Planner, Retail

Overview

The Location Planner position is responsible for assessing and adjusting replenishment settings associated with Store level merchandise needs and is principally accountable for the ‘pull’ logic in the replenishment system that directs movement of inventory from DC to stores. The Location Planner is the integration point between the S&OP organization, Stores, and Visual Merchandising. The Location Planner also provides “bottoms-up” channel insights to the Demand Planner to guide adjustments where needed to channel forecasts.

This is a full-time, salaried, exempt position.

Commercial Manager

Established in 1978, The Container Store has grown to be the leading specialty retailer of storage and organization products in the United States and the only national retailer solely devoted to the category. We provide creative, multifunctional, customizable storage and organization solutions that help our customers save time, save space and improve the quality of their lives. We foster a culture built around our Foundation Principles, which define how we approach our relationships with our employees, vendors, customers and communities and influence every aspect of our business.

• Assesses and makes recommendations to adjust as needed PTMs or Event Level settings to align critical location-inputs with desired inventory levels in stores
  • Incorporates both Sales and Space constraints in recommendations
  • Incorporates seasonality and (as known) promotional plans in recommendations
  • Leverages dashboards and exception reporting to identify most critical outliers to action
• Partners with Supply Chain and Stores to assess and forecast weekly store unit and cube needs and to ensure forecasted truck capacity needs are aligned with future sales forecasts
• Reviews recent weeks sales units and assesses the store ‘pull’ generated and sent to stores to identify and recommends actions if unbalanced
• In cases of constrained inventory, identifies and recommends SKUs to be generated but held from SKU/Store replenishment truck printing, advises demand planner, reviews and submits updates to the ‘hold’ truck printing SKU/store list maintained by Product Operations
• Assesses the performance of seasonal product (e.g., Christmas) and makes location-based recommendations to demand planner to account for lost sales opportunities
• Updates the SKU/Store eligibility flag in Atlas/John Galt and is accountable for its consistency with the and assortment strategies by store set by the Commercial Lead
• Leverages reports on store and SKU performance, supporting data-driven decisions that improve in-stock levels and reduce excess inventory

• College degree, preferred
• 3 + years of experience in demand planning, store planning, forecasting, inventory management, supply chain, or related field
• Demonstrated proficiency in statistics, forecasting, and forecasting methods with an understanding of their financial and operational impacts.
• Demonstrated proficiency using root cause analysis to improve forecast accuracy and demand planning processes.
• Ability to independently identify and resolve problems or take advantage of opportunities.
• Strong analytical, organizational, decision-making, and presentation skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to effectively interact with all teams, areas, and levels of business affecting the forecasting process.
• Is committed to working scheduled hours and has the flexibility to work additional hours based on changing business needs
• Knowledge of industry business and passion for following trends in the industry
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in a professional manner, both orally and in writing, at all levels within and outside the organization
• Ability to quickly separate the mission-critical tasks from the lower priority tasks; focuses on the most value-added projects of the day or week
• Flexible, with a positive attitude and passion for knowledge
• Strong time management and organizational skills with the ability to successfully manage multiple projects at once
• Possesses focused attention to…