Director Merchandise Planning - Zale

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Signet Jewelers is the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry, operating more than 2,800 stores worldwide under the iconic brands: Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared, H.Samuel, Ernest Jones, Peoples, Banter by Piercing Pagoda, Rocksbox, JamesAllen.com and Diamonds Direct. We are a people-first company and this core value is at the heart of everything we do, from empowering our valued team members, to collaborating with our customers, to fostering the communities in which we live and serve. People – and the love their actions inspire – are what drive us. We’re not only proud of the love we inspire outside our walls, we’re especially proud of the diversity, inclusion and equity we’re inspiring inside. There are dynamic career paths awaiting you – rewarding opportunities to impact the lives of others and inspire love. Join us!

POSITION SUMMARY:

This role is responsible for the training, coaching and development of the merchandise planners and ultimately the delivery of financial plan metrics for the Fashion portfolio within Zales, Zales Outlet and Zales.com.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead the merchandise planning and financial optimization of Zales’ portfolio of fashion categories in partnership with Merchandising and the brand leadership team

• Lead the pre-season planning process and within the Go-to-Market process in partnership with Merchants and the cross-functional leadership team to develop sales, gross margin and inventory plans for the Zales, Zales Outlet and Zales E-Comm Fashion businesses

• Lead the synthesizing and the communication of hindsight learnings, consumer and customer insights and product development initiatives into pre-season strategies that inform merchandise plans and tactics

• Partner with the Merchant leadership team to further develop and execute consumer centric assortment review process

• Lead the Open-to-Buy process to optimize inventory investments to yield sales and gross margin at or above plan

• Lead pricing and promotion strategies including markdown recommendations in partnership with Merchants to drive GMROI growth

• Lead SKU productivity including the style lifecycle management by identifying planned exit dates and methods in partnership with Merchandising (pricing strategies, return to vendor, etc.)

• Lead in-season performance readout in Trade meetings to track and optimize product performance to pre-season plans and strategies

• Present insights, drivers of variance to plans/strategies to MPI, cross functional and Zales leadership teams with recommendations and decision points/action items

• Champion Impact Analytics, our demand and allocation system, to drive inventory optimization and forecast accuracy

• Lead MPI/Zales initiatives on behalf of the greater MPI team to further core capabilities and business results

• Lead training, development and support of the planning team to drive teammate growth, career pathing and succession planning and ultimately drives positive business results

• Own the quarterly and annual performance review process to support teammate development and career pathing

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS:

• BA/BS degree in a related field and equivalent work experience

• 8+ years of proven success in merchandise planning or equivalent work experience, with +3 years of leadership experience

• Strong adaptability skills to effectively lead with in a fast-moving and evolving business environment

• Ability to develop innovative solutions for complex situations in a fast-changing environment; cover a wide range of activities requiring complex decision making

• Ability to collaborate and influence across multiple functions

• Strong strategic and analytical ability

• Results driven with a strong financial acumen

• Strong communication and presentation skills

• Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel and enterprise analytics tools (Tableau/Business Objects)

BENEFITS & PERKS:

• Competitive healthcare, dental & vision insurance

• 401(k) matching after one year of employment

• Generous PTO + company holidays

• Diversity programs

• Much more!