Job Overview
Job Title: Associate Planner
Job Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Department: Retail Planning
Experience Required: 7–8 Years
Industry: Retail, Fashion, Lifestyle, and Merchandising
About the Role
A leading retail business in Dubai is seeking a commercially focused and analytical Associate Planner to join its Retail Planning team. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing merchandise plans, managing inventory investments, forecasting sales, and improving stock productivity to achieve sales and profitability targets.
This role involves close collaboration with Buying, Merchandising, Supply Chain, Store Operations, Finance, and senior management teams. The ideal candidate will have strong experience in retail merchandise planning, Open-to-Buy (OTB) management, inventory optimization, and commercial performance analysis.
This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced retail planning professional who can translate sales and inventory data into actionable business strategies.
Key Responsibilities
1. Merchandise Planning and Sales Forecasting
- Develop and manage seasonal, annual, and departmental merchandise plans aligned with business objectives.
- Prepare sales forecasts and inventory plans to support revenue growth and profitability.
- Monitor sales performance, gross margins, sell-through rates, and stock productivity against commercial targets.
- Analyze historical sales, current trading trends, and market demand to identify business opportunities.
- Recommend corrective actions to improve sales performance and achieve financial targets.
2. Open-to-Buy (OTB) and Inventory Management
- Manage the Open-to-Buy (OTB) process to control merchandise purchasing budgets and inventory investment.
- Monitor inventory levels, stock cover, and replenishment requirements across retail stores.
- Optimize stock allocation and inventory distribution to improve availability and reduce excess stock.
- Coordinate inter-store stock transfers to balance inventory levels and meet customer demand.
- Identify slow-moving, aged, and excess inventory and recommend strategies to improve stock productivity.
- Ensure inventory investment remains aligned with sales forecasts, budget targets, and business requirements.
3. Commercial Performance and Profitability
- Review retail trading performance and provide recommendations to maximize sales and gross margin.
- Analyze key performance indicators, including sales growth, sell-through, stock turn, stock cover, and markdown performance.
- Identify commercial risks and opportunities through detailed sales, inventory, and trend analysis.
- Develop markdown and promotional plans to reduce aged inventory while protecting profitability.
- Monitor the financial impact of merchandise planning decisions and recommend improvements.
- Support business leaders with data-driven insights to improve commercial performance.
4. Buying and Merchandising Coordination
- Partner with Buying and Merchandising teams on product range planning, forecasting, and purchasing decisions.
- Align merchandise availability with seasonal demand, customer preferences, and retail sales objectives.
- Support buying decisions through sales analysis, stock reports, and inventory forecasts.
- Collaborate with Supply Chain teams and vendors to improve delivery schedules and product availability.
- Coordinate with Store Operations to address stock shortages, excess inventory, and replenishment requirements.
5. Reporting and Business Analysis
- Prepare regular merchandise planning reports covering sales, stock levels, forecasts, and profitability.
- Communicate performance updates, commercial risks, and recommended action plans to relevant stakeholders.
- Use advanced Microsoft Excel and retail planning tools to analyze business data.
- Evaluate planning performance and identify opportunities to improve forecasting accuracy and inventory efficiency.
- Support continuous improvement initiatives across retail planning processes and reporting systems.
6. Team Collaboration and Professional Development
- Promote accountability and establish clear performance expectations when coordinating team activities.
- Build effective working relationships with internal departments and external stakeholders.
- Analyze complex business information and identify the underlying causes of commercial challenges.
- Communicate findings and recommendations clearly to different stakeholder groups.
- Continuously develop planning, analytical, decision-making, and presentation skills.
- Make timely, well-informed decisions using available data, professional judgment, and stakeholder input.
Qualifications and Experience
Education and Experience
- 7–8 years of relevant experience in merchandise planning, retail planning, demand planning, or commercial planning.
- At least 2 years of hands-on experience managing Open-to-Buy (OTB) processes.
- Proven experience in sales forecasting, inventory planning, stock optimization, and retail trading analysis.
- Experience working closely with Buying and Merchandising teams.
- Experience managing merchandise plans across multiple stores, product categories, or regions.
Technical Skills
- Advanced Microsoft Excel and strong analytical capabilities.
- Good understanding of retail planning systems, forecasting tools, and ERP platforms.
- Ability to interpret sales, margin, inventory, and stock productivity data.
- Strong knowledge of retail performance indicators, including sell-through, stock turn, stock cover, and markdowns.
Preferred Industry Experience
Experience in one or more of the following sectors is advantageous:
- Fashion and apparel retail
- Sportswear and lifestyle retail
- Department stores
- Beauty and cosmetics
- Specialty retail
Key Competencies
- Strong commercial awareness and business judgment.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Effective problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced retail environment.
- Confidence in presenting data-driven recommendations to management.