Senior Director, Planning

Centric Brands is a leading lifestyle brand collective that designs, sources, markets and sells high quality products in multiple segments, including women’s, men’s and kid’s apparel, accessories, entertainment and beauty. Centric Brands is focused on our customers and our brands that will drive the company’s future growth. We are defined by innovation as we seize new opportunities and thrive in an environment informed by creativity and thinking that is both analytical and outside the box. Centric Brands reflects a team built on respect, for others and for the hard work it takes to achieve our goals and build our bright future together.

Position Overview: 

Responsible for the oversight, development and implementation of the merchandise and financial planning processes across a multi-brand business unit. This role will direct a team of planners to develop and deliver overall brand, account, and product plans by strategically driving metrics including sales, margin and turn for current and future seasons. Resourcefulness and agility will be key as you work with multiple business leads, planners, and merchants to analyze and incorporate retail trends, develop and manage complex projects, drive strategic decisions around new product introductions/phase outs, and deliver financial targets.

Key Responsibilities:

Sales, Margin, and Inventory Planning

• Collaborate with the sales team to aggregate account forecasts into comprehensive 12-month revenue and margin plans.
• Monitor actual performance against forecasts, making monthly adjustments to key financial metrics based on sales insights and order updates.
• Clearly communicate variances, providing supporting details.
• Ensure alignment between sales and buy levels at all checkpoints.

Merchandise Planning

• Partner with cross-functional teams to analyze historical performance and identify needs for new product introductions to achieve targets.
• Develop merchandise assortment plans that support product line development and meet financial objectives.
• Set seasonal sales and margin goals, reconciling forecasts from both top-down and bottom-up perspectives before finalization.
• Account for changes in assortment due to store count fluctuations, sales trends, product launches, and discontinued products.
• Participate in product reviews with sales, merchandising, and design teams to ensure alignment with detailed plans.
• Secure management consensus on assortment buy-levels and margins for final buy approval.

Account Planning & Analysis

• Create and distribute weekly reports and visualizations on sales and inventory performance.
• Engage regularly with account teams to understand and influence open-to-buy (OTB) forecasts, identifying category opportunities and risks, and making promotional recommendations.
• Lead discussions on business drivers, delivery performance and promotions with sales partners on a weekly basis.
• Utilize historical data and current trends to develop actionable plans and build consensus on strategies.
• Support the market process by preparing order volume and assortment targets by account.

Demand Forecasting and Order Planning

• Develop and build standardized reports to perform in-season selling analysis and post season hind-sighting for continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with cross functional peers to develop and communicate a comprehensive inventory strategy that aligns future financial and product opportunities by business unit.
• Lead the development of new capacities and analytics that support the development of pre-season assortment strategies, financial plans, and style level investments and in-season life cycle management.
• Analyze the business on an on-going basis to understand core drivers; identify opportunities and risks.
• Prepare and present reports to Senior Leadership.
• Solicit and perform ad-hoc analysis as needed.

 Leadership:

• Oversee a team of category-management and replenishment planners to drive cohesive end to end planning vision.
• Provides leadership, supports, motivates, directs and retains high-caliber staff.
• Builds credibility and strong relationships within the organization, cross functional partners and Division Heads.

• 10+ years of experience, wholesale experience is a must. Retail, e-commerce and/or international experience is a plus.
• Previous experience within a Kids apparel business is a plus. 
• Demonstrated retail math and business acumen, including aspects of markup, margin planning, selling and inventory productivity measures 
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Adept at presenting complex material in an organized compelling manner.  
• Strategic thinker who recognizes opportunities and can recommend strategies by building business case and influence senior leaders to move to execution
• Strong conceptual creative capability. Leverages strong product sense to partner with business leaders to drive product assortments and investment strategies that increase business.
• Strong time management skills, attention to detail, problem solving, interpersonal and organizational skills – communication between functional groups is essential
• Proven success in driving results through financial strategies
• Track record of managing and mentoring strong talent in analytical based roles, developing diverse and high performing leaders and teams
• Ability to build a business case and articulate financial concepts to non-financial business partners in a clear and concise manner
• Forecast & Replenishment, Financial Planning, and Allocation system experience preferred
• Advanced Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Access or other Data Warehouse / Business Intelligence tools

In return, we provide an industry-competitive salary, along with a comprehensive benefits plan (medical, dental, vision) that includes a matching 401(k), Summer Fridays, generous PTO, merchandise discounts, excellent career development opportunities, and a work environment that reflects our industry leadership. Our social impact program, Centric Cares, focuses on volunteerism to make a difference in communities we live and work in and our D&I committee is shaping the future of diversity, equity and inclusion at Centric Brands though workshops, resources and inspiring conversation.

Salary Range: $160,000 - $190,000

At Centric Brands, we believe our people are our greatest asset, and we seek to structure competitive compensation offers to ensure that we are able to attract and retain the best talent. Our job postings include an annual base salary range at the time of employment. The stated base salary range represents our good faith estimate as to what candidates are likely to expect, and we tailor our offers within the range based on several factors, including the selected candidate's educational and professional experience, industry knowledge, location, technical and communication skills, and other factors that may prove relevant during the selection process. Base salary is a part of a total compensation package, which, depending on the position, may also include commission earnings, annual bonus and other Centric Brands sponsored benefit programs.

Be part of our growing community by getting involved with groups, teams and initiatives like Be Green, Be Giving, and Be Celebrated.

Centric Brands is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Please note that Centric Brands will only reach out to interview, make an offer of employment or conduct onboarding activities for candidates who have applied through our careers site. When interviewing for a position, the candidate experience will include live interaction, such as a video conference or telephone call, with a Recruiter and/or company employee(s). We will never ask for any money or payments from applicants at any point in the recruitment process. Be aware of suspicious recruitment activity. If you think you are a victim of an employment scam, you may contact your local law enforcement agency and/or visit the Federal Trade Commission website here: https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams.

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