Channel Planner & Allocator (Vans)
Job Summary
Role & Responsibilities:
Job Definition (Key Purpose of the Job):
Thrives in a fast-paced environment and has a strong proficiency in excel with strong business acumen and will play a key role in optimizing sales forecasting inventory needs and identifying opportunities to maximize growth.
Lead & own inventory management strategies including allocation replenishment consolidation store capacity and product life cycle management to maximize sales margin and inventory targets.
Allocator Key Result Areas:
- Identify develop and implement process improvement opportunities to deliver efficiencies and making critical decisions that directly impact commercial performance.
- Collaborate and share insights to inventory management team & commercial team in formulating in-season inventory strategies
- Provide data driven recommendations & analytics to optimize multi-channel inventory and maximize channel sales at SKU level.
- Manage system setting for markdown and promotion
- Analyze sales and product performance at both store and cluster level provide support and input to the build.
Channel Planner Key Result Areas:
- Own and Drive pre-season merchandise financial plans open to buy flow planning in-season forecast and in season management including promotional/markdown activity.
- Running rolling forecast with the assumption of sales split markdown and sell-thru assumption to create seasonal open to buy plan in multi time frame
- Developing the seasonal product flow plan in collaboration with Merchandising and Buying function
- Analyzing Store plan and provide feedback to marketplace team during the monthly/seasonal/yearly planning process
- Identifying weekly MTG YTG forecast/risk & opportunity with marketplace team
- Reviewing the sales trends and forecast the ending inventory suggest any risk and opportunities and drive the action to solve the risk.
- Consistently monitoring the business through analytics and identifying actions to achieve the key performance metrics.
Competency Requirements:
- Advance understanding retail mathematics and Open to Buy
- Strong analytical skills including the ability to interpret multiple data points across numerous channels and market segments
- Good communication skills - interpersonal written and verbal
- Entrepreneurship an ability to make decisions and take calculated risks
- Strong organization and planning skills; ability to deliver results to a process and timeline
- Ability to turn data and analytics into information to inform and influence decision-making
- Strong teamwork and collaboration with cross functional teams
- Ability to interact and communicate with all levels of employees both senior and junior
- Flexibility to change business process way of working.
- Self-awareness with a desire for constant self-improvement(goal-oriented)
List down specific set of functional skills required to perform in this role
- MS Office (Excel /PowerPoint)
- VF system (SAP Bi etc) & Tools (Tableau) adoption
Experience
Minimum Relevant Experience: At least 3-5 years related experience
Academic Qualifications
Minimum Degree Held: Bachelor
Subject Expert In: Mathematic/Business/Statistical analysis/Apparel
Certifications Required: N/A
Language Proficiency:
Fluent in: Japanese / English
Specific Working Conditions
Frequency of Travel: 10%
R-20About Company
VF Corporation outfits consumers worldwide with iconic outdoor, active and workwear brands, highlighting purpose-led performance and sustainability.