Merchandise Category Planner

We're ASOS. We blend our flair for fashion with our love of cutting- edge technology, but more importantly were interested in how we can bring the best out of you.

We exist to give people the confidence to be whoever they want to be, and that goes for our people too. At ASOS, you're free to be your true self without judgment, and channel your creativity into a platform used by millions.

Through our Fashion with Integrity strategy we are driving diversity, equity and inclusion across every aspect of ASOS and ensuring every ASOSer can be their authentic self at work. We want our people to be whoever they want to be, because we believe people who bring their best selves to work, do their best work.

About the Role

As a Merchandise Planner you will be a product category specialist reporting to the Head of Merchandise Planning. You will operate the day to day planning and trading of key categories through careful management of budgets and OTB (open to buy) and supporting the Head of Merchandise Planning in distributing these across the business units.

You will work collaboratively with the product teams to agree appropriate levels of budget allocation pre-season, and continually analyse performance to identify opportunities and risk, making recommendations to the business to drive sales and margin.

What You’ll Be Doing

1. Strategic thinking

• Delivering against existing strategy by executing deliverables against key milestones:
• Proposing and managing product category budgets across business units, producing clear budget targets on time with regular review periods
• Through strategic planning and trading of the category performance, managing intake and OTB allocation to deliver the stock requirements to the business.
• Providing guidance to product teams of width and depth requirements to meet satisfy customer demand.
• Providing targets for full price, promotion and markdown to product and channel teams at product category level
• Providing and interpreting performance analysis and propose actions to capitalise on opportunity and mitigate risk to sales
• Support the head of merchandise planning in aligning on approach to category and end use management and the delivery of analysis and budget guidance to the product and channel teams

2. Business knowledge

• Understanding of the business to accomplish team objectives and contribute to department / exec area vision:
• Delivering in-season trading through recommendations to re-allocate budgets based on customer demand to optimise stock health and increase sales and margin.
• Using expertise of supply chain and lead times to ensure ASOS remains agile and flexible to changing customer demands through considered allocation of budgets.
• Incorporating the requirements of channel teams into the product category plans to ensure product requirements at a local level are met.
• Using analytical data to support decision making and analyse trading patterns and make recommendations for action to be taken to unexpected sales reactions and gaps in budgets

3. Leadership

• Supporting the Head of Merchandise Planning to make strategic and trading decisions in a fast-paced environment:
• Providing day to day guidance and council to the Merchandise Analysists to deliver department objectives and support their development.
• Building strong cross-functional relationships that enable trust and buy-in from product and channel teams

4. Problem solving

• Analysing facts to make judgements and uses skills and expertise to formulate a detailed action plan:
• Pre-season & in-season product category plans
• Commitment, OTB and intake planning
• Width & Depth guidance
• Pricing analysis and recommendations
• Price status planning

5. Impact

• Providing Head of Merchandise Planning with support in influencing the wider commercial function through guidance and recommendations
• Revenue and profitability would be a key measure of success
• Providing analysis and visibility of the end to end performance KPIs at product category level

Who We’d Like to Meet

• A proven track record of driving sales performance through creative thinking at a merchandiser level
• Commercial approach and control of financial budgets and targets
• Strong numerical acumen to manage performance by category
• Experience in planning, managing sales, stock, intake and OTB
• Ability to make decisions in a fast-paced environment
• Fashion/market knowledge to be able to guide relevant trade-off decisions between business units.
• Ability to work cross-functionally to drive the best results for ASOS.com
• Strong organisational skills, able to use initiative and to work in a pressurised environment
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly, effectively, and appropriately with colleagues at all levels
• Attention to detail
• Advanced Excel skills

What’s in it for you?

• Employee discount (hello ASOS discount!)
• ASOS Develops (personal development opportunities across the business)
• Employee sample sales
• Access to a huge range of LinkedIn learning materials
• 25 days paid annual leave + an extra celebration day
• Discretionary performance related bonus scheme
• Private medical care scheme
• Flexible benefits allowance - which you can choose to take as extra cash, or use towards other benefits