VP, Merchandise Planning, Allocation & Inventory Management

Babylist; United States; Remote; USD 260,000 - 420,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Equity

Remote-first

Parental leave

Job summary

Babylist is seeking a VP of Merchandise Planning, Allocation, and Inventory Management to own the strategic vision for planning as the company scales beyond $1B in revenue. This remote role reports to a CFO/COO and collaborates with senior leaders across Merchandising, Supply Chain, and Data/Finance to deliver strong customer experience and sound financial results.

The candidate will lead a high-performance team, optimize forecasting and allocation platforms, and shape the distribution network

Qualifications

• Executive-level leadership of merchandise planning, inventory management, and allocation across hundreds of vendors.
• Proven track record building high-performance planning teams and scalable org design.
• Experience defining strategic vision and operating standards for planning functions.

Responsibilities

• Define north star for MerchandisePlanning, standards, cadence, and expectations for all levels.
• migrate forecasting/allocation platform from migrated to trusted; ensure adoption.
• Finalize scalable org design for Planning, Inventory Management, and Allocation for a $1B+ business.
• Lead planning perspective for warehouse expansion, inventory deployment, and network strategy.
• Own inventory strategy decisions on drop-ship vs owned inventory and SKU cannibalization.
• Develop leaders below you to be autonomous operators.
• Establish Planning as an equal partner to Merchandising, Supply Chain, and Data & Finance in cross-functional forums.

Skills

Executive Merch Planning

Inventory management

Vendor management

People leadership

Forecasting & allocation

AI in operations

Tools

Intuendi

Blue Yonder

o9

ToolsGroup

Impact Analytics

Job description

What the Role Is

Babylist is creating a new VP of Merchandise Planning, Allocation, and Inventory Management to own how the company plans, buys, and allocates inventory as it scales beyond $1B in merchandise revenue. This is a net-new leadership role, reporting to the CFO/COO and sitting as a peer to the VP of Merchandising, the SVP of Supply Chain, and the SVP of Data and Finance. The VP will own the strategic vision, operating standards, and systems roadmap for Planning. The mandate: give Babylist’s planning function a clear point of view, faster decisions, and enough operational rigor to deliver a great customer experience and financial results through inventory. This role is remote and open anywhere in the US, with a preference for West Coast candidates.

Who You Are

• Proven executive leadership of a merchandise planning, inventory management, and allocation function at a wholesale retail business across hundreds of vendors, ideally $500M to $2B+, through double-digit growth
• A strong people manager with a track record of building a high-performance team culture: setting clear expectations, coaching direct reports toward promotion-ready capability, and building bench strength as the team scales.
• A track record of setting strategic vision and operating standards for a planning organization: defining what “great” looks like, not just executing against someone else’s model.
• Demonstrated speed and conviction in high-stakes decisions (org design, staffing, systems investments) and the discipline to hold those decisions through execution
• Experience building the planning point of view behind allocation as we expand the distribution network, the inventory deployment and drop-ship strategy that comes with adding fulfillment nodes.
• Direct experience owning a demand planning or allocation platform implementation (e.g., Intuendi, Blue Yonder, o9, ToolsGroup, Impact Analytics) through to full adoption, closing the gap between “live” and “trusted and used.”
• A history of designing and scaling planning organizations, roles, levels, and career paths, for a rapidly growing and evolving business.
• Comfort operating as an equal, vocal strategic partner to Merchandising, Supply Chain, and Data/Finance leaders.
• Fluency in inventory KPIs (in-stock rate, weeks of supply, weeks on hand, aged inventory, working capital efficiency) and experience owning to in-stock or inventory incidents.
• Experience owning operations that sit between planning and supply chain, vendor onboarding, vendor performance analytics, or drop-ship EDI a plus
• You naturally reach for AI in your work. At Babylist, every team uses AI daily. You’re already using it to move faster and improve your output, and you stay curious about what’s coming next.

