MERCHANDISE PLANNER

Description

Job Summary: Merkal is seeking a Merchandise Planner for its offices in Barcelona, responsible for product planning and management, optimizing sales, inventory, and margins. Key Highlights: 1. Key role in product planning and management 2. Cross-functional collaboration with Procurement, Management, Visual, Marketing, and IT teams 3. Focus on maximizing financial results and optimizing the product lifecycle **Would you like to join a key team in product planning and management?** At **Merkal**, we are looking to hire a **Merchandise Planner** for our headquarters located in **Barcelona**, in a permanent position with an **indefinite contract**. This will be a key position within the **Merchandise Planning** department, directly impacting sales planning, inventory management, margin tracking, and optimization of product flow to stores and the online channel. **Your Mission** Your primary mission will be to ensure proper product planning and management, guaranteeing product availability in stores and online through monitoring of key performance indicators such as **initial and final margin, excess stock, sell-through, stock levels, demand forecasting, and sales plan compliance**. The objective will be to contribute to maximizing financial performance by optimizing purchasing, replenishment, stock levels, and end-of-season excess. Reporting directly to the **Head of Merchandise Planning**, you will work cross-functionally with the **Procurement, Management, Visual, Marketing, and IT** teams, participating across the entire product lifecycle. **Your Key Responsibilities** * Develop and monitor the product-, category-, and season-level sales plan in coordination with the Procurement team. * Define stock, excess, coverage, and sell-through targets, analyzing historical data, risks, and opportunities. * Participate in purchase plan planning, controlling margins, average prices, number of SKUs, depth, and assortment for physical stores and online. * Plan and monitor the Open-to-Buy (OTB) by product category together with the Product Manager. * Build and update the weekly sales forecast, proposing in\-season adjustments when necessary. * Conduct weekly tracking of sales, margins, stock, product receipts, and significant variances. * Collaborate on the pricing strategy for promotions, focusing on margin optimization and minimizing excess. * Coordinate with Procurement, Management, Visual, Marketing, and IT departments to ensure correct product and information flow throughout the collection lifecycle. * Propose improvements to tools and processes related to planning, stock management, forecasting, allocation, and replenishment. **What We Expect From You** * Minimum of **4 years’ experience as a Merchandise Planner** in **fashion retail** companies. Experience in footwear is especially valued. * University degree in **Business Administration, Economics, Business Studies, or related fields**. * Advanced proficiency in **Excel**. * Advanced proficiency in **English**. * Experience working with **forecasting, allocation, and replenishment** tools. * Strong analytical capability and results orientation. * Ability to interpret data, identify deviations, and propose corrective actions. * Proactive, solution-oriented, and organized profile. * Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate cross-functionally across different departments. **What We Offer You** * Opportunity to join a solid company within the Spanish retail sector. * **Indefinite contract** with full-time working hours. * Flexible working hours. * Intensive workday on Fridays, **6 hours**. * Possibility of remote work for **2 days per week**, once the initial training period is completed. * Continuous training tailored to your needs. * Exclusive employee discounts. If you are motivated to work in product planning, data analysis, and inventory management within a retail company, we would love to meet you. **Want to learn more about us?** You can discover more about us by visiting our careers page: https://jobs.merkal.com/