Our Asia Pacific Team is seeking to appoint a highly analytical (Associate) Planner to assist / lead inventory investment strategies to support Merchandising objectives. Responsible for developing and presenting annual merchandise financial plans and seasonal Open to Buy; forecasting business based on changes in strategies or business climate and managing inventory to support updated forecasts.

Responsibilities

• Develop bottoms-up sales and receipt plan by door that will validate and tie back to target budget/LRP by region, and total APAC
• Develop receipt flow targets by label for buying, and recommend in-season adjustments in delivery plans based on business trends.
• Participate in Monthly Forecast Reviews.
• Participate in all preseason merchandising meetings and workshops in NY to understand merchandise direction, fashion flow and rig selection. (as applicable)
• Determine target class penetration mix, initial season projections, and influence the development the Scorecard based on style selling analysis and market knowledge
• Maintain door profiles and volume cluster rankings which incorporate climate needs by region.
• Develop a seasonal blank line plan that takes into account target class mix, receipt flow, fashion %.
• Participate in Adoption and Line openings when applicable to review content of the Line against planned SKU/unit requirements, and convey all product needs.
• Apply regional product rankings to Line Plan, balance assortments and make any callouts.
• Develop awareness of major competitors and analyze effectiveness of assortments.
• Convey to Buying team all relevant learning to help refine assortments.
• Review key business reports to measure assortment planning effectiveness (ST analysis, sales to stock, concept selling, etc)
• Develop/maintain consistent format for and deliver sales trend reports
• Review key business reports to measure assortment planning effectiveness and as basis for future season planning

Requirements

• Degree holder in Textile, Merchandising, Retail or related discipline
• Strong computer skills including Excel, Word and merchandise planning system.
• 4 to 7 years planning related experience. 1 to 2 years of supervision experience.
• Experience in fashion apparel industry preferred
• Excellent analytical and problem solving skills
• Strong communication and presentations skills on financial information and business strategies.
• Strong leadership and negotiation skills.

Depending on the seniority of the appointee, the appointment may be made at the Associate Merchandiser or Merchandiser level. 

Ralph Lauren is an equal opportunity employer. Personal data provided will only be used for the purpose of recruitment and selection. Given the volume of applications, only short-listed candidates will be notified.