A well-known beauty brand is currently looking for a Freelance Associate Merchandise Planner to join their team on a 1-year contract. This hybrid opportunity is based in San Francisco, CA and requires 3 days onsite per week.
As the Associate Merchandise Planner, you’ll support both pre-season and in-season planning to drive inventory productivity, in-stock performance, and financial results. Reporting to the Senior Merchandise Planner, this person will partner closely with Merchandising, Inventory, Demand Planning, and Vendor teams to help optimize sales, inventory, and overall business performance across assigned brands and categories.
Key Responsibilities:
- Develop pre-season brand budget plans in partnership with Merchandising, Inventory, and Vendor teams
- Create launch strategies for new brands, including projected sales, inventory needs, SKU planning, and order flow setup
- Own monthly Open-to-Buy (OTB) forecasts, including sales, gross margin, receipts, inventory projections, and financial adjustments
- Reconcile OTB forecasts with Replenishment and Demand Planning projections and present updates in monthly cross-functional meetings
- Partner with Demand Planning to align forecasts and support inventory strategies that meet business goals
- Support and guide Merchandise Planning Assistants in prioritizing key launches, newness, and critical inventory needs
- Analyze sales performance, inventory productivity, promotions, key initiatives, and seasonal newness performance
- Conduct hindsight reporting and make recommendations to improve future performance
- Develop liquidation strategies for excess inventory, overstock, and exiting brands or collections
- Communicate regularly with vendors on sales performance, inventory levels, launches, and outstanding issues
- Evaluate assortment productivity and recommend products to expand, discontinue, or further develop
Qualifications:
- 4+ years of merchandise planning, inventory planning, allocation, or retail planning experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Supply Chain, Merchandising, or a related field preferred
- Advanced Excel skills required
- Experience managing Open-to-Buy (OTB) processes, inventory forecasting, and financial planning
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to turn data into actionable business recommendations
- Excellent communication, presentation, and cross-functional partnership skills
- Highly organized with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced, evolving environment
- Experience in beauty, retail, consumer products, apparel, or e-commerce environments preferred
