Merchandise Planner

About the Role & Team
As a Merchandise Planner, you'll harness business insights and analytics to craft innovative quarterly and annual financial strategies and compelling assortments across multiple channels, including Ecom, Bricks-and-Mortar, and Marketplaces. Your expertise will ensure our offerings stay ahead of market and consumer trends, maximizing opportunities in every segment. You'll evaluate assortments and swiftly respond to in-season performance, trends, and learnings, keeping our inventory optimized and our business agile. Join our dynamic team and showcase your deep understanding of financial KPIs, balancing them to drive success and foster collaboration across the organization. 
This role will be based in our London Hammersmith office, 4 days a week, with either a Monday or Friday working from home.

Values
You'll join a team grounded in our Disney values, acting with Integrity, welcoming everyone through Inclusion, embracing boundless Creativity, working together through Collaboration and caring deeply for our Community. These values shape how we work and how we support one another every day.

What You Will Do

• Accountable for building effective relationships with key stakeholders across the business, and also externally such as vendors and licensees
• Collaborate with leaders, cross-functional teams, and e-commerce analytics to develop and execute inclusive strategies and category financial plans that drive growth and profitability, ensuring alignment with key product initiatives and effective inventory flow across all channels. 
• Lead and manage pre-season and in-season category plans, including optimal SKU frameworks, refresh rates, and item stratification, to maximize acquisition, productivity, and inventory turnover. 
• Oversee category product releases and retail category plans, proactively identifying and addressing financial gaps and opportunities to ensure sustainable performance year after year. 
• Monitor in-season performance and trends using weekly business insights and item-level analytics, maximizing opportunities, minimizing liability, and informing future planning. Regularly reforecast sales, inventory, and margin based on category performance for all channels. 
• Establish and provide benchmarks and comparable analyses to deliver product ranges that achieve financial objectives and support data-driven decision-making. Analyze and optimize SKU productivity and inventory management to ensure effective stock turnover and open-to-buy efficiency. 
• Partner with regional buying teams to evaluate and rank new products, maximizing buying decisions through a clear understanding of product lifecycles, market needs, and pricing and liquidation opportunities. 
• Provide thoughtful explanations for changes and recommend optimization strategies in monthly open-to-buy meetings, fostering transparency and supporting collective success through proactive communication of stock availability. 
• Support, mentor, and empower direct reports, fostering professional development and an inclusive, collaborative team culture. Utilize available tools to purchase, analyze, and respond to business trends, striving to achieve growth and profitability objectives. 

Required Qualifications & Skills 

• Bachelor's degree in business, finance, or a related field, or equivalent experience in merchandising planning.
• Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal stakeholders, as well as external partners such as vendors and licensees.
• Demonstrated experience as a Merchandiser within an omni-channel retail environment.
• Global experience is a plus.
• Proven ability to build and maintain strong relationships at all organizational levels, and effectively manage stakeholders within large, multi-national, matrix organizations.
• Experience in developing and implementing business plans.
• Experience leading and developing teams.
• Proven team leadership skills.
• Strong computer skills; proficiency in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) required. Experience with Business Objects is desirable.
• Excellent financial and analytical abilities.
• Outstanding accuracy and attention to detail.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to present complex data clearly.
• Fluent written and spoken English for business purposes is essential.
• Highly detail-oriented and strong organizational skills.
• Flexible and adaptable, able to meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Resourceful with proven ability to prioritize, solve problems, and make sound commercial decisions.

The Perks 

• 25 days annual leave
• Private medical insurance & dental care
• Free Park Entry: You will have the opportunity to enter any of our parks with your family and friends for free
• Disney Discounts: you are entitled to discounts on designated Disney products, resort F&B and ticketing
• Excellent parental and guardian leave
• Employee Resource Groups - WOMEN @ Disney, Disney Mosaic, Disney PRIDE, our disability & neurodiversity focused group - ENABLED, and our Mental Health & Wellbeing Group, TRUST.

The Walt Disney Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We strive to be a diverse workforce that is representative of our audiences, and where all can thrive and belong. Disney is committed to forming a team that includes and respects a variety of voices, identities, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. 
We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.