Company Description

Our Values

Optimistic - Influences others to be excited about and committed to furthering the company’s objectives. Embraces challenges with a “can-do” mindset that drives effective solutions.​

Results Driven - Maximizes the use of resources to consistently deliver results against sales goals and company objectives. Accepts and uses feedback to improve performance.​

Solution Oriented - Recognizes situations that warrant initiative and moves forward without hesitation to resolve issues, problems, or situations. Develops fresh ideas that provide solutions to operational challenges.​

Collaborative - Builds constructive working relationships across their Team and with cross-functional partners at the Support Center, the Distribution Center, and the Field. Encourages team unity through sharing of information or expertise, working together to solve problems.​

Brand Ambassador- Express rue21 brand messages effectively. Maintain a reliable and consistent brand representation. Bring genuine excitement for brand promotion while building and nurturing relationships for brand success. Navigate challenges with grace and positivity.

Your Role

The Merchandise Senior Planner is responsible for developing plans and forecasts for several merchandise categories in alignment with top-down financial guidance and in accordance with bottoms-up planning processes for both pre-season and in-season milestones. The goal is to maximize growth and profitability by working closely with the merchandising team and Planning Director to implement effective strategies and action plans to achieve sales, margin, and sell through performance targets in support of department, division, and company-level goals. Manage one direct report with oversight to additional categories within a division.

Responsibilities

• Create pre-season plans in alignment with department and company targets by developing bottoms-up plans for multiple top sales volume categories of product that meet the sales, inventory sell through, markdowns, and gross margin targets.
• Direct hindsight analysis of prior seasonal performance to drive favorable results or minimize unfavorable results in the development of the new season’s planning activities. Think and react based on big picture insight, aligns divisional plans with company goals.
• Partners with buying teams and allocation on the timing and quantity of receipts of new and existing product flow into the stores. Identify and effectively create/communicate multiple scenarios on potential course of action.
• Partners with buyers to develop and present product line review presentations as part of pre-season processes. Articulate and facilitates dialogue well with Snr. Management in written communication and in meetings.
• Reads and reacts appropriately to the needs of the business as part of the in-season planning processes by analyzing daily, weekly, and monthly sales trends to inform actions needed to meet, exceed, or improve financial targets; re-forecast in-season plans accordingly.
• Recommends necessary adjustments to the plans and promotions to maximize sales and profit, or to mitigate risk, including the active management of inventory performance and aging to ensure effective end of life cycle execution to mitigate markdown liability. Aligns divisional actions with company goals.
• Leader in recurring open-to-buy meetings by providing meaningful insights; makes plan adjustments as needed. Supervise direct reports in preparation of key meetings to effectively delivery concise communication and the use of best practice standards.
• Self-directed deadlines and time management. Drives cross functional alignment; effectively influence and collaborate with merchants and other key partners, such as inventory planners and store operations, to ensure timely execution and/or to implement strategies that drive improvement.
• Produces weekly and monthly reporting in support of the department and company.
• Effective at creating time for stretch assignments.  Leads special assignments as needed. Support development of new processes as a SME on non-dept. related topics.
• One direct report to mentor and collaborate efforts to achieve divisional goals.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in Retail, Business, Finance, or a related field.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in the retail industry, specifically in Merchandise Planning, Buying, Allocation, or Financial Planning.
• Experience with managing a direct report and knowledge of the retail industry.
• Strong financial acumen, especially as it relates to the retail method.
• Excellent analytical skills and ability to create standardized communication tools, reports, and visualizations to drive action plans from data presentation: highly proficient in analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and presenting insights for action.
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills, including ability to present in meetings.
• Technical knowledge in retail planning and reporting systems: MS Office Suite (Advanced Excel Capabilities), Blue Yonder/JDA, Oracle Suite, SAS, Aptos (Maple Lake, Txt), Tableau.

Travel Requirements

• Hybrid in office 3 days a week.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.