Sr Manager Merchandise Planning- Project Hire

About the Role & Team

The Disney Store Planning organization is responsible for developing a strategic financial plan to drive growth and profitability and deliver on the Guest experience! The team is the foundation of the DisneyStore.com Channel and works in partnership with Merchandising and Sourcing to deliver a range of items relevant to Disney Stores (e-commerce and brick & mortar).

As the Senior Manager of Merchandise Planning, you and your teams will drive a quarterly/annual financial strategy and assortment across multiple categories based on detailed knowledge of business insights and analytics, trends within the marketplace, and guest mix across channels. You will evaluate the assortment and react to in-season performance, trends, and takeaways to inform & adjust future season’s assortment and inventory positioning. You will demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of all key financial performance indicators to build recommendations and influence the broader organization's execution.

You will report to the Director of Planning & Allocation

This is a one-year Project Hire position without any guarantee of permanent placement.

What You Will Do

Every single day in the Senior Manager role is different! On any one day, you might:

• Lead team responsible for the development of Category Plans, including short-term weekly forecasts, long-term monthly forecasts, and annual operating plans

• Drive the business with full accountability to revenue and cost of goods for an area of responsibility

• Own pre & in season planning, including forecasting and inventory open-to-buy management to drive growth and profitability

• Analyze data, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions that provide actionable insights

• Lead development of monthly/annual cause-of-change models

• Proactively anticipate next steps, future opportunities, and/or future challenges to financial performance

• Translate business performance drivers and metrics into informative analysis and recommendations, influencing organizational decisions

• Identify pricing and liquidation opportunities for your division to manage inventory liability

• Ensure the team understands and uses tools available to purchase, analyze, and adjust to business trends

• Lead cross-functional merchandise meetings, provide input on product performance, assortment strategies, and inventory positioning

• Build high team morale and group dedication. Provide leadership, mentorship, and motivation to a hard-working team

• Manage multiple tasks across multiple teams: prioritize activities, establish timelines and work plans to achieve end goals

• Actively mentor & develop team members’ skills to continually build bench strength and broaden career path opportunities

Required Qualifications & Skills

• 7+ years of experience in merchandise planning, financial analysis, and/or strategy development

• Leadership experience guiding and motivating hard-working teams with an excellent track record of achievement, advancement, and performance

• Demonstrate strong financial forecasting, analytical, and communication skills to translate complex business performance drivers and metrics into insightful analyses and recommendations for senior leaders

• Excellent interpersonal communication skills. Demonstrated ability to influence partners and key business decisions; and establish relationships across the company

• Excellent written communication skills. Proven ability to synthesize financial information into a concise story and communicate the story to various levels of leadership

• Strong organizational skills. Ability to meet timelines, handle multiple priorities, and perform job responsibilities accurately while working in a fast-paced and vibrant environment

• Self-starter with natural curiosity and the ability to deal with ambiguity

• Ability to work within a sophisticated, matrix organization and find creative solutions

• Familiarity with retail planning software or systems, MS Office, Excel, and understanding of BI tools

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, mathematics, or other quantitative fields

Additional Information

Disney offers a rewards package to help you live your best life. This includes health and savings benefits, educational opportunities, and special extras that only Disney can provide. Learn more about our benefits and perks at https://jobs.disneycareers.com/benefits.

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The hiring range for this position in Glendale, CA is $135,000 to $181,000 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.