Planning Manager 12 month FTC

Job Title: Planning Manager 12-month FTC

Reports To: Director of Planning

Location: London Office

• Oversee and manage planning across multiple departments and channels, driving commercial performance through strategic planning, effective trading, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver financial targets and operational excellence.

• Lead and develop a multi-tiered team, providing clear direction, regular performance appraisals, and tailored development plans to build capability and support individual growth.

Key Responsibilities:

Commercial & Financial Planning

• Set and manage financial targets by department and category, aligned with business objectives.
• Lead strategies to grow the full-price business and protect/drive comp sales.
• Act as the Full Price business lead—consolidating department insights and providing short- and long-term topline forecasts.
• Own the monthly Open-to-Buy (OTB) process and ensure regular in-season forecasting and trade reactivity.
• Analyse WSSI data to identify commercial opportunities and minimise business risks.
• Deliver reports and business recaps, analysing sales, inventory, markdowns, and profit performance at both topline and regional/classification levels.
• Conduct pre-sign financial meetings with Planning and Buying teams ahead of market to review budgets, align on financial targets, assess prior performance, and ensure investment decisions are data-driven and commercially sound.

Merchandise & Assortment Strategy

• Partner with the Buying team to shape seasonal merchandise assortments in line with financial plans.
• Analyse key metrics (ROS, sell-through, sales density) and present findings to senior management to inform actionable strategies.
• Recommend seasonal buys based on deep commercial analysis to optimise sales, profitability, and sell-through rates.
• Collaborate with Field team, Allocation and Buying to manage product flow and assortment by classification.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration

  • Work closely with Retail, Buying, Finance, and Store Operations to develop and execute commercial strategies.
  • Support New Store Openings in collaboration with Buying and Branch teams supporting with financial planning, stock builds, and forecasting.
  • Develop financial strategies in partnership with Field to monitor and exceed planned performance.

  Team Leadership & Development

  • Manage and develop a multi-tiered team, providing coaching, clear expectations, and regular performance feedback.
  • Build a high-performing, commercially focused planning team, fostering accountability, curiosity, and continuous learning.
  • Identify rising talent and support the career development of direct report

  Inventory Management & Exit Strategies

  • Monitor stock levels, weeks of supply, and sell-through rates to ensure alignment with stock targets.
  • Develop and implement exit strategies for aged and underperforming stock to protect margin and improve inventory efficiency.

  Skills & Experience Required:

  • Strong background in merchandise planning and financial forecasting (at least 7 years).
  • Experience managing a multi-category and multi-channel business.
  • Proven leadership in developing and coaching teams.
  • High proficiency in planning systems (e.g. EP, WSSI, OTB tools) and strong Excel skills.
  • Commercially astute, with a strategic mindset and the ability to drive performance through data-led decisions.
  • Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills across levels and functions.

  Desirable:

  • Experience in a luxury or premium retail environment.
  • Familiarity with systems like BI tools (e.g. Qlik, Power BI), Zebra Pricing Tool, or other analytical platforms.