Head of Merchandising Planning

This role manages the buy plan and monthly forecast processes to achieve company financial and merchandising objectives, including sales, inventory, shipments, and turn. It serves as the data and information hub for all business units and reviews performance by location, style, and category. The position works closely with merchandising, order management, operations, and IT teams to support product buys, ensure on-time delivery, and ensure planning requirements are supported.

• Manage the buy plan and monthly forecast processes to achieve company financial and merchandising objectives, including sales, inventory, shipments, and turn, and set short-term and long-term financial goals by business unit.
• Ensure departmental plans and SKU buys meet financial objectives and support the company's special product and tiered merchandising strategies; act as the data and information hub for all business units and manage forecast and data across different business units, ensuring on-time submission.
• Review performance by location, style, and category, and set up optimum systems, tools, and processes for KPI reporting (sell-through, APS, stock turn, gross profit).
• Review the Concept Store and RXS assortment plan quarterly, provide buy proposals and retail merchandise expert advice to the merchandising team; develop location assortment plans by department and category based on trend, store profiles, and seasonal conversion.
• Compile and analyse merchandise and location past performance data and identify missed opportunities
• Analyse sell-in, sell-out, and sell-through data to support merchandising teammates in making sound buy decisions (top-up quantities, substitutes, or cancellations) to maximize revenue
• Analyse monthly sell-through data of PUMA Franchise stores and develop product sales and inventory reports.
• Review FOB process, gross profit targets, and sourcing to track potential up or down trends; develop planning process improvements, standardizations, and best practices.
• Attend the quarterly pre-line meeting and recommend product needs, product flow, and pricing strategies relevant to the market.
• Lead and drive the order management team to ensure the final buy placed is sufficient to meet seasonal financial targets; monitor operations for on-time delivery and alert related parties about late arrivals of key initiative products.
• Drive the IT team to ensure planning requirements are supported.

• Bachelor degree or above
• At least 6 years of experience at Merchandiser / Buyer / Planner level
• Excellent communication skills
• Detail-minded
• Able to work independently
• Logical thinking
• Ability to negotiate effectively whilst maintaining

• Previous branded retail experience (ideally in the sporting goods industry in China)
• Knowledge and experience with merchandising systems