Sr Merch Planner - Books (Minneapolis)

Target; Minneapolis (MN); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 171,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401(k)

Employee discount

Short-term disability

Long-term disability

Paid sick leave

Paid national holidays

Paid vacation

Job summary

Target is seeking a Merchandise Planner for the Books division in Minneapolis to forecast releases, plan assortment, and lead open-to-buy decisions. You’ll partner with buyers and the Inventory team to align forecasts with sales goals and supply constraints.

You’ll analyze demand, develop localized strategies, and guide financial planning for the BU, influencing stocking and profitability while collaborating across cross-functional teams in a fast-paced retail environment.

Qualifications

• Four-year degree or equivalent experience
• 6+ years of Merchandising experience
• Strong strategic, financial, and analytical skills; translate data into insights
• Strong collaboration skills with cross-functional teams
• Adaptable to changing, ambiguous situations

Responsibilities

• Lead the Books BU planning, forecasting new releases and placement hurdles
• Collaborate with buyers to determine localization strategies and assortment planning
• Oversee open-to-buy decisions and category-level investments
• Perform scenario planning and demand forecasting to guide recommendations
• Interpret forecast results to influence financial strategy and stock levels

Skills

Merchandising strategy

Financial analysis

Forecasting

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Four-year degree or equivalent experience

Job description

The pay range is $95,000.00 - $171,000.00

Pay is based on several factors which vary based on position. These include labor markets and in some instances may include education, work experience and certifications. In addition to your pay, Target cares about and invests in you as a team member, so that you can take care of yourself and your family. Target offers eligible team members and their dependents comprehensive health benefits and programs, which may include medical, vision, dental, life insurance and more, to help you and your family take care of your whole selves. Other benefits for eligible team members include 401(k), employee discount, short term disability, long term disability, paid sick leave, paid national holidays, and paid vacation. Find competitive benefits from financial and education to well-being and beyond at https://corporate.target.com/careers/benefits.

About Us

Target is an iconic brand, a Fortune 50 company and one of America’s leading retailers.

Target Merchandising is evolving at an incredible pace. We are constantly reimagining how this $70 billion retailer offers the innovative, guest-inspiring items that Target is known and loved for. Our goal is to deliver exceptional value, quality and style to elevate Target as the premier retailer in a competitive global marketplace. Through intelligent and progressive business strategies that make the most of Target’s resources and partnerships worldwide, Merchandising works across product categories to create a localized shopping experience online and in our 1800 stores. Are you a creative problem solver who loves to see your work translate into real results? Can you collaborate effectively, execute a plan efficiently and positively influence how Target chooses and presents the right product in the right place at the right price? If so, you will have success on one of our dynamic teams.

A role in Planning means being in charge of the financials and forecasting for one of Target’s businesses. Here, you’ll conduct comparative analysis of holiday or other seasonal performance reports and provide the insights that inform the Inventory team’s work to ensure that product supports projected sales. Acting as the hub between Merchandising and Supply Chain, you will create a financial link between these two essential groups and have a voice in some of the most important decisions from a financial strategy standpoint.

As a Merchandise Planner in Books, you will be leading the BU in a fast paced, growing segment of our business. You’ll determine new release forecasts and placement hurdles, collaborate on assortment planning, recommend localization strategies including cluster types and profiles, and lead demand forecasting. You’ll work closely with the buyers to determine how we deliver our LRP growth strategy for kid’s books, and maximize our overall footprint in the stores. You will head up the open-to-buy process and decide on category-level investment, “big bet” development and the financial validity of assortments. You’ll conduct scenario planning, build unit plans, and lead initial set planning and operationalization to optimize assortments. A large part of your role will be to interpret forecast results and conduct “what if?” analysis to guide your go-forward recommendations.

Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.

About You

• Four-year degree or equivalent experience
• 6+ years of Merchandising experience
• Strong strategic, financial, and analytical skills; can easily translate data from an array of sources into insights and recommendations
• Strong collaboration skills to partner with cross-functional teams
• Flexible, resilient and comfortable working in “grey areas” that are constantly changing

This position will require in office presence in Minneapolis, Minnesota Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday each week, and can work from home on Fridays. Work duties cannot be performed outside of the country of the primary work location, unless otherwise prescribed by Target. Click here if you are curious to learn more about Minnesota.

Benefits Eligibility

Please paste this url into your preferred browser to learn about benefits eligibility for this role: https://tgt.biz/BenefitsForYou_E

Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

In compliance with state and federal laws, Target will make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please reach out to [e-mail]. Non-accommodation-related requests, such as application follow-ups or technical issues, will not be addressed through this channel.