Senior Merchandise Planning Manager

We are looking for a Senior Merchandise Planning Manager to join the Commercial team at cardfactory to cover maternity leave on a 12 month fixed term basis. In this exciting role, your work will be instrumental in helping to drive business objectives to maximise sales whilst protecting profit across cardfactory's OMNI channels. Reporting into the Head of Merchandising you will work closely with Buying and Design teams to plan and trade ranges, ensuring in-season activity delivers planned sales, margin and stock targets. You will manage the planning and budgeting process, creating appropriate sale strategy & tactics to suit trading conditions. As a commercial and strategically minded professional you will be able to inspire and motivate the team, enabling them to maximise their potential and achieve success with your coaching and development. We operate smart working principles at cardfactory, combining some days working from our support centre in Wakefield (1-2 a week) with some days working remotely from home. Role Responsibility

• Managing stock, critical path, deliveries and Mark down plans.
• Managing WSSI and flex to trading patterns to potentialise full price sales and minimise markdown.
• Understand and implement the company strategy, developing departmental strategies with internal teams and peers.
• Strong trading mentality with events, trading and promotions to drive sales and deliver against the plan. Lead weekly departmental trade meetings
• Regularly review risks and opportunities to increase sales and profit.
• Build Business Relationships with clear communication and strong collaboration.
• Strong collaboration with all functions, especially Retail, Warehouse, Manufacturing, Marketing & Finance to maximise profitability
• Team management and mentoring junior colleagues., In return, we offer a wide range of benefits to support your physical, mental, and financial wellbeing.
  
  This role will suit a leader with strong stakeholder management skills to manage relationships up to CCO level.
• Demonstrate commercial and financial awareness
• Proven track record & recent comparable experience in a merchandising role including multi-channel experience
• Demonstrate the delivery of results as an individual and within a team
• Ability to challenge & work under pressure in a fast-moving dynamic retail environment
• Product, Market knowledge & Customer focus
• Robust commercial, analytical, problem solving & presentation skills
• Strong communicator & networker with the confidence to influence & engage at all levels
• Experience of developing high performing teams and able to lead a team through ambiguity in a constantly changing environment
  
  Card Factory is the UK's leading specialist retailer of greetings cards, dressings, and gifts with over one thousand stores across the UK and Ireland. In 2020 we launched our exciting 5-year business strategy including our vision of becoming a true Omni-channel retailer. This strategy sees significant investment into our colleagues across the business creating multiple opportunities to join a fast-paced environment and be part of our exciting journey.
  
  Pension
• 15% Card Factory colleague discount in-store and online
• Save As You Earn scheme
• Financial Wellbeing Support
+ Financial Education Tools + Salary Advance
• Seasonal incentive schemes
• Retail Management Apprenticeship Programmes with local providers with access to a virtual internal network for learning together
• Discounted gym membership, mobile phone contracts, and car leasing
• Discounts across 100's of UK retailers
• Employee Assistance Programme - access to tools to support mental, physical, and financial wellbeing
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, and Adoption leave