Merchandise Planner
Location: Boston, MA
Reports to Chief Product & Merchandising Officer
Position Overview
Tracksmith is looking for a Merchandise Planner to help drive profitable growth through disciplined assortment, inventory and financial planning across our ecommerce and retail businesses.
This role will serve as a key business partner to Merchandising, translating product and assortment strategies into financially sound seasonal plans and style-level buys. The Merchandise Planner will own the planning process from pre-season line planning and initial buys through in-season trading, open-to-buy management, inventory optimization and markdown recommendations.
The ideal candidate combines strong analytical and retail planning capabilities with a commercial mindset and an appreciation for product. They can move fluidly between the details of a style-level buy and the broader financial implications for sales, margin, inventory and receipts.
This is a highly cross-functional role, partnering closely with Merchandising, Enterprise Planning, Retail, Ecommerce, Product, Operations and Finance to ensure we have the right product, in the right quantities, in the right channel, at the right time.
This job will require 2-3 days per week in office at 285 Newbury Street in Boston.
Responsibilities
Seasonal & Assortment Planning: Partner with Merchandising to build seasonal line plans and assortment architecture, translating category strategies and financial targets into actionable product plans.
• Develop bottoms-up seasonal buys at the style/color level, using historical performance, productivity, selling curves, channel demand and future product strategies to inform investment.
• Build and own Ecommerce and Store revenue and margin plans, ensuring category and style-level plans reconcile to channel and enterprise targets.
• Establish appropriate investment levels across newness, seasonal products, franchises and core/replenishment businesses.
• Evaluate productivity, breadth, depth and SKU efficiency to focus investment on the highest-value opportunities.
Core & Replenishment Planning: Own the core ladder plan across key franchises and never-out-of-stock products.
• Establish target weeks of supply, reorder points and inventory guardrails based on demand, lead times and service-level expectations.
• Recommend reorders, accelerations, push-outs or cancellations as trends change, balancing availability with inventory productivity.
Open-to-Buy & Inventory Management: Own the monthly OTB process for assigned categories, maintaining current forecasts for Ecommerce and Store sales, margin, receipts, inventory and markdowns.
• Identify inventory risks and opportunities early and recommend actions to maximize full-price sales and inventory productivity.
• Partner with Enterprise Planning on enterprise receipt plans and inventory guardrails while owning detailed category and style-level inventory actions.
• Manage aged inventory and recommend markdown timing and depth based on inventory position, selling trends, WOS and margin implications.
Weekly Trading & Business Analysis: Own weekly trading reporting and analysis for Ecommerce and Stores across assigned categories.
• Analyze sales, units, AUR, gross margin, markdowns, sell-through, inventory and WOS versus plan, prior year and forecast.
• Translate performance into clear actions including chase, cancel/defer, inventory movement, future buy changes and markdown recommendations.
Cross-Functional Partnership: Build a strong partnership with Merchandising, combining product and consumer intuition with financial planning.
• Partner with Enterprise Planning to reconcile category/style plans with enterprise inventory and receipt targets and Wholesale demand.
• Work with Retail and Ecommerce teams to understand channel-specific demand, productivity and emerging opportunities.
Qualifications
• 3-6+ years of merchandise planning, inventory planning, buying or related retail experience, ideally within apparel, footwear, specialty retail or a premium consumer brand.
• Experience planning an omnichannel business across ecommerce and physical retail.
• Strong understanding of sales planning, OTB, inventory, receipts, margin, markdowns, sell-through, WOS and inventory turns.
• Demonstrated ability to build and manage style-level assortment plans and seasonal buys.
• Advanced Excel skills and comfort working with large data sets and planning/reporting systems.
• Strong retail math, analytical and communication capabilities.
What Success Looks Like
• Put the right level of investment behind the right products.
• Improve availability on high-demand and core styles.
• Identify risks and opportunities earlier.
• Increase inventory productivity and turns while reducing aged and excess inventory.
• Protect full-price selling and gross margin.
• Create stronger connectivity between Merchandising, Enterprise Planning and Finance.
The annual salary for this role is expected to be between $80,000 and $120,000 depending on a combination of factors, including the candidate's experience, education, and industry knowledge.
TO APPLY:
If you are interested in applying for this position, please submit your resume to:
merchandise-planner@tracksmith.com
Due to internet hiring scam attempts, we encourage applicants for open positions listed at Tracksmith to apply through the following site: tracksmith.com/pages/team. All communication with the hiring team at Tracksmith will come directly from a @tracksmith.com email address. Please reach out to careers@tracksmith.com if you have any questions or concerns.