Sr. Merchandise Planner

Five Below; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Five Below is seeking a Senior Planner to own sales, margin, and inventory forecasting for a high-complexity department in an omni-channel environment. The role leads planning strategy, collaborating with Merchandising and Allocation to create alignment through analysis and recommendations.

The Senior Planner presents forecasts and strategic recommendations to senior leadership. The position involves rolling 18-month financial planning, weekly business reviews, mentoring junior planners, and

Responsibilities

• Planning Strategy & Ownership - Own and lead the end-to-end pre-season and in-season planning strategy - sales, margin, inventory, and OTB - for an assigned department across brick-and-mortar and digital/DTC channels, setting financial targets by department/category and recalibrating forecasts with cross-functional and field partners in line with the P&L calendar.

Job description

At Five Below our growth is a result of the people who embrace our purpose: We know life is way better when you are free to Let Go & Have Fun in an amazing experience, filled with unlimited possibilities, priced so low, you can always say yes to the newest, coolest stuff! Just ask any of our over 35,000 crew members who work at Five Below and they'll tell you there's no other place like it. It all starts with our purpose and then, The Five Below Way, which is our values and behaviors that each and every crew member believes in. It's all about culture at Five Below, making this a place that can inspire you as much as you inspire us with big ideas, super energy, passion, and the ability to make the workplace a WOWplace!

Position Summary

The Senior Planner owns sales, margin, and inventory forecasting for a high-complexity department in an omni-channel environment, incorporating top-down, bottoms-up, and demand planning discipline. This role is a leader on the Planning team - providing peer support and, depending on category complexity, formally developing one or more direct-reports - while working closely with cross-functional Merchandising and Allocation partners to create alignment through detailed analysis and recommendations. The Senior Planner is capable of extending scope across multiple categories or a broader division as business needs evolution, and demonstrates strong executive presence, regularly presenting forecasts, business reviews, and strategic recommendations directly to senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Planning Strategy & Ownership - Own and lead the end-to-end pre-season and in-season planning strategy - sales, margin, inventory, and OTB - for an assigned department across brick-and-mortar and digital/DTC channels, setting financial targets by department/category and recalibrating forecasts with cross-functional and field partners in line with the P&L calendar. Scope may extend across multiple categories or a broader division based on business complexity.
• Rolling 18-Month Planning - Maintain a rolling 18-month financial plan (sales, margin, and inventory) that ladders up to divisional budgets and Merchant strategy, in addition to seasonal and in-season planning.
• Weekly Business Review, Reporting & Reconciliation - Conduct weekly reviews of the business, proactively highlighting both positive and negative trends; generate regular reports and analysis for senior management; and partner with Finance to reconcile actuals to plan on a monthly/quarterly cadence.
• Team Leadership & Development - Act as both a hands-on contributor and a coach, mentoring Associate Planners & Planners and, where the role carries direct reports, formally managing their performance and growth - providing training, career development, and talent-retention support.
• Cross-Functional Pod Leadership - Lead the financial plan and inventory strategy for the category within a cross-functional pod, creating and maintaining alignment among peers on Merchandising and Allocation teams on forecast changes and inventory strategies, and serving as the primary planning point of contact.
• Assortment & Buy Development - Determine style-color and depth targets by attribute and store group, managing SKU/style-intensive and location-intensive assortments, and creating the buy aligned to Merchant strategies and priorities - accounting for variations in demand by store volume and regional preferences.
• Executive Strategic Prescence- Create and communicate financial business impacts, and present business reviews, forecasts, and recommendations clearly and concisely to Executive management.
• Inventory, OTB & Margin Management - Manage the open-to-buy budget to ensure inventory investment funds sales and margin plans, and lead markdown and end-of-life strategy - including pricing and liquidation decisions for discontinued or non-go-forward product - partnering with Allocation/Replenishment to optimize inventory turnover.
• Scenario Planning & Risk Mitigation - Conduct scenario and sensitivity analysis to stress-test plans against demand volatility, competitive activity, and supply disruption, building contingency recommendations to protect the business.
• Strategic & Financial Leadership - Demonstrate command of key financial performance indicators for the business, proactively identifying, evaluating, and communicating risks and opportunities to senior planning leadership, and contributing to quarterly and rolling 18-month financial strategy for the assigned department(s).
• Process Improvement, Systems & Automation - Drive continuous improvement across the planning organization, serving as a subject-matter expert/power user of planning systems and partnering on enhancements and testing, while leveraging automation and AI-enabled tools to streamline redundant reporting tasks and improve forecasting accuracy.
• Market Awareness & Adaptability - Maintain a deep understanding of industry trends and the competitive landscape, corporate awareness, adaptabili