Strategic Merchandise Planner: Open-to-Buy & Inventory

CSC Generation; United States; Hybrid; USD 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

401(k) match

Medical/dental/vision

Employee discounts

Job summary

Backcountry is seeking a Merchandise Planner to own open-to-buy plans, demand forecasting, and inventory optimization across multiple product categories. You will partner with Merchandising teams to drive sales, margin, and turnover while delivering actionable insights to leadership.

Within six months, you will lead planning cadence, Open-to-Buy reviews with senior leadership, and become the go-to analytical partner for merchandising. This is a lean team with end-to-end ownership.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of assortment, demand, or merchandise planning experience
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience
• Strong analytical skills and retail math aptitude
• Advanced Excel skills (pivot, vlookup)
• Excellent communication and presentation abilities
• Ability to influence stakeholders and build cross-functional relationships
• Adaptive to changing priorities and fast-paced environment
• Experience using AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini) for real work

Responsibilities

• Develop merchandise plans aligned with goals, targets, and trends across multiple product categories
• Lead Open-to-Buy meetings and monthly reviews with leadership
• Forecast demand using historical data and market insights to guide inventory and replenishment
• Monitor inventory, analyze sell-through, and optimize turnover while minimizing stock-outs
• Perform financial analyses of sales and margins and recommend actions
• Manage division financials to meet sales, margin, and turnover targets
• Deliver structured, accurate reporting following best practices
• Identify new opportunities to maximize sales with data-driven recommendations

Skills

Retail analytics

Forecasting

Open-to-Buy

AI tools usage

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Excel

JDA

Oracle

SAP

Anaplan

Job description

Backcountry is seeking a Merchandise Planner to own open-to-buy plans, demand forecasting, and inventory optimization across multiple product categories. You will partner with Merchandising teams to drive sales, margin, and turnover while delivering actionable insights to leadership.

Within six months, you will lead planning cadence, Open-to-Buy reviews with senior leadership, and become the go-to analytical partner for merchandising. This is a lean team with end-to-end ownership.