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.

How you’ll make an impact:

Do you have a real passion for forecasting and planning? We are very excited to have an opportunity available for a Merchandise Planner to join the Carter’s team! This Planning role will be responsible for developing short and mid-range financial plans, as well and providing insight on long range plans and outlook. The ideal candidate should be entrepreneurial in that their approach to planning with a desire to identify growth opportunities.

• Create 18 month bottom- up financial plans by product classification aligned to top down financial targets to establish annual budgets and open to buy
• In partnership with the buyer, align assortment strategies (store assortments, pricing, buy quantities) to achieve the financial plans
• Manage 12-18 month style level ladder plans/ forecasts to determine optimal replenishment flows in alignment with retail turn and weeks of supply goals
• Partner with buying monthly to execute replenishment orders while staying within overall receipt targets
• Gain pre-season alignment on promotional strategies working heavily with Buying as well as Pricing teams
• Execute monthly/as needed re-forecast of comprehensive financial plan aligned top-down goals
• Re-forecast sales, margin, and inventory based on current trends, weekly or as needed
• Partner with finance to provide insight for long range plans and strategy to support future growth
• Provide analytical support to the buying team by quantifying impact of strategic, promotion, and assortment changes
• Build a partnership with allocation in executing store receipts, strategies, buy targets, launch minimums, and program setups
• Communicate with business process and IT teams to advance system capabilities or troubleshoot data discrepancies
• Provide ad hoc business reports and analysis as needed

We’d Love to hear from you if:

Must have:

• 4+ years of experience in planning principles, financial budgeting, retail fundamentals, ad hoc reporting and analysis
• Bachelor’s degree required
• Planning principles, financial budgeting, retail fundamentals, ad hoc reporting and analysis
• Strong analytical skills, proficient with planning systems (e.g. JDA), proficient with Microsoft Excel
• Ability to synthesize large amounts of data into trends and initiate action
• Work cross-functionally with Inventory Analysts, Business Process teams and store partners

Preferred skills and experience:

• Accountable, self-motivated, hands-on, dynamic leadership style that can productively impact both strategic and tactical financial outcomes
• Strong communication and presentation skills. Poise and comfort presenting to all levels of leadership
• Experience managing and motivating team members

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.