Merchandise Financial Planner

Ariat International; San Leandro (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision, and life ins.

Wellness and mental health benefits

PTO, holidays, and volunteer days

401(k) with company match

Employee discount

Job summary

Ariat International in California seeks a Senior Financial Planning & Analysis professional to lead seasonal and annual merchandise financial plans across channels, genders, and categories. You will partner with Finance to align targets with merchandise plans and translate goals into plans balancing revenue, margin, and inventory investment.

In-season OTB and reforecasting, cross-functional collaboration with Planning, Merchandising, Demand & Supply, and Finance, plus ongoing process

Qualifications

• Bachelor's in Business, Finance, or Merchandising; MBA a plus.
• 5-8 years in Merch Financial Planning or FP&A within omni-channel retail or wholesale.
• Strong understanding of MFP metrics: sales, margin, receipts, inventory, turn, GMROI.

Responsibilities

• Develop, manage, and present seasonal and annual merchandise financial plans across channels, genders, and categories.
• Partner with Finance to align top-down financial targets with bottom-up merchandise and item plans.
• Translate company goals into actionable plans that balance revenue, margin, and inventory investment.
• Lead monthly OTB reviews, reforecasts, and hindsight analyses to inform forward-looking strategies.
• Partner with Merchandising and Channel teams to optimize in-season inventory flow, margin, and markdowns.
• Provide data-driven insights and recommendations to improve inventory turns, sell-through, and profitability.
• Collaborate closely with Planning, Merchandising, Demand & Supply, and Finance to ensure channel and product alignment.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Operations to maintain balance between demand and inventory investment.
• Drive consistency in financial planning frameworks and reporting tools across business units.
• Support evolution of financial planning capabilities in partnership with IT and Planning Systems teams.
• Implement standardized reporting, KPI dashboards, and forecast accuracy measures across channels.
• Ensure alignment with enterprise S&OP and line planning processes.
• Assisting with other responsibilities based on business needs.

Skills

Advanced Excel

MFP systems (Toolio/Anaplan/o9)

Tableau/Power BI

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor's in Business, Finance, or Merchandising

MBA

Job description

You’ll Make a Difference By

Seasonal & Annual Financial Planning

• Develop, manage, and present seasonal and annual merchandise financial plans across channels, genders, and categories.
• Partner with Finance to align top-down financial targets with bottom-up merchandise and item plans.
• Translate company goals into actionable plans that balance revenue, margin, and inventory investment.

In-Season OTB & Reforecasting

• Lead monthly OTB reviews, reforecasts, and hindsight analyses to inform forward-looking strategies.
• Partner with Merchandising and Channel teams to optimize in-season inventory flow, margin, and markdowns.
• Provide data-driven insights and recommendations to improve inventory turns, sell-through, and profitability.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Collaborate closely with Planning, Merchandising, Demand & Supply, and Finance to ensure channel and product alignment.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Operations to maintain balance between demand and inventory investment.
• Drive consistency in financial planning frameworks and reporting tools across business units.

Process & Systems

• Support evolution of financial planning capabilities in partnership with IT and Planning Systems teams.
• Implement standardized reporting, KPI dashboards, and forecast accuracy measures across channels.
• Ensure alignment with enterprise S&OP and line planning processes.
• Assisting with other responsibilities based on business needs.

About You

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's in Business, Finance, or Merchandising; MBA a plus.
• 5-8 years in Merch Financial Planning or FP&A within an omni-channel retail or wholesale environment.
• Strong understanding of MFP metrics: sales, margin, receipts, inventory, turn, and GMROI.

Technical Skills

• Advanced Excel and reporting skills; experience with MFP systems (Toolio, Anaplan, o9, or similar) preferred.
• Strong ability to analyze large datasets and translate findings into actionable financial insights.
• Experience with Tableau or Power BI for financial reporting and visualization.
• Sales Plan Accuracy - % variance to seasonal and monthly sales targets by channel
• Margin Rate Achievement - % to plan for maintained and initial margin
• Inventory Productivity - Inventory turn, WOS, and GMROI vs. goal
• OTB Accuracy - Monthly OTB forecast accuracy and receipt management
• Channel Balance - Alignment of inventory and revenue mix across Wholesale, E-Com, Retail, and International

Core Competencies

• Financial Precision - Your plans are accurate because you challenge every assumption.
• Commercial Awareness - You understand what drives the business and build plans accordingly.
• Disciplined Process - Your OTB cycles run cleanly, on time, and with full stakeholder alignment.
• Collaborative Drive - You make Merchandising better by being their financial thought partner.

About Ariat

Ariat is an innovative, outdoor global brand with roots in equestrian performance. We develop high-quality footwear and apparel for people who ride, work, and play outdoors, and care about performance, quality, comfort, and style.

The salary range for this position is $90,000 - $110,000 per year.

The salary is determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data for geographic locations. Ariat in good faith believes that this posted compensation range is accurate for this role at this location at the time of this posting. This range may be modified in the future.

Ariat’s holistic benefits package for full-time team members includes (but is not limited to):

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance options
• Expanded wellness and mental health benefits
• Paid time off (PTO), paid holidays, and paid volunteer days
• 401(k) with company match
• Team member discount on Ariat merchandise

Note: Availability of benefits may be subject to location & employment type and may have certain eligibility requirements. Ariat reserves the right to alter these benefits in whole or in part at any time without advance notice.

Ariat will consider qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with state and local laws. Ariat is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetics or any other basis protected under federal, state, or local law. Ariat is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to candidates with disabilities. If you need an accommodation during the application process, email [e-mail].

Please see our Employment Candidate Privacy Policy at www.ariat.com/careers to learn more about how we collect, use, retain and disclose Personal Information.