Planner

lululemon athletica

lululemon athletica is a technical athletic apparel company founded in 1998 in Vancouver, Canada.  We are built around a culture of athletes passionate about developing leaders, personal responsibility, and goal setting in order to deliver on our mission of elevating the world from mediocrity to greatness.

Asia is the future of lululemon and we are poised for exponential growth in the region for the next ten years. If you love to sweat, thrive in a fast-paced environment, constantly challenge yourself to be better, and value fun, this is the place for you.

a day in the life of a Planner

As a member of the product team, the Planning team is responsible for ensuring the financial success of the company. They work closely with Merchandising and Allocations to understand new product trends, localized selling patterns, store opportunities, size trends and logistics. 

The team monitors the business on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis, understanding changes in trend and reacting to the business to maximize sales and mitigate risk. The priority is to understand and promote guest experience, followed by delivering profitable sales growth.

Reporting directly to the manager of merchandise planning, this position is responsible for category sales targets, markdowns, gross margin, planned purchases, turn and open to buy management. You love everything product, inventory and numbers; you are a born entrepreneur, passionate to pioneer a global brand in a new market. 

key responsibilities:

• partner with the Buyer to develop pre-season sales, markdown, margin, receipt and inventory
• develop assortment plans to the category level by channel considering business strategy and trends
• create projections and drive inventory flow for key items/collections
• analyze and understand current performance; revising in-season sales/profit plans, and control inventory levels
• partner with your Buyer to develop and propose tactics in response to business trends:
• make key financial decisions to maximize sales, margin and inventory productivity
• monthly plan review process: develop sales, markdown, receipt and inventory re-forecasts
• communicate revisions and strategies with the Merchandise team
• partner with Store Planning to review and create informed store plans for allocations and OTB planning
• exhibit initiative to look beyond the everyday business for opportunities to maximize sales potential
• partner and communicate with various cross-functional teams to collectively drive for results
• provide reporting and analysis to facilitate the achievement of business goals (e.g. hindsighting)
• spend time rocking out with our incredible store teams and guests

 the finer print

• tertiary qualification preferably in business or commerce
• 4-6 years merchandise planning experience in the apparel industry
• regional APAC exposure
• previous experience with merchandise and planning systems
• expert knowledge of Excel is required
• excellent team player as well as the ability to work independently
• effective communication skills (written & verbal)
• extremely organized thorough and able to prioritize
• detail-orientated with exceptional analytical skills
• strong ability to see the merchandise vision and translate into viable plans
• results oriented – strong sense of motivation
• self-directed problem solver, proactive and resourceful
• responsible, dependable and mature, with sound judgment
• capable of effective demand management from a variety of sources and adapts well to change

our “must haves”

• Proven work ethic with utmost integrity
• Desire to excel and succeed
• Actively live and breathe the lululemon culture and lifestyle
• Self-aware, with a desire for constant self improvement (goal –oriented)
• Entrepreneurial spirit and an egoless nature
• Self motivated, passionate, empathetic, approachable
• Outgoing, energetic, upbeat and FUN!