Director of Planning

About the Role

Vida Shoes International is looking for a strategic and analytically focused Director of Planning to oversee the comprehensive planning operations for its expanding array of direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. This individual will be responsible for managing the Open-to-Buy (OTB) processes, demand forecasting, receipt scheduling, and inventory strategies across several brands and ecommerce channels. The goal is to ensure optimal product availability, maximizing sales, margin, and inventory efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the full OTB process for multiple DTC brands, incorporating all categories, sales channels, and seasons.
• Create and maintain monthly OTB budgets at both brand and category levels, alongside developing frameworks that balance sales, receipt flow, inventory, and margin goals.
• Direct the demand planning function by transforming sales history, trends, and business intelligence into accurate product forecasts, fostering alignment with buying, merchandising, and finance teams.
• Devise receipt flow plans aligned with OTB, warehouse capacity, and promotion schedules.
• Collaborate with Ecommerce leadership and merchandising teams to develop monthly promotional calendars to optimize inventory management and demand planning.
• Construct and refine size curve models informed by historical sales data, customer insights, and market trends.
• Oversee the seasonal and annual merchandise financial plans in collaboration with finance, buying teams, and leadership.
• Generate detailed weekly, monthly, and seasonal reports on sales, margins, inventory status, and OTB variances.
• Conduct scenario analyses to guide decisions on receipt adjustments, cancellations, and opportunistic purchasing.
• Present performance updates and strategic recommendations regularly to Ecommerce executives.
• Set inventory targets such as weeks of supply, turnover rates, and markdown parameters by category.
• Monitor inventory health compared to OTB plans and make proactive adjustments based on real-time business trends.
• Implement inventory optimization strategies to reduce excess and aged stock while preserving sales potential.
• Manage ecommerce inventory allocation strategies including site availability, sell-through metrics, and demand forecasting with relevant KPIs.
• Develop planning models that consider online sales dynamics including seasonal spikes and campaign-driven demand.
• Identify inventory risks and opportunities, delivering actionable insights to merchandising and senior management.
• Serve as the lead planning liaison with buying, merchandising, and ecommerce teams to ensure cohesive strategy and execution.
• Establish scalable planning best practices, processes, and analytical frameworks.
• Promote a data-driven culture and act as a resource and thought leader on inventory and financial planning.

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years of progressively responsible experience in retail merchandise, inventory, or demand planning, including at least 4 years in senior/director positions managing OTB, forecasting, receipt planning, and size curve development.
• Proven expertise managing plans across multiple brands or business units with enterprise-level visibility.
• Strong background in ecommerce planning, particularly for digitally native companies.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel including complex financial modeling, pivot tables, lookup functions, scenario analyses, and handling large datasets.
• Robust financial understanding connecting planning functions to margin, cash flow, and profit and loss outcomes.
• Excellent analytical, organizational, and communication skills, able to translate detailed data into strategic insights and influence stakeholders effectively.

Preferred Experience

• Background in footwear, fashion, apparel, or consumer goods ecommerce.
• Familiarity with planning platforms such as Anaplan or Oracle Retail.
• Experience with business intelligence tools like Looker, Tableau, or Power BI.
• Knowledge of ecommerce platforms like Shopify and their inventory/reporting features is advantageous but not mandatory.

Personal Attributes

• A strategic thinker capable of managing both high-level vision and intricate details of OTB and receipt flows.
• Analytically rigorous with strong Excel modeling skills and confidence in data-driven decision-making.
• Proactive, solution-oriented, and committed to operational excellence and continuous process enhancement.
• Adept at thriving in dynamic, fast-evolving environments and adjusting plans as needed.
• Highly invested in ecommerce, inventory strategy, and building scalable planning methodologies for growth.

Additional Information

Vida Shoes International is committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability, or veteran status. Only candidates who meet the qualifications will be contacted for this opportunity.