Associate Director, Inventory & Merchandise Planning

Brilliant Earth; New York (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Brilliant Earth is seeking an Associate Director of Merchandise Planning to lead our Inventory Planning function and team. You’ll own forecasting, open-to-buy, and inventory strategy, and help evolve planning tools with Technology. This builder-role will raise the analytical bar across the function.

You’ll manage a growing team, align with Merchandising and Finance, and push AI-enabled planning workflows while upholding our social and environmental mission.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in merchandise planning, inventory planning, forecasting, or quantitative analysis with leadership experience.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Business, Finance, Economics, or related field; advanced degree or certification a plus.
• Experience with attribute-based or commodity inventory planning (precious metals, gemstones, or other spec-driven categories) is a strong plus.
• Expert Excel skills: complex formulas, pivot tables, financial modeling, and handling large datasets; retail math is second nature.
• Hands-on experience with demand planning software and reporting/BI tools (Blue Yonder, Logility, Demantra, o9, MI9, Domo, Tableau, Power BI); ERP experience a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own sales and inventory forecasts across all categories and functions; ensure accuracy and timely KPIs.
• Set inventory strategy for assortments balancing service levels and productivity.
• Lead scenario modeling and pressure-testing of showroom launch plans.
• Evolve OTB alignment and translate financial plans into buying strategies with Merchandising and Finance.
• Drive planning system adoption and partner with Technology on tool implementation and data integration.
• Lead and develop the planning team and mentor cross-functional partners on forecasting and inventory principles.

Skills

Forecasting

Open-to-Buy

Inventory planning

Excel

BI tools

Domo

Tableau

Power BI

AI tools

Analytics

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Finance/Economics

Advanced degree or relevant certification

Tools

Blue Yonder

Logility

Demantra

o9

MI9

Domo

Tableau

Job description

Brilliant Earth is seeking an Associate Director of Merchandise Planning to lead our Inventory Planning function and team. You’ll own forecasting, open-to-buy, and inventory strategy, and help evolve planning tools with Technology. This builder-role will raise the analytical bar across the function.

You’ll manage a growing team, align with Merchandising and Finance, and push AI-enabled planning workflows while upholding our social and environmental mission.