Strategic Demand & Inventory Planner

rugsusa; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthy work-life balance

Benefits package (medical, dental,视PTO

401(k)

Employee discount

Job summary

RugsUSA, a leading online rug retailer, seeks a Planner to translate category and business strategies into actionable plans. You will align sales, margin, and inventory with financial goals, leveraging trends and factory capabilities to ensure timely product availability.

The ideal candidate is analytical, commercially minded, and views planning as a strategic function. This on-site role involves building processes, improving planning efficiency, and influencing how the planning team operates.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Operations, Retail Management, Business Management, or related field; equivalent experience considered.
• 4+ years of experience in retail merchandise planning, merchandising, demand forecasting, or inventory management.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to conduct root-cause analysis and drive continuous improvement.
• Strategic thinker with focus on both big-picture planning and attention to detail.
• Results-driven, able to thrive in a fast-paced environment and prioritize competing needs.
• Strong understanding of retail math, inventory planning, forecasting, OTB, and financial planning fundamentals.
• Cross-functional relationship-building skills to partner with key stakeholders.
• Strong critical thinking with focus on balancing customer needs, inventory productivity, sales opportunities, and profitability.

Responsibilities

• Own demand, inventory, forecasting, replenishment, and OTB planning for an assigned business segment, balancing sales, margin, in-stock, and inventory efficiency goals.
• Develop bottom-up SKU and category plans and reconcile them to top-down financial targets, ensuring alignment to sales budgets, OTB, and inventory objectives.
• Analyze sales, margin, sell-through, velocity, product lifecycle, and channel trends to build accurate forecasts and identify risks and opportunities.
• Calculate receipt and inventory needs based on rate of sale, demand, lead times, and inventory position; present buying and inventory investment strategies to leadership.
• Collaborate on purchase requests with suppliers to confirm quantities, timing and receipt flow.
• Manage department and subclass OTB, on-order inventory, and receipt flow; partner with Marketing, Sales, and vendors.
• Prioritize high-volume SKUs to maximize in-stocks and revenue; develop flow strategies for Key Accounts and other channels.
• Support pre-season, seasonal, and one-time buy forecasting, product lifecycle and SKU rationalization.
• Monitor forecast accuracy, inventory health, in-stock performance, and business trends; provide reporting and action plans.

Skills

Forecasting

Inventory planning

Data analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Tools

Excel

ERP

Data warehouse

BI tools

Sigma

Job description

RugsUSA, a leading online rug retailer, seeks a Planner to translate category and business strategies into actionable plans. You will align sales, margin, and inventory with financial goals, leveraging trends and factory capabilities to ensure timely product availability.

The ideal candidate is analytical, commercially minded, and views planning as a strategic function. This on-site role involves building processes, improving planning efficiency, and influencing how the planning team operates.