QUESTIONNAIRE-6-38 03 **Serving the needs of all families with young children,** Carter’s Inc. is the largest North American apparel retailer exclusively for babies and young children, encompassing Carter’s, OshKosh B’gosh, Skip*Hop and Little Planet brands. Meaningful work, constant learning, genuine people, and a community guided by core values that promote inclusion and innovation is in everything we do. There are many reasons to build your career at Carter's. **How you’ll make an impact:** Do you have a real passion for Retail and connecting product strategy to financial strategy? We are very excited to have an opportunity available for a Merchandise Planning Manager to join the Carter’s team! The Planning Manager will lead their team in developing growth strategies, executing strategic purchases, and creating financial plans that align with both the strategies and our corporate financial objectives. The ideal candidate should be entrepreneurial in that their approach to planning with a desire to identify growth opportunities and a willingness to put their name on it. We have an extremely collaborative culture, working cross functional partners in Merchandising, Pricing, Location Planning, Allocation and more. The Planning Manager reports to the VP Planning in our Atlanta GA corporate offices. **Forecasting (30%)** + Collaborate with Merchandising partners to identify/quantify product categories in terms of Grow/Maintain/Decline balancing historical performance and future growth initiatives + Quantify buy utilizing rankings from merchandising and stores assortments from location planning to align with financial receipt/sales plans and present disconnects to Planning Leaders with solutions to solve **Inventory Management (30%)** + Partner with Pricing team to optimize pricing strategy to achieve desired margin goals + Develop marketing plan/promotional cadence with Planning Operations teams to optimize inventory productivity + Manage the in-season business through the OTB process. This entails reforecasting sales, receipts/inventory and margin based on current trends (weekly, monthly and quarterly). Identify inventory needs and pricing actions and present to Director/Sr Director. Verbalize any risk/opportunities in the business and recommend actions to correct/capitalize on those variances to plan **Data Analysis (20%)** + Develop analytical methods to measure performance of the brand initiatives and report on status and action updates monthly. Assist functional leaders to develop regular business updates for executive team + Provide ad hoc business reports and analysis as needed supporting leadership + Develop long term enhancements to support efficiencies in the execution of the merchandise planning and buying processes, such as assortment planning, inventory flow and sku productivity. Continually strive to improve quality of information, analytical techniques, processes and systems **Team Management (20%)** + Lead team through development of weekly sales plan, combining multiple seasons, ensuring financial metrics are met + Manage 3 to 5 of Planners of varied experience levels by providing guidance, motivation and support to ensure sound strategy development and accuracy + Become an influential Peer Leader on the cross functional team + Present/participate in Key business meetings **We’d Love to hear from you if:** **Must have:** + 7+ years Merchandise Buying and/or Planning experience including 3+ years of experience leading teams and developing direct reports + Demonstrated ability to develop, lead and manage strategy and execution for multiple business areas with a high degree of complexity and change + Financial and Business Acumen with strong decision making capability + Demonstrated success leading teams to significant profitable growth stories through analysis, vision, partnership, cross-functional leadership, execution and measurement + Strong organization, process management and workload prioritization skills for self and others + Exceptional influence, negotiating and collaboration skills + Managing for Results - Produces sustainable results consistently. Holds team accountable. Recognizes and resolves complex problems. Understands underlying issues and addresses root causes. Measures, analyzes quantitative information, and presents it effectively. Seeks input from others. + Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Finance, Operations or Statistics + Proficient in Excel **Preferred skills and experience:** + Extensive experience in combination of enterprise planning, financial, forecasting, analytical, data management (Anaplan and Tableau preferred) + Ability to synthesize a large amount of data and vary communication with details appropriate to your audience level Our Team Members: + **Lead Courageously:** Have a strong sense of personal values that align with our Company values + **Collaborates Broadly:** Build cooperation, trust, and thrive in a consensus driven environment + **Customer Focus:** Proactively seek opportunities to leverage data and fact-based insights to serve customers and/or internal clients + **Drive Growth:** Set aggressive goals and implement plans precisely + **Cultivates Innovation:** Respectfully challenge the "we’ve always done it this way" mentality and explore new ways to achieve desired outcomes **Make a career at Carter’s:** + Career Development: Success starts from within, and we have several paths from which you can choose to enhance your career evolution. From Carter’s University to Toastmasters to mentorship programs and more, we encourage you to utilize these tools to elevate your professional prowess. NOTE: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. The duties described may be changed or reassigned at the discretion of management, and the employee may be required to perform duties that are not listed in the job description. _Carters is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law._