Junior Planner Mr Price Sport

Job Description

• The Junior Planner manages the product lifecycle over a multi-period view to maximise sales and gross profit for cellular by developing, forecasting, and actively managing accurate budget plans and stock allocation and fulfilment targets.

Responsibilities Post-mortem and seasonal strategy

• Analyse portfolio performance versus plan, current trade, product and supplier performance, market activity and missed opportunities.
• Extract prior-season learnings and work with Location Planning, Sourcing, Operations, Visual Merchandising, Marketing, E-commerce and Distribution Centre teams to apply them.
• Support the development and presentation of the seasonal product strategy, including objectives, top-line financial plans, post-mortem and current-trade analysis, Open to Buy, test money, pricing and supplier strategies.
• Partner with Location Planning to review zero-based plans and identify missed store opportunities.

Assortment and financial planning

• Prepare and present balanced product assortment plans with Buying and Location Planning, aligned to seasonal strategy and department review-plan targets.
• Consider sub-categories, planned promotions, volume opportunities, store profiles, optimums, price points and replenishment requirements.
• Verify that KPIs, width and depth, PMO and sales targets are aligned and consistently flowed through the season and across store profiles.

Forecasting and stock management

• Support timely order placement with strategic suppliers to meet planned demand.
• Develop accurate sales forecasts and maintain forecasting and replenishment tools to support optimal stock levels, revenue and gross profit.
• Review and adapt put-into-stock plans in response to supplier, Distribution Centre or other external constraints.
• Assist with forward-order-book adjustments and action underperforming stock through markdowns, promotions or product-presentation responses.
• Track stock ageing and help ensure stock ratios remain aligned to strategy and KPIs.

Current trade and execution

• Continuously analyse current-season trade against plan and review portfolio performance across all KPIs.
• Recommend and execute trade actions, with guidance, to optimise opportunities, minimise risk and manage stock levels.
• Complete clear weekly trade analysis and commentary; communicate changes and actions to management and impacted teams.
• Conduct store and competitor visits to assess trade, customer relevance and product assortments.
• Follow up on order creation and changes, including phasing, rolling orders for overstocks and supplier non-performance.
• Support the team to ensure order raising and allocations are completed on time and in line with merchandise-calendar deadlines.

What success looks like

• Seasonal plan sales and gross-profit targets are supported through sound analysis and effective execution.
• The assortment is balanced, strategy-led and aligned to planned sales, PMO, markdown, clearance, stock-depreciation and service-level objectives.
• Forecasts, stock turn, stock ageing, clearance and on-time-in-full performance are actively monitored and acted on.
• Orders and allocations meet critical-path requirements, and trade actions are clearly documented and executed.

Qualifications What you bring:

• Relevant tertiary qualification in Commerce, Finance, Economics, Statistics, Mathematics, Retail Business Management or a related field.
• 1–2 years' relevant experience.
• Strong numeracy, analytical thinking and attention to detail.
• Retail-market and industry knowledge, including an understanding of supply and demand.
• Proficiency in MS Office applications and confidence working with planning data, forecasts and reports.
• Clear communication skills and the ability to collaborate across multiple teams.
• Commercial acumen, an understanding of customer needs, and interest in merchandise and business processes across stores and the Distribution Centre.
• Working knowledge of internal MRPG systems will be advantageous.

Key working relationships;

• You will work closely with Planning Management, Planners and Trainee Planners, Location Planning, Buying, QA, Sourcing and Supply Chain, Operations, Visual Merchandising, Marketing, E-commerce and the Distribution Centre. You will also engage with suppliers and external training providers where required.