ZALORA Group

Online fashion marketplace in Southeast Asia

Commercial Planning Manager

Inventory ManagementConfirmed live in the last 24 hours

Full-timeKuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaNo salary listedIn-person

About the Job

Requirements

A bachelor's degree in Economics, Business, Finance, Mathematics, or equivalent is required; a master's degree or professional qualification is advantageous.
Five to eight years of experience in merchandise planning, commercial planning, or financial planning and analysis is required.
Proven planning experience in e-commerce, fashion, sports, or retail, with a strong understanding of open-to-buy, Weekly Sales Stock Intake, seasonal planning, and inventory management is required.
A strong understanding of e-commerce key performance indicators and trading levers, including traffic, conversion, pricing, promotions, and marketplace dynamics, is required.
Strong commercial acumen and the ability to connect data insights to business decisions and financial outcomes are required.
Expert-level Microsoft Excel and financial modelling skills are required.
Experience leading or contributing to planning system implementations or process transformation projects is required.
Experience working across multiple markets in a multicultural, regional environment is required.

Responsibilities

Lead seasonal strategic planning and the budget process across regions and business functions; set top-down sales, margin, inventory, and intake targets and reconcile them with bottom-up category and brand plans.
Own the open-to-buy framework and recommend budget allocation across categories, brands, and countries based on performance, growth potential, and profitability.
Lead pre-season assortment and buy planning, defining range breadth and depth, including option counts, price architecture, and size curves, to align inventory investment with consumer demand, commercial targets, and seasonal strategy.
Develop multi-season and annual commercial plans with Planning leadership, Category leadership, and Finance, aligned with company financial targets.
Build scenario models and sensitivity analyses to assess strategic options, including new category launches, market expansion, pricing and promotional strategies, and inventory risk.
Own the Weekly Sales Stock Intake and Intake Planner as the business's single source of truth; lead monthly reviews with senior stakeholders and drive reforecasting decisions.
Own weekly, monthly, and seasonal rolling forecasts, and drive forecast accuracy as a key planning-function performance measure.
Lead weekly commercial trade and planning meetings, presenting performance insights, identifying risks and opportunities, and driving decisions and accountability for actions.
Monitor commercial key performance indicators, including sales, gross margin, sell-through, stock cover, inventory aging, markdown, and return rate, and recommend corrective actions such as intake adjustments, rebuys, cancellations, and clearance strategies.
Partner with category and brand teams to optimise inventory health and minimise aged and excess stock.
Plan stock depth and availability ahead of key sales events; lead post-campaign and end-of-season reviews and incorporate the learnings into future plans.
Integrate performance across owned e-commerce and marketplace channels into total business forecasts and reporting.
Set direction for the design, development, and continuous improvement of planning tools, progressing toward more granular, automated, and scalable processes.
Lead the evaluation, business case, and implementation of planning systems and use cases, such as merchandise planning software, Looker dashboards, and pricing and forecasting tools, with Tech and Data teams.
Ensure planning-tool integration with master data, transactional data, and reporting systems, and uphold data accuracy and governance across the planning function.
Establish regional planning standards, calendars, and best practices, and drive adoption across country teams.
Act as the key planning partner to Commercial, Finance, Operations, and Marketing leadership, translating plans into financial, operational, and capacity implications.
Partner with Finance on budgeting, monthly forecasts, cash flow planning, and inventory provisioning based on intake plans.
Support Category and Buying teams in brand and supplier negotiations with planning inputs on buy quantities, margin targets, and commercial terms such as returns, markdown support, and order cancellations.
Prepare and present planning insights and recommendations to senior management and regional leadership.
Lead, coach, and develop a team of planners and analysts; set clear objectives, review output quality, and build analytical and commercial capability.
Support country planning teams with guidance, training, and escalation management to drive consistency and efficiency across markets.
Foster accountability, data-driven decision making, and continuous improvement within the planning function.

Desired Qualifications

Experience with SQL, business intelligence tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or Looker, or planning systems is highly preferred.
A master's degree or professional qualification is advantageous.

We are looking for a strategic, commercially minded leader to join our Commercial Planning team as Commercial Planning Manager. Reporting to the Commercial Planning Associate Director, the Commercial Planning Manager will own the end-to-end merchandise and commercial planning cycle across the region, from seasonal strategy and budget setting through in-season trading and intake management. He/she will translate business objectives into actionable category and brand plans, steer the allocation of Open-To-Buy (OTB) toward the highest-return categories and brands, and ensure the commercial, finance, and operations teams work to one aligned plan.

The role requires a strong blend of analytical depth, commercial judgement, and leadership, along with the confidence to challenge assumptions and influence decisions at senior levels. The ideal candidate will bring a proven track record in merchandise or commercial planning within e-commerce, fashion, sports or retail.

Responsibilities:
Strategic and Seasonal Planning

Lead the seasonal strategic planning and budget process across regions and business functions. Set top-down targets for sales, margin, inventory, and intake, and reconcile them with bottom-up category and brand plans.
Own the entire OTB framework and recommend budget allocation across categories, brands, and countries based on performance, growth potential, and profitability.
Lead pre-season assortment and buy planning, defining range breadth and depth (option counts, price architecture, and size curves) so that inventory investment is aligned with consumer demand, commercial targets, and seasonal strategy.
Develop multi-season and annual commercial plans in partnership with the Planning leadership, Category leadership, and Finance, ensuring alignment with company financial targets.
Build scenario models and sensitivity analyses to evaluate strategic options such as new category launches, market expansion, pricing and promotional strategies, and inventory risk.

