Some of what you will do:
The Director Merchandise Planning & Forecasting role is responsible for growing the Staples business through owning sales, planning & forecasting, developing action plans to close any gaps to plan, conducting various analyses, and leading a variety of growth initiatives. While growing the top line of the business, you will also be focused on improving gross margins, optimizing inventory and identifying new opportunities to drive profitable growth.
The role will support the transformation of the merchandising functions by participating in key project workstreams with the goal of become a data driven organization supported by leading retail processes & capabilities.
This role will also be the right-hand person of the VP Merch Ops requiring robust problem-solving skills, a strong collaborator and living our results everyday (& always looking for ways to make them better).
You will be a key partner to multiple teams and this role is a strong connector across Merchandising, Marketing, Supply Chain, FP&A and Operations teams.
Specifically, You Will:
- Oversee Sales, Margin & Inventory planning and forecasting processes, developing in-season, annual and long-range outlooks by category and channel.
- Influence business strategy and in-season management by turning data into insights, leveraging business and financial analysis skills to improve business performance and KPIs.
- Working with key stakeholders across the organization lead action planning to close any gaps to plan across sales, margin & inventory.
- Identify & implement new processes & capabilities to improve planning & forecasting.
- Develop and deliver performance analysis across the business that measures achievement of sales, margin, and inventory plans.
- Be the go-to for ad-hoc and diagnostic analysis of sales, gross margin, and inventory performance, communicating insights, corrective actions, and recommendations.
- Support merchandising teams with reporting and analytics related to category performance, promo effectiveness, promo/offer lift analysis, and flyer performance and create actionable insights to improve future customer incentives.
- This role is cross functional in nature and will be involved with all product categories across the company. He/she will partner closely with other leaders in merchandising, operations, supply chain, finance and marketing.
Some of what you need:
- Successful completion of a quantitative post-secondary education, with a focus on retail management, economics, inventory or supply chain is an asset.
- Demonstrated expertise in merchandising, analytics, planning & forecasting.
- Strong analysis and mathematical skills.
- Ability to translate complex data into actionable insights.
- Ability to translate vision into execution and gain buy-in from others on the overall strategy. This involves a keen passion for managing change and leading teams through coaching and support, directly and indirectly.
- Strong analytic skills with the ability to create and lead predictive analytical solutions through software packages such as SQL, Python, or R.
- 8+ years progressive experience in financial, analytics and/or merchandising functions.
- Minimum of 3+ years in a management /leadership role.
- 3+ years of managing multi-level team.
Some of what you will get:
- Associate discount
- Health and Dental benefits
- RRSP/DPSP
- Performance bonuses
- Learning & Development programs
- And more...
#Bringyourpassion
#LI-Hybrid
We value transparency in our hiring processes. Please note, artificial intelligence may be used in certain stages to screen, assess, or select applicants, however, a human reviewer makes all final decisions. This posting is for an existing vacancy.
About the Team
At Staples Canada we are dynamic, inspiring partners to our customers and the communities in which we live. As The Working and Learning Company, we inspire people to work smarter, learn more and grow every day. We’re looking for curious, approachable, and passionate individuals who love finding solutions. If that’s you, let’s work, learn, and grow together.
We are building an inclusive and diverse team
Staples Canada is continuously working towards creating an inclusive and diverse work environment. We welcome, value and thrive on perspectives and contributions from backgrounds that vary by race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, lifestyle, age, educational background, national origin, religion or physical ability. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.