Director of Planning

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Take ownership of the company’s inventory sales forecast plan across seasonal launches, replenishment initiatives, and expansion into new categories.

• Create and oversee bottom-up forecasts at the SKU, color, and size levels, utilizing historical data, customer behavior insights, trend analysis, and business inputs.

• Formulate forecasting methodologies that consider lifecycle dynamics, including launch ramps, replenishment curves, cannibalization, and demand decay.

• Collaborate with Marketing and Merchandising to integrate promotional activities, product launches, and customer acquisition trends into the forecasts.

• Lead forecast reviews and consistently enhance forecast accuracy across various channels and categories.

• Convert strategic sales forecasts into inventory purchase plans and vendor production plans that maximize in-stock rates, inventory productivity, freight efficiency, warehouse space, and cash flow.

• Manage inventory targets, including weeks of supply, safety stock, reorder points, and inventory health metrics.

• Balance anticipated inventory requirements by category with operational constraints such as production capacity, lead times, minimum order quantity (MOQ) requirements, vendor capabilities, and raw material availability.

• Work alongside sourcing and production teams to ensure prompt replenishment and successful execution of product launches.

• Oversee inventory risk management, scenario planning, and contingency strategies to minimize stockouts and excess inventory.

• Lead the organization’s Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process, ensuring alignment on inventory efficiency, sales forecasting by style, and inventory health and turnover.

• Facilitate regular cross-functional planning meetings, driving consensus on forecasts, risks, opportunities, and operational trade-offs.

• Act as the primary coordination point among marketing, operational, and financial teams.

• Own departmental planning objectives and provide clear recommendations and insights during executive and cross-functional meetings.

• Serve as a strategic thought partner to executive leadership on inventory investment, capacity planning, growth opportunities, and operational risks.

• Manage in-stock rates and size-level availability to guarantee a superior customer experience across e-commerce and marketplace channels.

• Optimize inventory distribution across direct-to-consumer (DTC), marketplaces, Amazon, and wholesale partners based on demand signals and channel performance.

• Collaborate with Merchandising to ensure inventory aligns with product lifecycle strategies, including launch, growth, replenishment, and markdown optimization.

• Monitor and report on key metrics such as forecast accuracy, fill rate, inventory turnover, stockouts, excess inventory, and service levels.

• Develop dashboards, reporting tools, and scalable planning processes that enhance visibility and decision-making.

• Identify operational risks and opportunities early, recommending data-driven actions.

• Collaborate with leadership to implement and refine planning systems, forecasting tools, and operational workflows to boost efficiency and scalability.

⛳️ Requirements

• 8-12+ years of inventory planning experience demonstrating career progression, leadership, and profit optimization.

• Strong foundation in bottom-up inventory management, handling both core and fashion styles while managing lifecycle efficiencies across categories.

• Experience with direct-to-consumer (DTC) or vertically integrated products, possessing end-to-end inventory planning responsibility for apparel, intimates, or other size-sensitive consumer products is preferred.

• In-depth understanding of apparel planning fundamentals, including size curves, replenishment models, lifecycle planning, and inventory optimization.

• Proven track record in leading end-to-end Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) or Integrated Business Planning (IBP) processes.

• Experience in balancing commercial demand with operational and supply chain constraints.

• Advanced analytical and financial modeling skills; high proficiency in Excel and planning systems.

• Strong leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

• Experience in establishing scalable planning processes in high-growth environments is preferred.

🏝️ Benefits

• Comprehensive health benefits, including a 100% company-covered option for medical, vision, and dental insurance, along with supplemental insurance options.

• Company-matched 401K plan up to 3%.

• Generous paid time off program featuring flexible PTO days, federal holidays, and sick days.

• Flexible remote work environment.

• Paid parental leave for qualifying employees.

• Monthly wellness stipend.

• Annual company-wide offsite.

• Play a significant role in the growth of a company with a meaningful mission.