Director Retail Planning

Role Overview

This role is designed for a senior planning leader who thrives as both a strategist and an executor. The Director will own financial and inventory planning across direct-to-consumer channels, including physical retail and digital commerce, while also maintaining direct accountability for a defined business segment. Success in this role requires the ability to set direction at a high level and simultaneously engage deeply with weekly performance data and operational details.

Core Responsibilities

Business & Financial Planning

• Define and drive annual and seasonal financial plans across direct-to-consumer channels, balancing revenue growth, margin performance, and inventory efficiency.
• Maintain hands-on ownership of forecasts, reforecasts, and open-to-buy decisions for a specific portfolio or category.
• Translate enterprise-level financial targets into actionable, bottom-up plans.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead and develop a team of planners, providing guidance on forecasting accuracy, analytical rigor, and execution discipline.
• Establish clear performance expectations while fostering skill development and career progression.
• Serve as both coach and contributor, modeling best practices through personal ownership of deliverables.

Inventory & Channel Optimization

• Direct inventory allocation and flow strategies across retail locations and e-commerce platforms.
• Ensure inventory positioning supports store productivity, digital demand, and seasonal objectives.
• Identify risks related to overstock, shortages, or imbalanced assortments and implement corrective actions.

Analytics & Performance Management

• Conduct regular business reviews focused on trend analysis, performance drivers, and risk mitigation.
• Perform detailed style-, color-, and category-level analysis for assigned areas of responsibility.
• Guide the broader team in identifying insights that inform future planning decisions.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with merchandising, buying, store operations, digital teams, and marketing to align plans with assortment and promotional strategies.
• Represent planning perspectives in leadership discussions and planning forums.
• Influence decision-making through data-driven recommendations.

Process & Systems Enhancement

• Identify opportunities to improve planning processes, tools, and workflows.
• Support enhancements to forecasting, inventory, and financial systems to increase efficiency and scalability.
• Balance process rigor with the flexibility required in a fast-paced retail environment.

Required Experience & Skills

• Bachelor's degree in business, finance, merchandising, or a related field.
• Extensive experience in retail or wholesale planning within an omnichannel environment.
• Demonstrated people leadership experience, including team development and performance management.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and strong working knowledge of planning and forecasting platforms.
• Deep understanding of retail financial metrics, inventory planning, and open-to-buy management.
• Proven ability to manage leadership responsibilities while maintaining individual ownership of critical deliverables.

Key Attributes for Success

• Hands-On Strategic Leader: Comfortable moving between long-term vision and detailed execution.
• Strong Communicator: Able to clearly articulate insights and recommendations to senior leaders and operational partners.
• Analytical Problem Solver: Proactively identifies challenges and drives solutions grounded in data.
• Highly Organized: Effectively manages competing priorities across team leadership and direct business ownership.