Product and Merchandise Planner

Our client, a brand development house in Cape Town, is looking for a Product and Merchandise Planner to join their team.

In this role, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to:

• As part of the Operations Team and under the direction of the General Manager, deliver and implement best practice to ensure optimal levels of stock across Teamwear, retail and E Commerce, ensuring that client demands, and contractual obligations are met for the procurement and supply across company brands.
• Use available systems and tools, combined with lateral thinking, strong analytical skill and proven numerical abilities, to assist in managing the company stock levels in accordance with company strategies.

Responsibilities:

• Plans and forecasts for future sales orders based on historical buys, reoccurring buys, and current inventory levels (the correct stock, in the correct size curve, in the relevant month, as per customer order requirement on the system).
• Planning of the seasonal range buy-in for company brands under the direction of the CEO.
• Reconciling sales orders and stock on hand in order to calculate what needs to be placed with suppliers.
• Managing the inflow of stock so as to achieve stock availability targets.
• Reviewing stock to sales ratios, responding to changing sales trends, and ensuring plan sales, plan markups, and plan markdowns are achieved by respective company brands.
• Working with cross-functional teams to execute projects within assigned timelines and budgets.
• Updating management and cross functional teams about product availabilities.
• Liaising with the shipping agency regarding international shipments.
• Identifying areas of improvements and recommending action plans.
• Generating purchase orders for new and replenishment orders.
• Tracking and managing outstanding purchase orders with the respective suppliers.
• Management and ordering of labels, trims, barcodes and any such garment requirements for the company brands.
• Ensuring the capturing of quality data so as to support quality analysis.
• Weekly management and review of inventory in the warehouse as well as on the company’s online stores, ensuring timeous replenishment and achieving targeted stock efficiencies.
• The review and approval of costing documents per brand.
• Stock holding and clearance programs for seasonal product lines to ensure that the business is not under- or overstocked at any given time.
• Actively pursuing and collaborating in tactical and strategic initiatives to create greater effectiveness and efficiency.
• Assisting with the creation and addition of product codes, SKUs and images.
• Assisting in development of best practices pertaining to the planning process and documentation thereof.
• Producing and maintaining financial departmental reporting, including weekly open-to-buy margin planning, markdown, and inventory budgets.
• Managing stock availability (warehouse and suppliers), stock and sales analysis.
• Producing timely reporting to ensure management remain up to date on category performance.
• Undertaking analysis that supports or challenges stock category / business strategy.
• Determining customer pre-season stock replenishment requirements.
• Driving the QA process for incoming stock and collaborating with the product team on the relevant reporting and feedback.
• Addressing demand related queries and issues in a timely manner.

The successful candidate will be part of:

A unique combination of a critical and ambitious role that is part of our Operations Team. You will be actively encouraged to lead by example, make improvements, establish the best-in-class service, and have a direct impact on your team and our company's success.

Requirements – Skills and experience needed:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Supply Chain, or other relevant fields.
• A minimum of 3 years’ experience in a merchandise-, demand planning or forecasting role.
• Solid understanding of inventory management practices and procedures.
• Strong mathematical and statistical knowledge.
• Making decisions and managing risks and abatements.
• Project Management skills are a plus.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with strong interpersonal and representational skills.
• Proven ability to work both independently with little supervision, as well as part of a team.
• Ability to manage conflicting priorities, deal with pressure and constant change, lead effective meetings, and document outcome.
• Ability to work comfortably with Microsoft Office software, specifically Excel, and PowerPoint.

Our client will welcome a team player who is readily adaptable, has initiative, is forthright and honest, respects and inspires others, remains optimistic, is willing to learn and will always go above and beyond.

Area: Cape Town.

Salary offered: R20 000 – R40 000 per month (based on experience).

Starting date: As soon as possible.

Please apply online if you meet the above-mentioned requirements.

Please assume that your application was unsuccessful If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks from the date of this advertisement.