In-Season Trading and Performance Management

Own the Weekly Sales Stock Intake (WSSI) and Intake Planner as the single source of truth for the business. Lead the monthly WSSI review with senior stakeholders and drive re-forecasting decisions.
Own the rolling forecast process at weekly, monthly, and seasonal level, and drive forecast accuracy as a key performance measure for the planning function.
Lead the weekly commercial trade meeting and planning meeting, presenting performance insights, identifying risks and opportunities, and driving clear decisions and accountability on actions.
Monitor key commercial KPIs (including sales, gross margin, sell-through, stock cover, inventory aging, markdown, and return rate) and recommend corrective actions such as intake adjustments, re-buys, cancellations, and clearance strategies.
Partner with category and brand teams to optimise inventory health and minimise aged and excess stock.
Ensure campaign readiness by planning stock depth and availability ahead of key sales events, and lead post-campaign and end-of-season reviews so that learnings feed into future plans.
Integrate performance across owned e-commerce and marketplace channels into total business forecasts and reporting.

Planning Tools, Processes, and Systems

Set the direction for the design, development, and continuous improvement of planning tools, moving the business toward more granular, automated, and scalable planning processes.
Lead the evaluation, business case, and implementation of new planning systems and use cases (for example, merchandise planning software, Looker dashboards, Pricing and forecasting tools) in collaboration with Tech and Data teams.
Ensure integration of planning tools with master data, transactional data, and reporting systems, and uphold data accuracy and governance across the planning function.
Establish regional planning standards, calendars, and best practices, and drive adoption across country teams.

Cross-Functional Leadership

Act as the key planning partner to Commercial, Finance, Operations, and Marketing leadership, translating plans into financial, operational, and capacity implications.
Partner with Finance on budgeting, monthly forecasts, cash flow planning, and inventory provisioning based on intake plans.
Support Category and Buying teams in brand and supplier negotiations with planning inputs on buy quantities, margin targets, and commercial terms such as returns, markdown support, and order cancellations.
Prepare and present planning insights and recommendations to senior management and regional leadership.

People Leadership

Lead, coach, and develop a team of planners and analysts, setting clear objectives, reviewing output quality, and building analytical and commercial capability.
Support country planning teams with guidance, training, and escalation management to drive consistency and efficiency across markets.
Foster a culture of accountability, data-driven decision making, and continuous improvement within the planning function.

Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Business, Finance, Mathematics, or equivalent. A Master’s degree or professional qualification is an advantage.
5 to 8 years of experience in merchandise planning, commercial planning, or FP&A.
Proven experience in e-commerce, fashion, sports or retail planning, with a strong understanding of OTB, WSSI, seasonal planning, and inventory management.
Strong understanding of e-commerce KPIs and trading levers, including traffic, conversion, pricing, promotions, and marketplace dynamics.
Strong commercial acumen and the ability to connect data insights to business decisions and financial outcomes.
Expert-level MS Excel and financial modelling skills. Experience with SQL, BI tools (such as Power BI, Tableau, or Looker), or planning systems is highly preferred.
Experience leading or contributing to planning system implementations or process transformation projects.
Excellent stakeholder management, presentation, and influencing skills, with the confidence to engage and challenge senior leaders.
Strong leadership and people development capabilities.
Highly structured, able to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
Experience working across multiple markets in a multicultural, regional environment.
Passion for the e-commerce, fashion, and sports retail industries.

The ZALORA Story

ZALORA is Asia’s Online Fashion Destination. Founded in 2012, the company has a presence in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Hong Kong. ZALORA is part of Global Fashion Group, the world's leader in online fashion for emerging markets. ZALORA offers an extensive collection of top international and local brands and products across apparel, shoes, accessories, and beauty categories for men and women. Offering up to 30-day free returns, speedy deliveries as fast as 3 hours, free delivery over a certain spend, and multiple payment methods including cash-on-delivery, ZALORA is the online shopping destination with endless fashion possibilities.

ZALORA is not obligated to accept resumes from any third parties on behalf of potential candidates for any position (advertised or otherwise) by any means, unless ZALORA has executed a written agreement with such third party and has expressly requested such third party for candidate referrals. Third parties who provide unsolicited resumes of candidate(s) shall waive and forfeit all rights to claim for any placement fees or referral fees in the event that such candidate is eventually engaged or employed by ZALORA or Global Fashion Group

About the Company

ZALORA Group

Online fashion marketplace in Southeast Asia

Zalora is an online fashion retailer in Southeast Asia that uses a marketplace model to offer a large product range from local and international brands. It earns revenue by taking a commission on each sale of items like clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty products, without holding significant inventory. The platform competes by focusing on fashion and lifestyle, curating over 50,000 items and providing features such as trend updates and style edits to help shoppers discover products. By targeting young, tech-savvy consumers and niche markets (e.g., modest wear, plus sizes) and running promotions for first-time subscribers, Zalora aims to attract and retain customers in a competitive e-commerce space.

Company size: 1,001-5,000
Company stage: Growth Equity (Venture Capital)
Total funding: $58.6M
Headquarters: Singapore, Singapore
Founded: 2012

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