Director of Planning

SKIMS is a solutions-oriented brand creating the next-generation of underwear, loungewear, and shapewear.

We set new standards with our game-changing product and are a driving force within pop-culture. We are looking for a Director of Planning to join us in advancing the industry forward. 

The Director of Planning will develop strategic merchandise plans and targets for key portions of our ecommerce business to maximize sales, optimize inventory, and increase margin through the analysis of historical sales trends, current in-season patterns, and future forecasts.

We are looking for a self-motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced start-up environment. Successful team members are willing to go beyond the job description to support the young business in high-growth mode. The ideal candidate will have outstanding drive, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, an advanced skillset in Excel, ability to use data to drive decision making, and strong leadership. It is critical to take initiative, particularly when working cross-departmentally with merchandising, production, finance, and marketing to support our evolving business needs.

The ideal candidate will have experience with inventory planning processes (including replenishment processes and ladders, category planning, and open-to-buy) for an apparel business or similar. Ability to be flexible, multi-task, comfortable with high sku counts, and able to prioritize under tight deadlines.

· Lead the strategic financial objectives for assigned product categories through accurate and proactive management and forecasting of sales, margin, and inventory levels to achieve targets for SKIMS ecommerce business.

· Build annual plans in partnership with Senior Director of Planning to support growth and development of assigned product categories while supporting brand initiatives.

· Manage open-to-buy process across the organization, providing top-down guidance and direction around key initiatives.

· Manage a rolling 12–18-month top-down/bottoms-up level plans for unit and dollar sales volume.

· Oversee the maintenance of inventory ladders and projections on a weekly basis for core styles at the sku level for all core product within assigned product categories and drive monthly reviews and buys with merch and production to ensure never-out-of-stock positions on all key items.

· Provide high-level analysis, business reports, and qualitative and actionable feedback and recommendations to senior leadership, including contributions to quarterly hindsight and investment reviews.

· Develop and share merchandise analysis to inform and lead decision making, including upcoming buys, promotional activities, marketing efforts, current opportunities, and risk management scenarios.

· Partner with merchandising on the selection of core items, timing, and quantity of new and existing product to flow site, and balance of inventory across product categories and product hierarchy to support sales targets and increase inventory turns.

· Analyzes the impact of new collection introductions, manage the core replenishment program forecast rationale, track performance vs. forecast.

· Collaborate with wholesale planning partners to maximize inventory turns and revenue by reviewing inventory weekly and making critical decisions to optimize inventory between channels.

· Provide roadmap for production to secure raw materials and capacity up to a year out and provide monthly updates to forecast to ensure supply chain is able to support the business needs.

· Weekly follow up with internal production partners as well as key vendors to ensure deliveries are being met, placing chase orders when opportunity arises, and prioritizing POs as needed to support the sales forecast.

· Demonstrates effective working relationships, building strong partnerships and influencing cross functional leaders. Cross functional teams include Merchandising, Production, Wholesale, Analytics, Marketing, and Design.

· Drive planning process improvements, standardizations, and best practices aligned to accommodate complexities of the business.

· Oversee the career and skill development of one direct report.

· 10+ years of analytical experience in merchandise planning or inventory management.

· Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent work experience.

· Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel required, including v-lookups, pivot tables, logic formulas, and basic macros.

· Familiarity or experience with ladder or replenishment planning.

· A deep understanding of how to use data to drive decisions.

· Previous experience with Business Intelligence and reporting tools such as Looker, Netsuite, Google Analytics, Shopify, etc.

· Proven examples of “thinking outside the box” to improve processes.

· Meets deadlines, prioritizes appropriately, copes well with change, and maintains composure under pressure.

· Strong organizational and time management skills; able to effectively manage multiple priorities

· Comfort with ambiguity and passion/excitement for building new tools and processes