Associate Merchandise Planner

Jobtailor; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking a planning professional to support OTB management by updating forecasts and building weekly sales and inventory plans. You will analyze trends, recaps, markdowns, and promotions in a fast-paced retail environment.

The role emphasizes strong Excel skills, knowledge of retail math, and collaboration with the buying team to inform seasonal plans and investments.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in Planning, Allocation, Business Analysis, or related retail function.
• Strong understanding of retail math and inventory fundamentals.
• Proficiency in Excel.
• Experience in a planning system (e.g., O9 Solutions) is a plus.
• Strong analytical, communication, and organizational skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Merchandising, or related field preferred.

Responsibilities

• Support OTB management by updating sales, receipt, and markdown forecasts in O9 Planning.
• Maintain weekly sales and inventory plans, including basic attribute plans as needed.
• Assist with weekly, monthly, and quarterly business recaps by pulling data, identifying key callouts, and summarizing trends.
• Prepare style count, distortion, and messaging recaps to inform merchant decisions.
• Maintain assortment tools by updating style counts, seasonal wedges, and system views for buying and production.
• Contribute to seasonal hindsight analyses, including attribute, size, and price analyses, to support future buy planning.
• Build recap documents and support buying during finalization and investment review sessions.
• Update markdown forecasts, assist with SKU-level rollups, and execute approved promotions and markdowns in the system.
• Track monthly and quarterly promotional activity and suggest basic opportunities based on prior-year trends.
• Maintain monthly ladder plans by refreshing SKU rankings, updating results, and reviewing plans with buying.

Skills

Retail Math

Inventory Fundamentals

Analytical Skills

Communication Skills

Organizational Skills

Collaborative Work

Team-Oriented Mindset

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Finance/Merchandising

Tools

O9 Planning

Excel

Job description

• Support OTB management by updating sales, receipt, and markdown forecasts in O9 Planning
• Maintain weekly sales and inventory plans, including basic attribute plans as needed
• Assist with weekly, monthly, and quarterly business recaps by pulling data, identifying key callouts, and summarizing trends
• Prepare style count, distortion, and messaging recaps to inform merchant decisions
• Maintain assortment tools by updating style counts, seasonal wedges, and system views for buying and production
• Contribute to seasonal hindsight analyses, including attribute, size, and price analyses, to support future buy planning
• Build recap documents and support buying during finalization and investment review sessions
• Update markdown forecasts, assist with SKU-level rollups, and execute approved promotions and markdowns in the system
• Track monthly and quarterly promotional activity and suggest basic opportunities based on prior-year trends
• Maintain monthly ladder plans by refreshing SKU rankings, updating results, and reviewing plans with buying

Requirements

• 3+ years of experience in Planning, Allocation, Business Analysis, or related retail function
• Strong understanding of retail math and inventory fundamentals
• Proficiency in Excel
• Experience in a planning system (e.g., O9 Solutions) is a plus
• Strong analytical, communication, and organizational skills
• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Merchandising, or related field preferred

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in retail planning and allocation, with strong analytical skills to support inventory management and sales forecasting. Proficient in utilizing planning systems and Excel to drive data-driven decision-making.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Retail Math
• Inventory Fundamentals
• Excel Proficiency
• O9 Solutions Experience
• Analytical Skills

ATS Optimization Keywords

Hard Skills

• Sales Forecasting
• Inventory Planning
• Business Analysis
• Markdown Management
• SKU-Level Rollups
• Trend Analysis
• Assortment Planning
• Data Summarization
• Promotional Activity Tracking
• Seasonal Hindsight Analysis

Soft Skills

• Communication Skills
• Organizational Skills
• Collaborative Work
• Team-Oriented Mindset

Industry Keywords

• Retail Function
• Merchandising
• Business Recaps
• Fast-Paced Environment

Tools & Technologies

• O9 Planning
• Assortment Tools