Planning Manager

About APP Group

APP Group, headquartered in Montreal with offices in New York, Miami, Shanghai, Munich, Paris, and Seoul, is the parent company of renowned outerwear brands Mackage and SOIA & KYO. Mackage, active since 1999, combines premium, responsibly sourced materials like leather and down with luxury design to create high-quality, comfortable outerwear. SOIA & KYO, founded in 2004, focuses on sustainability and versatile styling, enjoying international recognition and availability across North America, Europe, and Asia. APP Group values diversity and encourages applications from marginalized groups including women, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQ2S+ persons.

Job Overview

The Planning Manager plays a pivotal role in evaluating sales and inventory metrics, crafting seasonal strategies, and delivering insightful data analysis to aid strategic business goals. This position requires cross-department collaboration involving sales, merchandising, finance, production, and customer service to foster accurate forecasting and promote profitable growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Compile and disseminate weekly sales flash reports and dashboards featuring detailed analysis by account, market, category, and store including metrics such as sales, stock levels, sell-through rates, and margins.
• Use weekly sales updates to identify challenges and opportunities, offering clear guidance to the sales team aimed at meeting financial targets.
• Establish and nurture strong cooperative relationships with internal teams and external department store partners to drive successful business outcomes.
• Collaborate with sales to formulate six-month seasonal plans delineated by account, encompassing sales, receipt, and margin targets at the store level aligned with wholesale budget goals.
• Partner with merchandising to create pre-season SKU and product class plans categorized by store clusters.
• Assist the VP of Planning in the development of suggested assortment plans per account and door cluster.
• Coordinate open-to-buy budgets by account jointly with the sales team.
• Maintain a returns to vendor (RTV) tracker forecasting end-of-season returns and other agreements made during market discussions.
• Work alongside finance to enhance visibility regarding sales and returns data.
• Collaborate with the SKYPAD team to ensure accuracy of sales data.
• Support the Senior Director of demand planning and allocation to achieve a 98% fill rate per account.
• Publish weekly sales data by store and monthly market share figures by account/store.
• Develop pre-market presentation materials covering current business insights, marketing expenditures, six-month seasonal plans, and store opportunities to aid account management negotiations.
• Create and update season budget files by business segment and account consistent with the overall fiscal year budget.
• Build and maintain detailed season projections at SKU level utilized for fabric estimations and purchasing decisions across wholesale North America.
• Leverage in-transit reports to monitor risks and opportunities in relation to shipping budgets.
• Track stock availability and sales across all drop ship styles, ensuring inventory is sufficient and ready for shipping.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Commerce, Finance, Supply Chain, Economics, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related discipline.
• At least five years of experience in planning roles within department stores, vertical retailers, wholesale brands, or comparable retail settings.
• Background in fashion, apparel, luxury retail, or consumer goods is strongly preferred.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including expertise in PivotTables, XLOOKUP, INDEX-MATCH, SUMIFS, comprehensive data analysis, and handling large datasets.
• Strong analytical skills with the capability to detect patterns, identify opportunities, and assess business threats.
• Self-driven mindset, capable of independently managing multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.
• Strategic thinker with acute business insight and problem-solving competencies.
• Collaborative team player skilled in building relationships across departments.
• Meticulous attention to detail combined with excellent organizational and time management abilities.
• Exceptional communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to articulate insights and recommendations effectively.
• Familiarity with ERP systems, planning software, or business intelligence tools such as Power BI, Tableau, SAP, NetSuite, Oracle, considered advantageous.

Additional Information

APP Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion, inviting applications from underrepresented groups including women, visible minorities, Indigenous communities, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQ2S+ individuals.