Demand Planner

About the Business

We are a global licensed apparel and lifestyle enterprise managing long-term licences for various renowned international brands. Our operations span wholesale accounts, distributors, digital marketplaces, owned e-commerce, and retail outlets. Products are sourced from manufacturers in Asia and Europe, consolidated via a central trading entity, and distributed across licensed markets. The group maintains a multi-entity framework with a unified ERP system.

Role Purpose

This role is central to managing both working capital and licence compliance risks inherent in buy decisions governed by licence contracts stipulating minimum net sales and royalty guarantees. The Demand & Merchandise Planner is responsible for owning the organization’s demand and inventory plans, converting seasonal order books and sales data into precise purchase quantities and phased inventory plans that align with business funding capacity, while ensuring licence sales trajectories are met, monitored, and exceptions raised promptly.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, maintain, and control the seasonal range and buying plans by brand and region based on order commitments, historical sales, and sales team input.
• Translate order books into detailed style, colour, and size level purchases including risk buys and replenishments with clear inventory coverage assumptions.
• Establish and oversee Open-To-Buy budgets per brand, season, entity, and sales channel, aligning with budgets, finance limits, and payment terms.
• Schedule purchases to ensure inbound stock arrives prior to seasonal delivery deadlines considering supplier lead times.
• Maintain an 18-month rolling demand forecast segmented by brand, category, channel, and region.
• Forecast net sales per licence and contract year, monitor adherence to minimum sales requirements, and alert the CFO of potential shortfalls early.
• Model impacts of buying and sales scenarios on royalty and guaranteed minimum royalty, supporting licensor reporting obligations.
• Ensure compliance with licence terms including territory, product categories, channels, and restrictions on discounted stock disposal.
• Support licensor-related seasonal planning inputs and sales reporting.
• Set inventory targets by entity, brand, and ageing categories; regularly report on stock cover, turnover, sell-through, and forecast accuracy.
• Manage goods-in-transit visibility from suppliers to warehouses and assist in accurate landed cost calculations like freight, duties, insurance, and currency exchange.
• Coordinate stock movements and allocations across multiple group entities accounting for customs, duties, and import regulations.
• Identify slow-moving and obsolete inventory, propose corrective actions such as markdowns or transfers, and support finance provisioning decisions.
• Provide inventory and procurement data to aid group cash flow forecasts and flag purchasing that impacts trade finance usage.
• Lead the Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process: chair meetings, align departments on a unified plan, and maintain agreed records.
• Collaborate with Sourcing and Logistics teams on supplier lead times, order confirmations, shipment tracking, and escalate supplier delays impacting plans.
• Assist e-commerce and retail channels with replenishment schedules and stock allocations, including marketplace commitments.
• Prepare weekly and monthly management reports highlighting demand, inventory, licence adherence, forecast accuracy, and exceptions for CFO and CEO review.
• Contribute to group ERP implementations focusing on item master data, purchase order workflows, goods-in-transit tracking, and planning module enhancements to improve forecast quality and automate reports.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, Economics, or related fields; professional certifications such as CIMA, CSCP, CPIM, ACCA, or CA are advantageous.
• 5-7 years of experience in demand, merchandise, or inventory planning with a minimum of 3 years in apparel, footwear, accessories, or branded consumer goods.
• Proven track record in seasonal, pre-book wholesale planning; candidates experienced solely in continuous-replenishment FMCG or retail planning may not be suitable.
• Experience managing planning across multiple legal entities and territories, including knowledge of intercompany stock transfer, import duty, and landed cost processes.
• Familiarity with licensed brand operations, royalty compliance, and distributor or franchise models is preferred.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel including Power Query, Power Pivot, XLOOKUP, dynamic arrays, and building auditable models; Power BI skills are a plus.
• Experience with mid-market ERP systems (e.g., Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Oracle, NetSuite) is required; participation in ERP implementations or migrations is a benefit.
• Fluency in written and spoken English; knowledge of an additional European language is beneficial.
• Willingness to undertake international travel as required for planning and showroom activities.

Desired Attributes

• Strong commercial acumen beyond numeric analysis, capable of evaluating impacts on margin, cash flow, and licence adherence.
• Confidence to question unsupported sales forecasts and defend views to senior leaders.
• Ability to work effectively with incomplete or imperfect data, focusing on delivering practical planning solutions.
• Responsibility for maintaining a single, consistent version of planning data with documented and defensible assumptions.
• Direct and transparent communication style; prioritizes reporting issues early rather than late.