Sr. Manager, Merchandising Planning & Analysis

We need to output HTML fragment with sections only if real content. Use

for headings: About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule. We need to map content. From posting: Overview: description of role. Could be "About the role". Use

About the role

then

with overview text. Primary Responsibilities: list bullet points. Use

Responsibilities

then

• each. Education and Experience: could be "Qualifications" or "Requirements". The posting has Education and Experience, Technical Competencies & Information Systems, Skills & Abilities, Additional Language Skills, Personal Attributes & Other/Preferred. We need to decide sections. We have headings allowed: About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule. We need to include sections only if real content. We have content for Responsibilities (yes). For Requirements: maybe Education and Experience + Technical Competencies? Could be Requirements. For Qualifications: maybe Education and Experience? But we have both Requirements and Qualifications allowed; we need to avoid duplication. Probably combine education/experience into Requirements, and skills into Skills. Qualifications maybe not needed if no distinct content. We have Skills & Abilities: list of competencies (Strategic Thinking, Analytical Acumen, Collaboration & Influence, Results Orientation, Adaptability, Leadership). Also Additional Language Skills: Excellent communication, presentation, interpersonal skills. Also Personal Attributes: ability to manage multiple priorities, detail-oriented, organizational, problem-solving. We could put all those under Skills heading. Benefits: posting mentions "competitive salaries, a benefits package, which includes a 401(k) and more". Also "You may be eligible to participate in an incentive program". So we have benefits content. Pay: salary range $106,500/year to $130,000/year. Schedule: not mentioned. So we should not include Schedule heading. We also have "About The ODP Group" and "Commitment to Safety" etc. Those are boilerplate? Might be considered company overview but not required. The instruction: remove cookie/navigation/legal/EEO/equal-opportunity/scam-warning boilerplate, duplicated lines, and application instructions. The "About The ODP Group" is not boilerplate but maybe considered company description; could be part of About the role? Might be okay to include in About the role? But we already have overview. Could add a separate paragraph about company under About the role? The instruction: "Prefer a few substantive sections over many thin ones." So we can incorporate company description into About the role paragraph. We must not repeat job title as heading. Not include Job ID. We must preserve all substantive information; do not invent or summarize away detail. So we need to keep details like specific bullet points. Let's extract responsibilities bullets: - Owns and publishes detailed sales and margin forecasts for assigned categories, integrating insights from Merchants, Finance, and other stakeholders. - Conducts in-depth analysis of sales trends, inventory performance, and assortment productivity. - Monitors key profitability drivers—including COGS, marketplace fees, and distribution expenses—to ensure positive variable profit and support data-driven decision making. - Develops and maintains reporting dashboards to communicate results and opportunities to leadership. - Partners with Merchandising and Product teams to develop, optimize, and rationalize product assortments across Retail, E-commerce, and B2B channels. - Manages product lifecycle transitions, including introductions, exits, and end-of-life strategies, with a focus on maximizing profitability and minimizing margin erosion. - Collaborates with Inventory Accounting to assess reserve levels and balance discounting strategies for discontinued items. - Conducts competitive and market analysis to inform assortment decisions. - Collaborates with Pricing teams to ensure competitive and profitable pricing strategies. - Analyzes pricing impacts and recommends adjustments to drive sales and margin improvement. - Supports the planning, execution, and post-analysis of promotional activities, evaluating effectiveness and identifying future opportunities. - Provides recommendations for pricing and promotional tactics based on data and market trends. - Works closely with Merchandising, Marketing, Pricing, Inventory Accounting, and Supply Chain teams to ensure alignment on product launches, promotions, assortment changes, and lifecycle management. - Acts as a key liaison to gather inputs, share insights, and drive consensus on business strategies. - Facilitates communication and alignment across functions to support seamless execution. - Identifies and implements process improvements to enhance merchandising planning, reporting, and execution. - Champions the adoption of new tools and technologies—including AI—to improve data visibility, forecasting accuracy, and decision-making. - Continuously seeks opportunities to streamline workflows and drive operational excellence. That's a lot; we keep them. Education and Experience: - Level of Formal Education: Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience - Area of Study: Business, Finance, Merchandising, or related field; MBA or advanced degree a plus. - Minimum Years of Experience: 7 - Type of Experience: merchandise planning, inventory management, or related retail planning roles. - Experience with data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) is a plus Technical Competencies & Information Systems: - Strong analytical and quantitative skills; proficiency in Excel and planning software (e.g., JDA, Oracle, SAP). Skills & Abilities: - Strategic Thinking - Analytical Acumen - Collaboration & Influence - Results Orientation - Adaptability - Leadership Additional Language Skills: - Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills. Personal Attributes & Other/Preferred: - Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. - Detail-oriented with strong organizational and problem-solving abilities. We could combine Technical Competencies into Skills or Requirements. Since we have Skills heading, we can put all skill-related items there. Requirements could be education/experience. Qualifications maybe not needed. Benefits: - competitive salaries - benefits package, which includes a 401(k) and more - opportunities to move and grow within organization - eligibility to participate in an incentive program, paid in accordance with the Incentive Plan terms and conditions. Pay: - salary range $106,500/year to $130,000/year, with note about state/local minimum wages compliance. Schedule: none. Now produce HTML. Structure:

  About the role

  Overview text + maybe company description.