How You Will Make An Impact

• Define and develop the team to MerchandisePlanning’s north star: the standards, operating cadence (OTB, team ceremonies), and expectations for every level of the function of a high-performance team
• Take the forecasting/allocation platform from “migrated” to “trusted.”
• Finalize and execute a scalable org design for Planning, Inventory Management, and Allocation built for a $1B+ business. Fill open roles, set reporting lines, and communicate changes with enough lead time for the team to plan around them.
• Build and drive the planning point of view behind the warehouse network expansion and inventory deployment across the network.
• Own the inventory strategy: when to drop-ship vs. own, when to invest more vs pull back, when to pull back vs add more SKUs based on cannibalization or customer need with Merch partners. Set the criteria, make the call, and work through your team to execute on that strategy.
• Own inventory health end to end: in-stock rate, weeks of supply, aged, and working capital efficiency, including leading the org’s response when network in-stock performance slips.
• Lead leaders: develop the team below you into stronger, more autonomous operators.
• Establish Planning as an equal, vocal partner to Merchandising, Supply Chain, and Data & Finance in MBRs, S&OP, OTB, and other cross-functional forums, showing up with a point of view, not just support.

Why This Role

• You’ll sit at the same table as Merchandising, Supply Chain, and Data & Finance leadership, directly shaping how Babylist buys, allocates, and delivers inventory to families.
• You’re inheriting real momentum, not a blank slate: a forecasting platform already live, a team that’s proven it can adapt, and real opportunity to build out the team as the business scales
• Direct visibility with the CFO/COO on working capital and inventory strategy, including board-level conversations on inventory efficiency.

About Compensation

We use a market-based approach to compensation.

We offer a competitive base, meaningful equity, and the bonus target.

Your starting salary will be based on your location, experience, and qualifications, with increases over time tied to performance, role growth, and internal pay equity.

Who We Are

Babylist is the leading platform for expecting and new families. More than 10 million people shop with Babylist every year, making it the go-to destination for seamless purchasing, guidance, and expert recommendations. As a modern, AI-forward tech company, Babylist has expanded from a universal registry into a full ecosystem — the Babylist Shop, Babylist Health, Babylist Money, NYC and LA showrooms, branded content, and more — generating $750M in revenue in 2025. Building the generational brand in baby, Babylist is reshaping the $235B kids and baby market and helping parents feel confident, connected, and cared for at every step.

Our Ways of Working

Babylist is remote-first with team members across the U.S. and Canada who move fast, think smart, and use AI as part of how they work every day — not as an experiment, as an expectation. We come together twice a year to build the relationships behind the work, and we hire people who are genuinely excited about what’s possible and prove it through how they show up.

Why You Will Love Working At Babylist

Our Culture

• We work with focus and intention, then step away to recharge
• We believe in exceptional management, and we invest in the tools and the time to connect with colleagues
• We build products that positively impact millions of people’s lives
• AI is part of how we work, not a side experiment. You’ll have leading tools like Claude and ChatGPT from day one, with no waiting on access, so the busywork gets handled and your judgment goes where it counts

Growth & Development

• Competitive pay and meaningful opportunities for career advancement
• We believe technology and data can solve hard problems
• We’re committed to career progression and performance-based advancement

Benefits

• Company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Retirement savings plan with company matching and flexible spending accounts
• Generous paid parental leave and PTO
• Winter Wonder Week: the whole company takes a paid week off at the end of the year, whether or not you celebrate anything, so everyone’s out at once and comes back refreshed
• Remote work stipend to set up your office
• Perks for physical, mental, and emotional health, parenting, childcare, and financial planning

Important Notices

Recorded Interviews. Babylist uses an interview recording tool to record and transcribe interviews for evaluation purposes in accordance with applicable privacy laws. By participating in an interview, you consent to this recording and transcription.

Interview Integrity. AI is part of how we work at Babylist. We expect you to use it too. Your application and interviews should still reflect you and your own thinking. We’ll tell you when AI is encouraged. Misrepresentation at any stage may result in removal from consideration for this and future roles.

How We Review Applications We use AI throughout our hiring process to help review, screen, and assess applications. These tools support our team’s review; they do not replace it, and every hiring decision is made by a person.

Connections at Babylist. If you have a family member or close personal relationship with a current Babylist employee, please let your recruiter know. This helps us keep our process fair and transparent for everyone.