Sales Planning Manager

Location: Hybrid
Start date: ASAP
Duration: Full-time / Permanent
Compensation range: $120,000–$150,000

About the role

We are seeking a Sales Planning Manager to serve as a key partner to the Sales organization and C-suite leadership within a global consumer brand.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage the 12–18 month rolling sales forecast for the wholesale business.
• Collect, analyze, and challenge forecast inputs from Sales leaders and account teams.
• Partner directly with Sales leadership to understand business trends, risks, opportunities, and forecast assumptions.
• Lead recurring forecast and business review meetings, including preparing presentations and communicating performance against expectations.
• Hold Sales leaders accountable to forecast commitments and business targets.
• Develop and manage annual wholesale budgets incorporating customers, margins, returns, discounts, and other commercial assumptions.
• Partner with Inventory and Demand Planning teams to ensure sales forecasts align with inventory requirements and business needs.
• Analyze wholesale trends, customer performance, sell-in, sell-through, order books, margins, returns, and discounts.
• Support retail reporting and aggregate retail selling data across key accounts.
• Explain the “why” behind the numbers, identifying the business drivers impacting performance.
• Build and maintain reporting and forecasting tools, primarily using advanced Excel while leveraging Power BI and other analytics platforms.
• Identify opportunities to improve planning processes, reporting, and data accuracy.
• Respond effectively to ad hoc business requests and analysis.
• Serve as a trusted business partner and subject matter expert for the wholesale organization.
• Eventually manage and develop a direct report supporting the planning function.

Requirements

• 5 years of experience in Sales Planning, Demand Planning, Inventory Planning, Business Planning, or a related function.
• Strong experience with sales forecasting, ideally owning a 12–18 month rolling forecast.
• Experience working directly with Sales leadership and account teams.
• Strong inventory and demand planning knowledge.
• Experience within retail, wholesale, footwear, apparel, or consumer goods.
• Understanding of sell-in, sell-through, margins, returns, discounts, and order books.
• Advanced Excel skills.
• Strong Power BI / data analytics experience.
• Experience working with merchandising and/or demand planning teams.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Comfortable challenging assumptions and holding senior Sales stakeholders accountable.
• Ability to interpret complex data and communicate clear business recommendations.
• Strong relationship-building skills with the ability to work cross-functionally.
• Must be authorized to work in the U.S.; this position is not eligible for sponsorship.

Preferred Qualifications

• Background with a major footwear, apparel, sporting goods, or consumer brand.
• Experience supporting major wholesale/retail accounts such as Nordstrom, Dillard’s, Amazon, or similar retailers.
• Experience running forecast, demand consensus, or business review meetings.
• Experience with retail reporting and sell-through analytics.
• Footwear industry experience is strongly preferred; soft goods/apparel or related consumer products experience will also be considered.
• Experience working in environments where data and reporting processes are evolving.

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• 401K
• Paid time off