, channels, and departments.
• Ensure processes support business objectives and future growth.

Drive Planning & Forecasting Excellence

• Partner with planning teams to improve forecasting accuracy and inventory decisions.
• Support strategic and operational merchandise planning activities.
• Optimize stock allocation, replenishment, inventory productivity, and product availability.
• Define and monitor KPIs around sales, margin, stock levels, service levels, and inventory performance.

Own and Prioritize the Product Backlog

• Manage and prioritize the roadmap and backlog based on business value, customer impact, operational needs, and technical dependencies.
• Translate business requirements into epics, features, and user stories.
• Define acceptance criteria and support development teams throughout delivery.
• Collaborate closely with internal stakeholders, development teams, and external suppliers.

Deliver Business Value

• Measure product success through KPIs, analytics, and user feedback.
• Drive continuous improvement through experimentation, insights, and data-driven decision-making.
• Ensure solutions create measurable value and increase adoption across the business.

Lead Agile Product Delivery

• Participate in Sprint Planning, Reviews, Demos, and Retrospectives.
• Clarify requirements and make decisions during development.
• Validate completed work against business expectations and acceptance criteria.

Ensure Operational Excellence

• Safeguard the stability, availability, and performance of planning applications.
• Support incident management, root cause analysis, and continuous service improvements.
• Work closely with internal teams and external vendors to maintain platform health.

Build Strong Stakeholder Relationships

• Act as the primary point of contact for both business stakeholders and Centric Software.
• Create strong partnerships across Merchandising, Buying, Supply Chain, Retail Operations, and Technology teams.
• Align priorities and drive successful project delivery across the organization.

What You'll Bring

• 5+ years of experience as a Product Owner, Product Manager, Merchandise Planner, Planning Manager, or a similar role.
• Strong understanding of retail merchandise planning, assortment planning, allocation, replenishment, and buying processes.
• Experience working with Merchandise Financial Planning (MFP) solutions such as Centric Planning or similar platforms.
• Proven experience managing product backlogs and working in Agile environments.
• Strong analytical mindset with the ability to translate data into actionable business decisions.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Experience within retail, fashion, omnichannel, or consumer-focused environments.
• Experience with SAP S/4HANA is a plus.
• Experience with integration between multiple applications is a plus.

Success in This Role

You’ll be successful when you deliver measurable improvements in:

• Inventory productivity
• Stock availability and service levels
• Forecasting accuracy
• Reduction of markdowns
• User adoption and engagement
• Reduction of manual planning activities
• Overall business value delivered through the planning platform

What we offer

• 25 days of annual leave, with the option to buy or sell up to 4 additional days
• Hybrid work model, combining office and remote working
• Possibility towork from abroad for up to 2 weeks per year
• Aninternational work environment, working with teams across different countries
• Travel allowanceto support commuting costs
• Access to theHunkemöller Academyfor professional development
• 25% employee discounton all Hunkemöller products