Merchandising Planning Specialist

Merchandising Planning Specialist

Classification
Exempt

Reports to
Director of Merchandising

JOB DESCRIPTION

Summary/Objective

The Merchandising Planning Specialist plays a key role in shaping national merchandising decisions by delivering insights, performance analysis, and planning support across a fleet of 800+ retail locations.

This role is responsible for transforming complex data into clear, actionable insights that influence merchandising strategy, campaign performance, and go-to-market execution. The Specialist partners cross-functionally with Merchandising, Operations, Buying, Marketing, and Analytics to support high-impact initiatives from planning through post-launch evaluation.

This position is ideal for a highly analytical, detail-oriented individual who enjoys solving problems, identifying opportunities, and contributing to data-driven decision making to scale.

Impact of this role:

• Influences merchandising performance across 800+ retail locations
• Supports optimization of national campaigns, store execution, and compliance
• Helps identify opportunities that drive measurable improvements in performance and profitability
• Enables data-driven decision making across multiple cross-functional teams

Essential Functions

1. Merchandising Analytics & Insight Generation

• Analyze merchandising performance data (sales, execution, compliance, inventory, display capacity) to identify trends, uncover root causes, and surface actionable opportunities
• Synthesize multiple data sources into clear insights that inform planning, prioritization, and optimization decisions
• Prepare concise summaries and reports that translate data into meaningful business insights
• Conduct ongoing market and industry research to support forward-looking merchandising strategies

2. Performance Measurement & KPI Support

• Partner with Merchandising leadership and BI teams to track and analyze key performance indicators
• Support test-and-learn initiatives, including pilot programs, control group analysis, and pre/post-performance comparisons
• Validate data accuracy and proactively identify inconsistencies to ensure insights are reliable and decision-ready
• Translate performance results into clear learnings that inform future merchandising strategies

3. Dashboarding & Reporting (Power BI)

• Build and enhance Power BI reports and dashboards that provide visibility into merchandising performance, execution, and key KPIs
• Support the development of scalable reporting tools used across merchandising and cross-functional teams
• Continuously improve reporting clarity, usability, and actionability

4. Go-To-Market (GTM) & Planning Support

• Support planning and execution of national merchandising initiatives and product launches
• Analyze store capacity, historical performance, and market differences to inform rollout strategies
• Contribute to store clustering and segmentation analysis to optimize execution across diverse markets
• Develop and support marketing briefs for merchandising initiatives, ensuring alignment across cross-functional teams
• Maintain and update merchandising calendars within internal merchandising management systems to support planning visibility and coordination
• Assist in building campaign launch materials, including decks and planning documents used for internal alignment and field execution
• Support pilot testing and pre-launch analysis to refine strategies before full-scale deployment

5. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Merchandising, Operations, Buying, Marketing, and Analytics teams to provide insights that influence planning and execution decisions
• Provide analytical context to support prioritization, readiness, and performance discussions
• Communicate insights clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to ensure alignment on campaign objectives, timelines, and deliverables through briefs, calendars, and launch materials

6. Store Formats & Remodel Analysis

• Analyze merchandising performance related to new store formats, remodels, and layout changes
• Support post-launch evaluations by preparing performance summaries and identifying key learnings
• Ensure insights reflect real-world execution conditions and market variability

Example Projects

• Evaluate performance of national merchandising campaigns (e.g., accessory resets, device launches) to identify key drivers of success and opportunities for improvement
• Support pilot testing and control group analysis to inform rollout strategies
• Analyze store formats and merchandising layouts to optimize performance across markets
• Build dashboards that track execution, compliance, and sales impact across the retail fleet
• Develop marketing briefs and campaign planning materials to support cross-functional alignment
• Build and maintain merchandising calendars to ensure visibility into upcoming initiatives and key milestones
• Create campaign launch decks that clearly communicate objectives, execution requirements, and success metrics

Competencies

1. Attention to Detail: Taking responsibility for a thorough and detailed method of working.
2. Accountability: Accepting responsibility that results in anticipation/prevention of problem areas from actions, and problem solving inside and outside the department/organization.
3. Results Orientation: Being persistent and showing perseverance on achieving concrete and tangible results out of personal responsibility; getting optimum results from situations and being ready to take action and show tenacity in case of obstacles or resistance.
4. Written Communication: Expressing ideas and opinions clearly in properly structured, well-organized, and grammatically correct reports or documents; utilizing language and terminology.
5. Planning and Organizing: Setting priorities and defining actions, time, and resources needed to achieve predefined goals.
6. Problem Solving: Having the ability to identify problems and issues of varying complexities and to find effective solutions with few guidelines.

Supervisory Responsibility
This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

Work Environment
This job is in a professional office environment. This is a remote position.

Physical Demands

Must be able to sit for long periods.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work
This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. This position is remote.

Travel
10 – 25%

Required Education and Experience

1. High School diploma or GED
2. 4-year degree
3. 2–4 years of experience in retail analytics, merchandise planning, or a related role (or strong demonstrated capability)

Preferred Education and Experience

• 4-year degree
• 2–4 years of experience in retail analytics, merchandise planning, or a related role (or strong demonstrated capability)

Additional Eligibility Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities) 

• Strong proficiency in Excel and working knowledge of Power BI or similar reporting tools
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with high attention to detail
• Ability to translate data into clear observations and actionable insights
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Project management experience a plus 

AAP/EEO Statement

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Other Duties
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Salary Grade/Level/Family/Range

$65,000 - $75,000 annually depending on experience and skill level