Senior Manager - Merchandise Planning

J.Crew; New York (NY); On-site; USD 121,000 - 155,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health & Well-being

Associate Discount

Summer Fridays

Community Impact

Winter Break

Job summary

J.Crew Group is seeking a Senior Manager, Merchandise Planning to lead the financial and strategic planning across multiple divisions. You’ll guide sales, margins, and inventory productivity, partnering with Merchandising, Allocation, and senior leadership. This role requires enterprise-level judgment while staying close to the business for actionable insights.

You’ll lead planning managers, drive the evolution of planning tools and processes, and shape long-range assortment strategy.

Qualifications

• Required: Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in merchandise planning, financial analysis, or related fields.
• Proven success leading planning strategy across multiple divisions or a large business unit.
• Advanced analytical and financial modeling skills, with expert-level Excel proficiency.
• Executive-level communication, presentation, and influencing skills.
• Demonstrated success building and developing teams of planning managers, not just individual contributors.
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills, with the judgment to balance enterprise strategy and hands-on execution.

Responsibilities

• Own the strategic direction for sales, margin, and inventory plans across multiple divisions.
• Synthesize performance across divisions to surface enterprise-level drivers, risks, and opportunities.
• Serve as a key strategic partner to Merchandising leadership, aligning goals with product strategy.
• Present strategy and financial recommendations to senior leadership and executives.
• Build and evolve multi-division strategies driving sales, margin, and inventory turnover.

Skills

Financial modeling

Excel expert

Executive communication

Leadership

Strategic planning

Analytical skills

Organizational skills

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Our Story

J.Crew gets you dressed every day, for every occasion.

Since 1983, we’ve been creating classics that feel familiar and refreshingly new, crafted with unbeatable quality and distinctive point of view—it’s no wonder we’ve been in your closet for four decades and counting.

Today, we continue to do the classics our way, inspiring not only how you shop but how you define your personal style. Our commitment runs deeper than just making great clothes—we’re proud of our role in getting you dressed with confidence, character, and celebrating a distinctly American sensibility that makes us who we are.

Our dedication to Diversity, Equity, Belonging & Sustainability has been celebrated with industry recognition, reflecting our commitment to fostering an inclusive and sustainable workplace.

The Role + Purpose

As Senior Manager, Merchandise Planning, you’ll own the financial and strategic planning agenda across multiple divisions — setting the direction for sales, margin, and inventory productivity at a business-unit level. You’ll be a key strategic partner to Merchandising, Allocation, and senior leadership, shaping enterprise-level financial strategy that informs long-range assortment investment, pricing architecture, and flow strategy. This role requires the judgment to operate at the enterprise level while staying close enough to the business to catch what matters — someone equally comfortable in a room with the C-suite and in the details of an OTB. You’ll lead planning managers and their teams, build bench strength across the function, and drive the evolution of planning tools, processes, and financial discipline enterprise-wide.

Preseason

• Own the strategic direction for sales, margin, and inventory plans across multiple divisions, setting the framework planning managers and their teams execute against

• Synthesize business performance across divisions to surface enterprise-level drivers, risks, and opportunities that shape investment priorities

• Serve as a key strategic partner to Merchandising leadership, aligning cross-divisional financial goals with product strategy and long-range assortment planning

• Present strategy and financial recommendations directly to senior leadership and executive stakeholders, framing assumptions, risk, and opportunity in business terms

• Build and evolve multi-division strategies that drive sales, margin, and inventory turn targets, with an eye toward enterprise-wide consistency and scalability

In Season

• Direct the in-season analysis of sales, margin, and inventory trends across divisions, identifying variances and risks before they surface elsewhere

• Set the standard for in-season forecasting, hindsight, and OTB management across teams, ensuring consistency, agility, and accuracy in financial decision-making

• Lead cross-functional collaboration at the leadership level to drive data-informed adjustments to receipts, pricing, and promotions

• Partner with Finance leadership on divisional and enterprise-level reforecasting, tying performance to broader financial goals

• Lead hindsight and investment review discussions, translating planning insight into strategic recommendations for senior leadership

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree
• 10+ years of experience in merchandise planning, financial analysis, or related fields
• Proven success leading planning strategy across multiple divisions or a large business unit
• Advanced analytical and financial modeling skills, with expert-level Excel proficiency
• Executive-level communication, presentation, and influencing skills
• Demonstrated success building and developing teams of planning managers, not just individual contributors
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills, with the judgment to balance enterprise strategy and hands‑on execution

Preferred:

• Experience in multi-category or multi-channel retail planning at an enterprise scale
• Deep familiarity with enterprise-level planning tools and financial reporting systems
• Track record leading large-scale, cross-functional business initiatives
• Sophisticated understanding of retail KPIs and how they connect to enterprise profitability and growth

Benefits + Perks

• Health & Well-being - Eligible associates and family members receive medical, dental, prescription and vision insurance,family planning (fertility, adoption & surrogacy support), fitness discounts, medical travel and more.

• Associate Discount - We love our products just as much as you do! That’s why we offer a great associate discount across all of our brands (J.Crew, J.Crew Factory, and Madewell).

• Summer Fridays - In addition to our hybrid work model, we also close our office at 1:00 PM every Friday during the Summer months.

• Community Impact - We support the communities where we live and work through our philanthropic efforts and the J.Crew Cares Program.

• Winter Break - In addition to our PTO package, J.Crew Group offers a winter break at the end of December to eligible full-time associates at the Home Office to provide time to refresh and recharge.

Note: Availability of these benefits and perks may be subject to work location & employment type and may have certain eligibility requirements.

Salary Range: $120,800.00 - $155,400.00

At J.Crew Group (JCG) we aim to pay competitively for our company’s size and industry. The base salary offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region of work premises, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. The base salary is just one component of J.Crew Group’s competitive total rewards strategy that also includes the opportunity for bonus, competitive benefits and perks.

One of our core focuses here at JCG is creating a community and culture that builds belonging. We are deeply committed to our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts, and we warmly welcome job applicants of all backgrounds.

JCG is proud to affirmatively provide equal opportunity to all associates and qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, national origin or citizenship, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, legally protected physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other basis protected under applicable law.