Assistant Manager, Merchandise Planning (Woodbridge, CA)

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization: Assistant Manager, Merchandise Planning provides financial guidance to Canada retail buying teams to meet or exceed sales and target KPIs. Assist with the development of seasonal plans, analysis and reporting of sales, margin, and inventory. Make recommendations and collaborate with buying teams to achieve forecast/plan expectations. Key Responsibilities: Support Buying Teams in pre-season planning and in-season execution of category level targets. Support Buying and Planning to analyze, review and recommend strategies that maximize sales, margin, ASP (average selling price) and stock turns. Analysis of category/product/article performance to communicate risks and opportunities to financial targets, and drive retail excellence at stores. Liase with Financial Planning and OMNI inventory teams to determine DC to store forecast, excess consumption and inventory trading. Build and maintain key reporting tools to support Buying and Planning teams in business analytics to improve results. Support of promotional planning process working with Buying and Marketing teams with historical analysis and current trends, recommending actions to achieve overall targets in sales and margin. Maintain profitable inventory levels by monitoring and tracking receipts and inventory movements. Partner with Buying and Allocation on optimal store capacities and assortment blends to maximize store performance. Maintain inventory forecasts to reveal risks and opportunities to sales and margin targets. Assistant Merchandise Planner responsibilities will vary slightly based on the category and channel supported. Key Relationships: Buying & Allocations Brand Marketing & Operations Teams Finance Demand Planning Warehouse Teams Knowledge Skills and Abilities : Proficiency with MS Office, Business intelligence tools (Power BI) and various merchandising systems/applications, including database extracts Advanced Excel skills, with a thorough understanding of pivot tables, formulas, formatting, etc. Exceptional attention to detail Ability to manage key stakeholder relationships Good planning and organization skills, resulting in the ability to meet critical deadlines Strong analytical skills and a thorough understanding of retail KPIs and metrics Strong communication and presentation skills, written and verbal Ability to manipulate large amounts of data and create reporting tools from data Ability to successfully multi-task and problem-solve Requisite Experience / Minimum Qualifications: <ul style="margin-top:0.0in;margi