Merchandise Planner

Role Overview 

The Planner is responsible for owning category-level business performance through thoughtful pre-season planning, in-season management, open-to-buy, and SKU-level planning. This role partners closely with the product team to align inventory, assortment, and financial plans with customer demand and seasonal trends. The ideal candidate is highly analytical, detail-oriented, and exceptionally comfortable in Excel, with a track record of building tools, improving reporting, and turning data into clear action.

How you will make an impact:

• Own category-level performance across sales, margin, inventory, receipts, and open-to-buy, ensuring plans support financial and operational goals.
• Build and maintain pre-season plans and SKU-level plans that reflect business goals, seasonality, and product strategies.
• Manage in-season performance through weekly forecasting, business recaps, and plan adjustments based on sales trends, inventory position, and risk/opportunity.
• Partner closely with the product team to support assortment decisions, launch timing, and inventory investments.
• Analyze category and SKU performance and develop actionable recommendations to improve sell-through, inventory productivity, and margin.
• Perform ad hoc analysis to answer business questions, identify trends, and support decision-making across the organization.
• Build and maintain Excel-based tools, templates, and reporting models to support planning and business management.
• Create reporting that improves visibility into performance, seasonality, risks, and opportunities; Domo experience is preferred for reporting and visualization support.
• Support markdown, pricing, and inventory actions in partnership with cross-functional teams.
• Present clear, concise insights and recommendations to the Director of Planning and other key stakeholders.

What you bring to the team:

1. Experience with pre-season planning, in-season management, open-to-buy, and SKU-level planning.
2. Deep understanding of seasonality, demand trends, and inventory management.
3. Comfort working closely with product, buying, and other cross-functional teams.
4. Experience with ad hoc analysis, forecasting, recapping, and translating data into action.
5. Familiarity with markdowns, pricing, and margin optimization.
6. Reporting and visualization experience preferred; Domo experience is a plus.
7. 3–5 years of experience in merchandise planning, retail planning, inventory management, or a related analytical function.
8. A bachelor’s degree is required.
9. Highly proficient in Excel with experience building tools, models, and reporting frameworks from scratch or improving existing ones. 
10. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with excellent attention to detail. 
11. Comfort evaluating and applying AI-enabled solutions to streamline planning workflows and enhance productivity.
12. Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to influence without direct authority.

At Fanatics, we value transparency and honesty. If you don’t meet every single requirement, that’s okay – we still want to hear from you! We believe in the power of diverse experiences and talents. If you’re excited about the role and confident that you can contribute, don’t hesitate to apply. We’re genuinely interested in how your unique skills and perspective can help us build something amazing together.

Where You’ll Work and What’s required:

• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with competing priorities and shifting business needs.
• