Sr. Planner, Central Planning (Hybrid- Rosemont, IL)

Brief Description ob Description Title: Sr. Planner, Central Planning FLSA Status: Exempt Comp Target: $120,000 Reports to: Director, Planning Department: Planning & Allocation Job Profile: Manager I, Planning & Allocation Direct Reports: 1 Location: Rosemont Date Revised: September 14, 2026 General Summary The Senior Planner, Central Planning plays a key role in managing Claire's total-company financial planning process across sales, margin, inventory, and OTB. This role translates enterprise financial targets into actionable planning guardrails, consolidates category plans into a total-company view, and identifies risks, opportunities, and recommended actions for leadership. As a key connection point between Finance, Category Planning, and the Director of Central Planning, this role drives cross-category alignment and owns recurring enterprise planning processes, reporting, and analysis. The Senior Planner will also help build the tools, processes, and operating cadence of a newly forming Central Planning function. Key Responsibilities Function Build-Out: Help build the framework, cadence, and tools for a newly forming Central Planning function, including the seasonal planning calendar and process governance that don't yet exist today Monthly Plan Review (MPR): Own the mechanics of the Monthly Plan Review, consolidating category performance and forecast updates into one enterprise view each month Top-Down Target Setting: Translate enterprise sales, margin, and inventory targets into department and category-level guardrails each season Total Company OTB: Own the total company OTB roll-up; reconcile category-level plans against enterprise targets and flag gaps Cross-Category Reconciliation: Partner with category Planners and Senior Planners to align their plans to guardrails; escalate conflicts and trade-offs to the Director Enterprise Weekly Business Review: Consolidate category-level WBR inputs into one total company narrative for leadership Quarterly Hindsighting: Own quarterly hindsighting analysis, evaluating plan-to-actual performance across categories to inform future seasonal strategy Inventory Investment Strategy: Partner with Finance on inventory investment and capital allocation decisions across categories Oracle Merchandising Platform: Serve as the Central Planning lead on requirements, testing, and readiness for the Oracle transition Leadership Partnership: Act as a thought partner to the Director, Central Planning, surfacing trends, risks, and recommendations at the enterprise level. Qualifications Bachelor's degree in business, finance, or a related field, or equivalent experience 5-7 years of experience in merchandise planning, financial planning, or FP&A, ideally with exposure to total company or enterprise-level planning Deep retail math fluency (OTB, turn, sell-through, margin) and comfort reconciling plans across multiple categories Strong Excel and planning systems skills (Oracle experience a plus) Executive-ready communication skills; comfortable presenting a consolidated, enterprise-level view to senior leadership Highly organized and process-oriented; able to own a recurring, cross-functional cadence independently Curious and collaborative, energized by building a new function from the ground up Requirements General Summary The Senior Planner, Central Planning plays a key role in managing Claire's total-company financial planning process across sales, margin, inventory, and OTB. This role translates enterprise financial targets into actionable planning guardrails, consolidates category plans into a total-company view, and identifies risks, opportunities, and recommended actions for leadership. As a key connection point between Finance, Category Planning, and the Director of Central Planning, this role drives cross-category alignment and owns recurring enterprise planning processes, reporting, and analysis. The Senior Planner will also help build the tools, processes, and operating cadence of a newly forming Central Planning function. Key Responsibilities Function Build-Out: Help build the framework, cadence, and tools for a newly forming Central Planning function, including the seasonal planning calendar and process governance that don't yet exist today Monthly Plan Review (MPR): Own the mechanics of the Monthly Plan Review, consolidating category performance and forecast updates into one enterprise view each month Top-Down Target Setting: Translate enterprise sales, margin, and inventory targets into department and category-level guardrails each season Total Company OTB: Own the total company OTB roll-up; reconcile category-level plans against enterprise targets and flag gaps Cross-Category Reconciliation: Partner with category Planners and Senior Planners to align their plans to guardrails; escalate conflicts and trade-offs to the Director Enterprise Weekly Business Review: Consolidate category-level WBR inputs into one total company narrative for leadership Quarterly Hindsighting: Own quarterly hindsighting analysis, evaluating plan-to-actual performance across categories to inform future seasonal strategy Inventory Investment Strategy: Partner with Finance on inventory investment and capital allocation decisions across categories Oracle Merchandising Platform: Serve as the Central Planning lead on requirements, testing, and readiness for the Oracle transition Leadership Partnership: Act as a thought partner to the Director, Central Planning, surfacing trends, risks, and recommendations at the enterprise level. Summary Claire’s is committed to adhering to all applicable company policies and federal, state, and local laws and regulations. All positions will be compensated at or above the legally mandated minimum wage for the location in which work is performed. The final compensation will be determined by various factors such as relevant work experience, education, certifications, skills, and geographic location. Benefits for full-time employees included medical, dental, and vision insurance, voluntary welfare plans, bonus plan eligibility, 401(k) match, vacation time, sick time* and paid leave. Benefits for part-time employees included voluntary welfare plans, 401(k) match, vacation time, sick time* and paid leave in required states. Sick Time: For the State of Washington, all employees will accrue paid sick time at the rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. Claire's is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion and we encourage applications from members of all underrepresented groups, including those with disabilities. We will accommodate applicants' needs, upon request, throughout all stages of the recruitment process. Please inform us of the accommodation(s) that you may require. Information received relating to accommodation will be addressed confidentially. To request accommodation, please email Benefits@claires.com. Only messages sent for this purpose will be considered.