Senior Merchandise Planner

This role is a great opportunity for an experienced Senior Merchandise Planner to join a fast-moving team and take ownership from day one. We’re looking for someone commercially minded, confident working with both internal teams and brand partners, and able to quickly build strong relationships. As this is a parental leave cover, you’ll be comfortable stepping in, getting up to speed quickly, and delivering strong planning and trading outcomes.

Role Purpose

The Senior Merchandise Planner is responsible for leading the merchandise planning process for an assigned brand, ensuring sales, margin, and inventory objectives are achieved. The role partners closely with internal cross-functional teams and external brand partners to develop robust plans, respond to trade performance, and support commercially sound decision-making across the season.

This is a 12 month Maximum Term contract role.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, manage, and reforecast seasonal, monthly, and weekly merchandise plans for the assigned brand
• Own sales, margin, stock, markdown, and intake plans, ensuring alignment with financial targets and strategic objectives
• Analyse historical performance, current trade, market trends, and inventory position to identify risks and opportunities
• Provide clear, data-led recommendations on trading actions to optimise sales, profitability, and stock efficiency
• Partner closely with buying, allocation, supply chain, finance, and retail teams to align plans and support execution
• Lead regular review meetings, presenting performance insights, forecast updates, and recommended actions to key stakeholders
• Manage open-to-buy and inventory flow to ensure the right stock is available at the right time, while minimising excess and aged inventory
• Support range planning and assortment decisions through robust analysis of product performance, category mix, and demand patterns
• Monitor the impact of promotions, markdowns, and trading events, and adjust plans accordingly
• Maintain and improve planning tools, reports, and processes to support efficient and accurate decision-making

Stakeholder Management

• A key component of this role is building strong, credible relationships with both internal stakeholders and external brand partners. The Senior Merchandise Planner must be comfortable working across organisational boundaries, influencing decisions through insight, and balancing brand priorities with the commercial needs of the business.
• Act as a trusted planning partner to external brand stakeholders, maintaining clear, professional, and solutions-focused communication
• Build effective relationships with internal teams to ensure alignment on plans, priorities, and execution
• Influence outcomes through strong commercial rationale, collaboration, and confident presentation of insights and recommendations
• Navigate differing priorities with diplomacy and pragmatism, ensuring decisions support both brand objectives and business performance

Skills and Experience

• Significant experience in merchandise planning within retail, wholesale, or a related consumer business
• Demonstrated ability to manage planning for complex categories or brands with a high degree of commercial accountability
• Strong forecasting, financial planning, and inventory management capability
• Advanced analytical skills, with strong attention to detail and confidence working with data to drive decisions
• Highly developed stakeholder management and communication skills, particularly in roles requiring cross-functional and external brand engagement
• Ability to operate autonomously, prioritise effectively, and adapt quickly in a fast-moving environment
• Strong systems capability, including advanced Excel and experience with merchandise planning tools and reporting platforms
• Proven ability to identify risks, solve problems, and take action with pace and sound judgement

What Success Looks Like

• Quickly establishes credibility with internal teams and external stakeholders
• Takes ownership of the remit with minimal handover and begins adding value early in the assignment
• Delivers accurate, commercially relevant plans and forecasts that support sales, margin, and inventory outcomes
• Proactively identifies trade risks and opportunities and responds with clear recommendations
• Creates strong alignment across stakeholders and contributes positively to team momentum and decision-making

Ideal Candidate Profile

We are looking for a confident, commercially minded Senior Planner who combines strong technical capability with excellent relationship management. The ideal candidate will be comfortable stepping into an established role, navigating a broad stakeholder group, and making sound decisions quickly. Experience working with external brands, suppliers, or strategic partners will be highly regarded.