Merch Assortment Sr Planner

Lowe's Companies, Inc.; Mooresville (NC); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Lowe’s Companies, Inc., based at our Mooresville headquarters in North Carolina, seeks a Senior Assortment Planner to lead operational strategy and serve as a category/assortment expert. You will partner with Merchandising VPs and division leaders to align initiatives and optimize merchandising productivity.

The role focuses on localization, stocking matrix development, SKU rationalization, and cross-functional collaboration to drive profitability and growth across diverse markets.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Statistics, Finance or related field.
• 5 Years Experience in merchandising, assortment planning, finance or related work experience
• 5 Years Experience in a retail environment, executing cross-functional project plans and collaborating across teams

Responsibilities

• Lead all line review processes for the assigned Merchandise Division to align with business objectives and optimize product offerings across the organization.
• Prepare key milestones to facilitate the smooth execution of merchandise strategies and align timelines with enterprise goals.
• Develop complex localization and assortment optimization strategies, including clustering, to enhance product relevance across diverse markets, driving overall sales and customer engagement.
• Create the Stocking Matrix to support financial targets and improve inventory efficiency across the entire business, driving profitability.
• Identify white space opportunities to unlock untapped market potential, contributing to enterprise growth and competitive advantage.
• Lead cross-functional partnerships to foster collaboration across departments, ensuring the alignment of strategies and achieving company-wide objectives.
• Coordinate strategic calendarization to ensure timely product launches and synchronize merchandising efforts with broader business initiatives.
• Identify SKU rationalization opportunities across the Business Area to streamline product offerings, reduce inefficiencies, and maximize profitability across the organization.
• Recommend assortment optimization and localization opportunities to enhance product offerings and drive customer engagement across diverse markets, aligning with overall business growth strategies.
• Create the customer decision tree to improve understanding of customer behavior and optimize strategies that support company-wide sales and marketing objectives.
• Identify customer landscape and assortment gaps to uncover opportunities for expansion and ensure that product offerings align with broader market trends and business goals.
• Surface pro customer growth opportunities to support targeted strategies that drive revenue growth and strengthen the enterprise’s position within key customer segments.
• Drive category strategic initiatives utilizing assortment optimization tools.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across the assortment planning process and portfolio by providing insights to leadership to increase efficiency.

Skills

Merchandising

Assortment planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

Localization strategies

Data-driven decision making

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Statistics, Finance or related field

Tools

SAS

JDA

Oracle

Job description

Do your Best Work in Mooresville

This position is based at our headquarters in Mooresville, North Carolina. Our corporate office is a space where you can collaborate and do your best work. Take a walk, grab a bite (or a cup of coffee), work out or get a check-up – we invest in you so you can find your inspiration.

Your Impact

The Senior Assortment Planner role leads the operational strategy and serves as a subject matter expert in category and assortment management, has an advanced consulting to the business, addressing challenges, executing process and multiple projects, and initiating process improvements that drive merchandising productivity and efficiency within their functional area. This role builds relationships with Merchant partners, including Merchandising Vice President, Division Merchandise Manager, Merchant, & Associate Merchant; providing support to these partners for assortment planning inquiries to ensure alignment of merchandising initiatives and goals.

What You Will Do

• Lead all line review processes for the assigned Merchandise Division to ensure alignment with overall business objectives and optimize product offerings across the organization.


• Prepare key milestones to facilitate the smooth execution of merchandise strategies and align timelines with enterprise goals.


• Develop complex localization and assortment optimization strategies, including clustering, to enhance product relevance across diverse markets, driving overall sales and customer engagement.


• Create the Stocking Matrix to support financial targets and improve inventory efficiency across the entire business, driving profitability.


• Identify white space opportunities to unlock untapped market potential, contributing to enterprise growth and competitive advantage.


• Lead cross-functional partnerships to foster collaboration across departments, ensuring the alignment of strategies and achieving company-wide objectives.


• Coordinate strategic calendarization to ensure timely product launches and synchronize merchandising efforts with broader business initiatives.


• Identify SKU rationalization opportunities across the Business Area to streamline product offerings, reduce inefficiencies, and maximize profitability across the organization.


• Recommend assortment optimization and localization opportunities to enhance product offerings and drive customer engagement across diverse markets, aligning with overall business growth strategies.


• Create the customer decision tree to improve understanding of customer behavior and optimize strategies that support company-wide sales and marketing objectives.


• Identify customer landscape and assortment gaps to uncover opportunities for expansion and ensure that product offerings align with broader market trends and business goals.


• Surface pro customer growth opportunities to support targeted strategies that drive revenue growth and strengthen the enterprise’s position within key customer segments.


• Drive category strategic initiatives utilizing assortment optimization tools.


• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across the assortment planning process and portfolio by providing insights to leadership to increase efficiency.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree Business, Marketing, Statistics, Finance or related field or equivalent years of experience in lieu of education requirement, if applicable


• 5 Years Experience in merchandising, assortment planning, finance or related work experience


• 5 Years Experience in a retail environment, executing cross-functional project plans, collaborating across teams to deliver results and achieve business goals


• 5 Years Experience working in a large retail organization, preferably in Merchandising, store planning or store operations, demonstrating strong business acumen and understanding of how assortment planning impacts various functions across the organization


• 3 Years Assortment and merchandising planning, including category and product management, with a focus on retail processes.


• 3 Years Retail assortment store clustering, applying data-driven strategies to optimize product offerings for specific costumer segments and regions


• Proficient with assortment planning software (e.g. SAS, JDA, Oracle), leveraging tools to optimize product assortments and support data-driven decision-making

About Lowe’s

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is a FORTUNE® 100 home improvement company with total fiscal year 2025 sales of more than $86 billion. Lowe’s employs approximately 300,000 associates and operates over 1,750 home improvement stores, 540 branches and 120 distribution centers. Lowe’s is a core value S&P 500 equity stock and a dividend aristocrat. Based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe’s supports the communities it serves through programs focused on creating safe, affordable housing, improving community spaces, helping to develop the next generation of skilled trade experts and providing disaster relief to communities in need. For more information, visit Lowes.com.

Lowe’s is an equal opportunity employer and administers all personnel practices without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, gender, age, ancestry, national origin, mental or physical disability or medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other category protected under federal, state, or local law.

Starting rate of pay may vary based on factors including, but not limited to, position offered, location, education, training, and/or experience. For information regarding our benefit programs and eligibility, please visit https://talent.lowes.com/us/en/benefits.