Senior Merchandise Planner - Sports Retail

Summary

The senior merchandise planner, retail is responsible for driving sales, inventory, and profitability performance through strategic merchandise planning, open-to-buy (OTB) management, inventory optimization, allocation execution, and cross-functional partnership. This role serves as a key business partner to Merchandising, Operations, Distribution, Finance, and Retail Leadership teams, ensuring the right products are available in the right locations at the right time while maintaining inventory productivity and financial objectives.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Merchandise Planning & Open-to-Buy Management

• Develop and manage sales, inventory, and receipt budgets at the subcategory and vendor level.
• Maintain Open-to-Buy (OTB) plans and monitor sales, receipts, inventory levels and productivity against business objectives.
• Produce and analyze recurring sales and inventory reports, identifying trends, risks, and opportunities.
• Provide inventory and financial recommendations to support sales, margin, and profitability goals.
• Contribute to annual and in-season financial planning.

Merchandising & Vendor Partnership

• Work with Merchandisers on assortment planning, purchasing decisions, and vendor negotiations.
• Prepare and distribute vendor and category performance report cards to support buying decisions.
• Establish inventory investment guardrails and validate purchases against approved OTB plans and budgets.
• Collaborate with Merchandising to align inventory strategies with product launches, promotional initiatives, and seasonal business objectives.

Allocation & Inventory Optimization

• Develop and execute allocation strategies to support game day and store-level inventory needs.
• Build and maintain shipment schedules, coordinating with distribution, arena & retail leadership to optimize inventory flow.
• Communicate allocation decisions and shipment timing to stakeholders while accounting for delivery constraints and blackout periods.
• Partner with operations, retail leadership, and distribution teams to address inventory gaps and ensure inventory transfers and movements are accurately recorded.
• Provide post-game sales reporting and performance summaries to clients and business partners.
• Participate in occasional on-site game day support to validate operational insights and identify opportunities for improvement.

Inventory Management & Data Integrity

• Partner with Finance, Technology, Retail Operations, and other stakeholders to resolve item, inventory, and system data issues.
• Oversee inventory accuracy initiatives, including cycle count administration and reconciliation reporting.
• Support online inventory management processes and cross-channel inventory accuracy.
• Manage item and purchase order creation and sustainment including invoice reconciliation as needed

Pricing, Reporting & Systems Administration

• Maintain retail pricing within systems and ensure POS price accuracy.
• Analyze inventory performance to provide recommendations for promotions, markdowns, and inventory risk mitigation.
• Manage internal & external required sales data reporting.
• Identify opportunities to improve reporting, processes, and operational efficiency through enhanced analytics and system utilization.

Job Skills and Traits

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and retail reporting tools.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Merchandise Planning, Supply Chain, Retail Management, or a related field preferred; equivalent relevant professional experience will also be considered.
• 3+ years of experience in retail planning, merchandise planning, allocation, inventory management, or a related analytical retail function.
• Strong understanding of:
  • Open-to-Buy planning
  • Inventory management
  • Allocation strategies
  • Forecasting and budgeting
  • Retail financial metrics

Additional Notes

This role is directly responsible for inventory availability for in season sports team merchandise in retail locations and ecommerce including off season sales