Assistant Merchandise Planner - Watford

Assistant Merchandise Planner - Watford, United Kingdom

Position Overview

Ref #

W

State/Region

Hertfordshire

Department

Merchandising & Planning

Location

United Kingdom

City

Watford

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) is a global leader in the design, marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in five categories: apparel, accessories, home, fragrances, and hospitality. For more than 50 years, Ralph Lauren's reputation and distinctive image have been consistently developed across an expanding number of products, brands and international markets. The Company's brand names, which include Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children, Chaps, among others, constitute one of the world's most widely recognized families of consumer brands.
At Ralph Lauren, we unite and inspire the communities within our company as well as those in which we serve by amplifying voices and perspectives to create a culture of belonging, ensuring inclusion, and fairness for all. We foster a culture of inclusion through: Talent, Education & Communication, Employee Groups and Celebration.

POSITION OVERVIEW

TheAssistant Merchandise Planner supports the merchandising team in planning, analysing and executing product strategies that drive sales, margin and product inventory. They play a key role in supporting with reporting and trackers so the department can ensure the right products are available at the right time and in the right quantities to meet customer demand.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Operation/Financial

• Update reports on a weekly, monthly, and ad hoc basis.
• Actualises the departments WSSI weekly.
• Attends and prepares for weeklytrade meetingsandable to formulate and deliver a trade message independently.
• Providesaccuratedata to support analysisfor key seasonal meetings including hindsight and sign offs.
• Updates and forecasts department line cards to maximise sales potential and optimise stock availability across channels.
• Systematically updates seasonal recodes.
• Owns department stock delivery schedule and communicates updatesto team.
• Responsible for actioning seasonal markdowns& communication to stores.

Commercial Awareness

• Participate in regular store visits, collating store reports prior andassistingin creating follow up presentations.
• To undertake competitoranalysison a regular basis andpresentany relevant points.

Training and development

• To adopt a positive and proactive approach totheir owntraining and developmentas well as that of their peers.
• Proactively promotes improvements to working practices and systems.
• Participates in company initiatives asappropriate.

Communications & Partnerships

• Creates andmaintainsstrong working relationshipswithin cross-functional teams : Buying, Allocations,ECOMandthe retailstore teams.
• Liaises withAssortment Planningand Buying partners to review andassistin the formation of the seasonal lessons learnt. Influencing future Buys, using analysis and historical data to ensure commercial decisions are made.

EXPERIENCE, SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE

• Commercial and Analytical
• Effective communicator - able to communicate messages clearly and concisely to a variety of audiences
• Able to work autonomously
• Able to demonstrates logical analysis and problem-solving skills
• Able to organize, prioritise tasks and manages time wellin order tomeet deadlines
• Able to build and maintain productive relationships within team environment
• Competentin using Microsoft excel
• Attention to detail
• Show ability or aptitude in retail mathematics and able to learn technical applications quickly
• Able to demonstrate resilience and remain positive during challenging periods
• Desire to have fun at work and an appreciation for product
• Allocation experience preferred