Manager, Planning

About the role

Centric Brands is a leading lifestyle brand collective that designs, sources, markets, and sells high-quality products in multiple segments, including women’s, men’s, and kid’s apparel, accessories, entertainment, and beauty. Centric Brands is focused on its customers and brands that will drive the company’s future growth. We are defined by innovation as we seize new opportunities and thrive in an environment informed by creativity and thinking that is both analytical and outside the box. Centric Brands reflects a team built on respect, for others and for the hard work it takes to achieve our goals and build our bright future together.

Responsibilities

• Build relationships with key retailers to partner on developing plans and ensure key KPIs are met.

• Develop and track financial OTB plans for key accounts/brands.

• Develop seasonal class level sales plans for key accounts/brands.

• Develop assortment plans for key accounts, guiding assortment decisions with data-backed recommendations.

• Ensure accurate store matrices/clusters are shared and used when planning.

• Analyze door performance and make recommendations on door distribution for key accounts.

• Lead post-season hindsight processes to identify missed opportunities and future needs.

• Improve the retail reporting process, developing and evolving reports and analytics that support both internal and external business reviews.

• Ensure the right analytics are distributed to the right levels of the organization.

• Take on Ad-Hoc projects in response to business needs.

• Oversee the replenishment process, collaborating with accounts, sales, and demand planning on promotions, sales trends, and strategies, ensuring accurate demand forecasts and alignment with business goals.

• Monitor and ensure that there is responsible inventory purchasing, making sure weeks of supply targets are maintained, factoring in case packs, lead times, and minimum order quantities.

• Regularly perform SKU rationalizations and long-tail analysis to ensure proper assortments and anticipate all transitions.

• Plan eliminations of under-productive SKUs with replacements where needed.

• Collaborate with production, design, and sales to create seasonal line plans at various levels of brand/channel/account.

• Guide the seasonal SKU planning process to ensure maximum SKU productivity, using long-tail analysis to eliminate unproductive SKUs.

• Share post-season hindsight findings with the production, design, and sales teams to help guide future season development.

• Build and maintain partnerships with division heads and sales teams, collaborating on account forecasts to build comprehensive revenue and margin plans.

• Participate in the monthly LE (latest estimate) process; accurately forecasting sales and gross margin for all accounts.

• Clearly communicate variances, providing supporting details, versus budget, last year, and previous projections, offering mitigation plans when necessary.

• Maintain monthly updated risks and opportunities for all areas of the business.

• Track ATS inventory and develop sell-off disposition plans at appropriate discount/dilution rates.

• Inventory Planning:

  • Participate in the weekly PO release process, ensuring that all production that is placed fits into the budget.
  • Monitor monthly inventory roll process, ensuring inventory turn targets are hit while optimizing cash flow.
  • Ensure inbound and outbound inventory is balanced across all segments of the business.
  • Help drive direct shipments to save on distribution costs.

• Strategy and Analytics:

  • Leverage dashboards and analytics tools (e.g., Sigma) to improve reporting, visibility, and decision-making.
  • Identify opportunities to use automation, AI, and process improvements to drive efficiency, accuracy, and scalability.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business, Merchandising, Supply Chain, or a related field.
• 5-8 years of experience in Planning, Merchandising, or Inventory Management within retail or wholesale environments.
• Strong financial and analytical skills with experience in OTB, forecasting, and variance analysis.
• Advanced Excel skills; experience with reporting and BI tools preferred.
• Proven ability to collaborate cross-functionally and communicate insights to both internal teams and external partners.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in retail or wholesale environments.
• Strong financial and analytical skills.
• Advanced Excel skills.
• Ability to collaborate cross-functionally.
• Detail-oriented and organized.
• Experience with planning, merchandising, and inventory management.

Skills

• Financial and analytical skills.
• Collaboration and communication.
• Data-driven decision-making.
• Excel proficiency.
• Planning and merchandising experience.
• Inventory management expertise.

Benefits

At Centric Brands, we provide an industry-competitive salary, along with a comprehensive benefits plan (medical, dental, vision) that includes a matching 401(k), Summer Fridays, generous PTO, merchandise discounts, excellent career development opportunities, and a work environment that reflects our industry leadership. Our social impact program, Centric Cares, focuses on volunteerism to make a difference in communities we live and work in, and our D&I committee is shaping the future of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Centric Brands through workshops, resources, and inspiring conversations.

Pay

Salary Range: $95,000 - $120,000

Schedule

Full-time position.