Retail Merchandising and Planning – Strategy Manager

Accenture; Detroit (MI); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Accenture seeks a Manager in Retail Merchandising and Planning to lead key workstreams within large transformation engagements for retail clients. You will shape recommendations, drive execution, and deliver measurable results with client stakeholders and Accenture leadership.

You will leverage expertise in merchandising strategy, planning processes, and AI-enabled decision making to design operating models and roadmaps that improve demand forecasting, assortment planning, and inventory

Qualifications

• 5 years of relevant professional experience in merchandising and planning domains
• Minimum of 2 years of experience in professional services or consulting
• Bachelor's degree required

Responsibilities

• Lead a workstream or project within a broader transformation program
• Coordinate delivery within your workstream with process, data/technology, and change teams
• Maintain day-to-day client relationships and ensure timely delivery of workstream outputs
• Support assessments of current-state merchandising, planning, and inventory capabilities
• Contribute to future-state operating model design across category management, MFP, assortment, allocation, replenishment, demand and supply planning
• Develop capability roadmaps, transformation plans, and value cases that quantify impact
• Apply sub-industry nuance to tailor recommendations for apparel, hardlines, or grocery
• Lead AI-enabled planning initiatives and evaluation of planning platforms for clients
• Coach and develop junior team members and engage with client stakeholders

Skills

Category Management

Merchandise Financial Planning

Assortment Planning

Allocation

Replenishment

Demand Planning

Supply Planning

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Accenture helps the world’s leading enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and unleashing the power of AI to create value at speed for organizations across industries. Our strategy is to be the reinvention partner of choice for our clients and lead in the safe, widespread adoption of AI, and to be the most client‑focused, AI‑enabled, great place to work in the world. We bring together the talent of our approximately 799,000 people with proprietary assets and platforms, deep process and industry expertise, and leading ecosystem relationships to deliver end‑to‑end solutions and measurable outcomes at scale. Through our Reinvention Services, we offer broad expertise across Cybersecurity, Digital Core, Finance, Industry and Enterprise, Song, Supply Chain and Engineering, and Talent, with advanced capabilities in AI and Data, Industry and Process, and Technology. We serve approximately 9,000 clients and generated approximately $70 billion in FY25 revenue. Visit us at www.accenture.com .

Retail Merchandising and Planning - Strategy Manager

We Are

Accenture's Retail Merchandising and Planning practice helps the world's leading retailers reinvent how they buy, plan, allocate, and manage product across the value chain. We work at the intersection of merchandising strategy, planning process design, and AI-enabled decision making, helping clients across apparel, hardlines, grocery, and specialty retail modernize their operating models and improve performance in demand forecasting, assortment planning, and inventory productivity.

You Are

A retail merchandising and planning professional who combines solid functional expertise with strong project leadership. You've spent your career close to the buy, whether in category management, merchandise financial planning, assortment, allocation, replenishment, or demand/supply planning, and you understand how these functions connect end‑to‑end. You translate that expertise into operating model recommendations, process improvements, and capability roadmaps clients can execute against. You are accountable to realizing value, and you have experience rolling up your sleeves to ensure high adoption of new processes and systems. You're equally comfortable leading a workstream, developing junior team members, and engaging with client stakeholders day to day.

The Work

As a Manager, you will lead key workstreams and projects within larger transformation engagements for retail clients, working closely with client stakeholders and Accenture leadership to shape recommendations, drive execution, and activate results.

Engagement Leadership

• Lead a workstream or project within a broader transformation program

• Coordinate delivery within your workstream, partnering with adjacent process, data/technology, and change management teams as needed

• Maintain day-to-day client relationships within your scope and escape issues to engagement leadership as needed

• Ensure workstream quality and timeliness

  Merchandising & Planning Transformation

• Support assessments of current-state merchandising, planning, and inventory management capabilities against industry‑leading practices

• Contribute to future-state operating model design spanning category management, merchandise financial planning, assortment planning, allocation, replenishment, demand planning, and supply planning

• Develop components of capability strategies, transformation roadmaps, and value cases that quantify the impact of change

• Apply sub‑industry nuance across apparel, hardlines, and/or grocery to tailor recommendations to client‑specific dynamics

  AI & Technology Enablement

• Bring current knowledge of AI, analytics, and emerging planning technologies to identify where they can solve merchandising and planning business problems

• Support clients in evaluating planning platforms and AI-enabled decision‑making tools as part of broader transformation

• Contribute to the design and delivery of GenAI- and agentic-enabled planning capabilities where applicable to client roadmaps

  Business Development & Practice Growth

• Contribute to proposal development, solutioning, and the broader business development cycle for consulting engagements

• Support the growth of the Retail Merchandising and Planning practice through asset development and community engagement

• Coach, mentor, and develop junior team members

  Basic Qualifications:

• 5 years of relevant professional experience with demonstrated expertise in one or more of the following domains: Category Management, Merchandise Financial Planning (MFP), Assortment Planning, Allocation, Replenishment, Demand Planning, or Supply Planning

• Minimum of 2 years of experience in professional services at a consulting firm (or equivalent internal consulting experience)

• Bachelor's degree

  Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to lead large, transformational programs with multiple workstreams and stakeholders

• Strong client management skills, including with senior stakeholders

• Ability to coach, mentor, and develop junior team members

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills