Director of Planning

Role overview

Pepper is seeking a strategic, highly analytical Director of Planning to lead inventory planning, purchasing, and sales planning across the business. Reporting to the Chief Product Officer, this person will own the end-to-end Sales & Operations Planning process, balancing demand, inventory investment, production capacity, and supply constraints to support profitable growth.

The role calls for someone who can work comfortably at both the detailed and strategic levels: interpreting SKU and size-level performance, customer behavior, trend patterns, lead times, and supply risks, then turning those insights into channel plans, buy decisions, and operational actions. You will collaborate across Marketing, Design, Merchandising, Finance, Production, Sourcing, and Supply Chain to align demand with execution and help the company scale.

Demand planning and forecasting

• Own the company’s inventory sales forecast across seasonal launches, replenishment lines, and new category growth.
• Create and maintain bottom-up forecasts at the SKU, color, and size level using historical results, customer behavior, trend analysis, and business inputs.
• Develop forecasting approaches that reflect product lifecycle behavior such as launch ramps, replenishment curves, cannibalization, and demand decline.
• Work with Marketing and Merchandising to fold promotional plans, product launches, and customer acquisition trends into forecasts.
• Run forecast reviews and keep improving forecast accuracy across channels and categories.

Supply planning and inventory management

• Convert sales forecasts into inventory buy plans and vendor production plans that improve in-stock performance, inventory productivity, freight efficiency, warehouse utilization, and cash flow.
• Set and manage inventory targets such as weeks of supply, safety stock, reorder points, and overall inventory health.
• Weigh inventory needs against operational limits including production capacity, lead times, minimum order quantities, vendor capability, and raw material supply.
• Partner with sourcing and production teams to support timely replenishment and successful product launches.
• Oversee risk mitigation, scenario planning, and contingency plans to reduce stockouts and excess inventory.

Sales & Operations Planning leadership

• Lead the company’s S&OP process, aligning product sales forecasting, inventory efficiency, and inventory health and turn.
• Facilitate recurring cross-functional planning meetings and drive agreement on forecasts, risks, opportunities, and tradeoffs.
• Serve as the main coordination point between marketing, operational, and financial teams.
• Own planning objectives for the function and present clear recommendations in executive and cross-functional discussions.
• Act as a strategic partner to senior leadership on inventory investment, capacity planning, growth opportunities, and operational risk.

DTC and channel optimization

• Own in-stock performance and size-level availability to support a strong customer experience across e-commerce and marketplace channels.
• Optimize inventory allocation across DTC, marketplaces, Amazon, and wholesale partners based on demand signals and channel performance.
• Work with Merchandising to align inventory decisions with lifecycle stages such as launch, growth, replenishment, and markdown optimization.

Analytics, systems, and process improvement

• Track and report on key metrics including forecast accuracy, fill rate, inventory turns, stockouts, excess inventory, and service levels.
• Build dashboards, reporting tools, and scalable planning processes that improve visibility and decision-making.
• Identify risks and opportunities early and recommend actions backed by data.
• Partner with leadership to improve planning systems, forecasting tools, and operational workflows for greater efficiency and scalability.

Requirements

• 8-12+ years of inventory planning experience with clear growth in responsibility, leadership, and profit optimization.
• Strong background in bottom-up inventory management across both core and fashion styles, with lifecycle efficiency across categories.
• Experience with DTC or vertically designed products and end-to-end inventory planning ownership for apparel, intimates, or similarly size-sensitive consumer products is preferred.
• Solid understanding of apparel planning basics, including size curves, replenishment models, lifecycle planning, and inventory optimization.
• Demonstrated experience leading full S&OP or Integrated Business Planning processes.
• Proven ability to balance commercial demand with operational and supply chain constraints.
• Advanced analytical and financial modeling capability, plus strong Excel and planning system proficiency.
• Strong leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Experience building scalable planning processes in fast-growing companies is preferred.

Company values

Pepper emphasizes curiosity, resilience, and community. The team values people who ask thoughtful questions, keep learning, stay steady through challenges, and work well together to create meaningful impact for customers.

Benefits

• Health coverage with a 100% company-paid medical, vision, and dental option, plus supplemental insurance options.
• 401(k) matching up to 3%.
• Generous paid time off, including flexible PTO, federal holidays, and sick days.
• Fully remote workplace flexibility.
• Paid parental leave for eligible employees.
• Monthly wellness stipend.
• Annual company-wide offsite.
• The chance to play a major role in the growth of a mission-driven company.

Additional information

This position is remote within the United States and reports to the Chief Product Officer. Pepper is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions based on merit. The company does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, marital or veteran status, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic under federal, state, or local law.

Pepper also states that it will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, including arrest and conviction records, in accordance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

Information collected: Professional, employment-related, or schooling information, including work history, performance evaluations, educational background, grades, and transcripts.

Use of information: For professional, internal analysis, and employment-related purposes, including job applications.

Compensation

The expected annual salary for this role is $150,000 to $180,000. Final compensation may differ based on experience, skills, and location, and the offer may fall outside this range. Pepper notes that total rewards also include health and wellness benefits, remote work stipends, flexible paid time off, product discounts, and additional support.