  Responsibilities

  ...

  Requirements

  ...
  (education/experience)

  Skills

  ...
  (technical competencies, skills & abilities, additional language, personal attributes)

  Benefits

  ...

  Pay

  ...

  Make sure not to include empty sections. We need to preserve all substantive information; we must not omit any detail. Let's ensure we include all points. Overview paragraph: combine overview description and About The ODP Group and Commitment to Safety? The Commitment to Safety is maybe boilerplate but could be considered substantive? It's a statement about safety culture. Might be considered boilerplate? The instruction says remove EEO/equal-opportunity/scam-warning boilerplate. Safety commitment maybe not boilerplate but could be considered generic. Safer to omit? It's not about role. I'd omit it to keep focused. Thus About the role paragraph: "The Sr. Manager, Merchandising Planning & Analysis is a key driver of profitable growth and operational excellence across Retail, E-commerce, and B2B channels. This role leverages data and analytics to inform assortment strategies, optimize product lifecycles, and support competitive pricing and promotional decisions. Working closely with cross-functional teams—including Merchandising, Product Management, Pricing, Inventory Accounting, Supply Chain, and Marketing—the role ensures category plans align with business objectives and market trends. They are responsible for developing accurate sales and margin forecasts, analyzing category performance, and providing actionable insights that influence critical business decisions, while also managing the end-to-end product lifecycle to maximize profitability and minimize risk. Although the role does not directly manage open-to-buy budgets or execute purchasing and allocation decisions, they serve as a vital thought partner to those functions, ensuring inventory, pricing, and promotional strategies are informed by robust analysis and market intelligence. The role also champions process improvement and innovation, including the adoption of advanced analytics and AI tools to enhance data visibility, forecasting accuracy, and decision-making. This highly collaborative and strategic position requires strong business acumen, attention to detail, and the ability to influence without direct authority. The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced environment, is passionate about continuous improvement, and plays a crucial role in shaping the future success of the merchandising organization. The ODP Group, through its business entities ODP Business Solutions and Office Depot, is a leading provider of products, services, and technology solutions through an integrated business-to-business (B2B) distribution platform and omnichannel presence, which includes world-class supply chain and distribution operations, dedicated sales professionals, online presence, and a network of Office Depot and OfficeMax retail stores." That seems comprehensive. Now Responsibilities list: we need to ensure each bullet is a
• . We'll copy the bullets exactly as in posting. Let's list them: 1. Owns and publishes detailed sales and margin forecasts for assigned categories, integrating insights from Merchants, Finance, and other stakeholders. 2. Conducts in-depth analysis of sales trends, inventory performance, and assortment productivity. 3. Monitors key profitability drivers—including COGS, marketplace fees, and distribution expenses—to ensure positive variable profit and support data-driven decision making. 4. Develops and maintains reporting dashboards to communicate results and opportunities to leadership. 5. Partners with Merchandising and Product teams to develop, optimize, and rationalize product assortments across Retail, E-commerce, and B2B channels. 6. Manages product lifecycle transitions, including introductions, exits, and end-of-life strategies, with a focus on maximizing profitability and minimizing margin erosion. 7. Collaborates with Inventory Accounting to assess reserve levels and balance discounting strategies for discontinued items. 8. Conducts competitive and market analysis to inform assortment decisions. 9. Collaborates with Pricing teams to ensure competitive and profitable pricing strategies. 10. Analyzes pricing impacts and recommends adjustments to drive sales and margin improvement. 11. Supports the planning, execution, and post-analysis of promotional activities, evaluating effectiveness and identifying future opportunities. 12. Provides recommendations for pricing and promotional tactics based on data and market trends. 13. Works closely with Merchandising, Marketing, Pricing, Inventory Accounting, and Supply Chain teams to ensure alignment on product launches, promotions, assortment changes, and lifecycle management. 14. Acts as a key liaison to gather inputs, share insights, and drive consensus on business strategies. 15. Facilitates communication and alignment across functions to support seamless execution. 16. Identifies and implements process improvements to enhance merchandising planning, reporting, and execution. 17. Champions the adoption of new tools and technologies—including AI—to improve data visibility, forecasting accuracy, and decision-making. 18. Continuously seeks opportunities to streamline workflows and drive operational excellence. Now Requirements (education/experience): - Level of Formal Education: Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience - Area of Study: Business, Finance, Merchandising, or related field; MBA or advanced degree a plus. - Minimum Years of Experience: 7 - Type of Experience: merchandise planning, inventory management, or related retail planning roles. - Experience with data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) is a plus We could also include Technical Competencies here? But we have Skills heading for technical competencies. Let's put technical competencies under Skills. Skills list: - Strong analytical and quantitative skills; proficiency in Excel and planning software (e.g., JDA, Oracle, SAP). - Strategic Thinking - Analytical Acumen - Collaboration & Influence - Results Orientation - Adaptability - Leadership - Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills. - Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. - Detail-oriented with strong organizational and