Senior Manager, Retail Inventory Initiatives

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:

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Sr. Manager Retail Inventory Initiatives to join our dynamic team. As the Sr. Manager, you will be a critical leader that drives growth and owns the strategic long-term planning across retail inventory processes & initiatives as the business pertaining to specialty stores, new store concepts and ongoing inventory projects. You will play a critical role in optimizing our inventory management processes & business operations and leading the implementation of a new allocation solution to enhance accuracy & operational efficiency.

This role typically reports to the Senior Director, Inventory Management & Merchandising Systems, has 3 direct reports and is based in our Atlanta office.

Responsibilities:

50%: Strategic Projects & Initiatives - Inventory

• Lead the planning, execution, and management of inventory initiatives tied to corporate growth strategies across our organization.
• Serve as business lead on projects and initiatives, gathering business requirements from all key stakeholders, ensuring the result meets user needs.  
• Partner with product & IT teams and serve as a liaison between them and the business to communicate requirements, timeline, risk, etc.
• Lead impacted teams through change management by supporting creation of training materials, facilitating future state conversations, and acting as a champion of new initiatives while seeking and applying feedback.
• Gain leadership alignment by frequently presenting business requirements, change management, roadblocks, progress, etc.

25%: Specialty Stores & New Store Concepts:

• Develop and implement strategies to drive profitability across varying store concepts
• Collaborate with field leadership to diagnose product and store planning opportunities, utilizing store visits to cultivate relationships 
• Identify opportunities for store growth and efficiencies and build business case to help prioritize future roadmap
• Utilize data analysis and forecasting techniques to optimize clearance inventory management placement across the chain and drive gross margin improvements

25%: Team Management:

• Provide guidance, mentorship, and support to a team of inventory management professionals.
• Support team in inventory management practices & encourage critical thinking to promote strategic decision making
• Support team in creation of allocation strategies and provide recommendations that align with the sales plan. 
• Identify opportunities to optimize processes to drive efficiencies and profitability
• Foster a collaborative and results-oriented work environment.
• Set performance goals, conduct performance reviews, and provide ongoing training and development opportunities.

We’d Love to hear from you if:

Must have:

• 7 years + proven experience in inventory management or retail strategy, preferably in a retail or e-commerce environment
• Strong critical thinking, operational planning, and business curiosity with the ability to work in a complex cross functional environment
• Strong business acumen and understanding of inventory management practices & systems  
• Experience in leading strategic initiatives end-to-end, managing stakeholders, and running multiple projects simultaneously
• Highly effective communication and presentation skills - executive presence with experience presenting to senior leaders
• Collaborative partner developing relationships with all levels of the business
• Experience diagnosing, isolating and resolving complex issues. Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret and leverage data for decision-making.
• Creative and customer focused; ability to develop practical yet innovative solutions supporting positive change
• Bachelor’s degree

Preferred skills and experience:

• Passion for hiring, building and developing top talent
• Experience managing a large, multi-layered team
• Prioritize effectively for self and team while balancing feedback from multiple stakeholders

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.