Associate Merchandise Planner

Serving the needs of all families with young children, Carter’s Inc. is the largest North American apparel retailer exclusively for babies and young children, encompassing Carter’s, OshKosh B’gosh, Skip*Hop and Little Planet brands. Meaningful work, constant learning, genuine people, and a community guided by core values that promote inclusion and innovation is in everything we do. There are many reasons to build your career at Carter's.

The Carter’s Retail Planning team is responsible for developing short and mid-range merchandise strategies, buy quantification and financial plans, working cross-functionally with our Merchandising, Marketing, Pricing, Allocations and Location Planning teams to achieve key financial objectives for CRI. 

The Associate Planner is a critical member of the team focusing on the day-to-day operations of the Planning office and contributes directly to supporting company-wide initiatives that will ensure Carter’s remains a leading children’s brand.

This role supports the Planning team with relevant data to drive the business, provides critical administrative functions, and collaborates with cross-functional partners to ensure the key strategies are executed. We are looking for a candidate who possesses strong organizational skills, is energized by multi-tasking in a fast-paced environment, is curious about business trends and analytics, and has a passion for planning, customer experience, and delivering results.

35% Pre-Season Strategy and Financial Plans

• Manage topside brand level financial growth targets to inform the seasonal product line structure, in partnership with Planning & Merchandising teams.
• Support new growth opportunities through analysis of historical performance and profitability in alignment with cross functional partner strategies. (e.g., Little Planet, OshKosh Profitability, other Growth Initiatives)
• Collaborate with Merchandising, Planning and Pricing teams to implement and report out on cross-functional growth initiatives.

40% In-Season Plan Management

• Coordinate specified projects, tasks, and / or deliverables; understand objectives, identify resources, meet set timelines, communicate results to business partners.
• Prepare consolidated materials and create executive reporting packages for key meetings and forecast cycles (monthly/quarterly E reporting, Monthly Business Review meetings, Leadership Team meetings, Earnings preparation, Board of Directors meetings)
• Hindsight current business and make recommendations on category changes and style level needs for future buys to support financial targets by brand.

25% Analytics: 

• Perform ad hoc analysis which enables tactical and strategic decision making.  Provide direction and make recommendations.
• Provide analytical support to the planning team by quantifying impact of strategic and assortment changes
• Provide analysis to business partners in support of growth initiatives, projects and current business needs
• Simplify processes and automate standard reporting; explore and leverage business intelligence tools for reporting (i.e., Tableau)

We’d Love to hear from you if:

Must have:

• 3+ years in a buying/planning environment required (purchase order management, price change management, seasonal preparation, report analysis, manage a product category, special project leader, site merchandising)
• Analytical Skills, Strong Retail Financial Acumen/Math
• Strong understanding of a retail product assortment, breadth and depth, promotional pricing, entrance and exit strategies
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
• Self-Starter, Strong Communication Skills, Flexible, Collaborative
• Intellectual business curiosity.  Ability to conceptualize and transform an idea into a project

Preferred skills and experience:

• Knowledge of Tableau
• Highly Organized, Ability to Multi-Task, Detail-Oriented, Deadline-Oriented
• Ability to manage large amounts of data and multiple projects

OUR Team Members:

• Lead Courageously: Have a strong sense of personal values that align with our Company values
• Collaborates Broadly: Build cooperation, trust, and thrive in a consensus driven environment
• Customer Focus: Proactively seek opportunities to leverage data and fact-based insights to serve customers and/or internal clients
• Drive Growth: Set aggressive goals and implement plans precisely
• Cultivates Innovation:  Respectfully challenge the "we’ve always done it this way" mentality and explore new ways to achieve desired outcomes

Make a career at Carter’s:

• Career Development: Success starts from within, and we have several paths from which you can choose to enhance your career evolution. From Carter’s University to Toastmasters to mentorship programs and more, we encourage you to utilize these tools to elevate your professional prowess.

NOTE:  This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. The duties described may be changed or reassigned at the discretion of management, and the employee may be required to perform duties that are not listed in the job description.

Carters is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law.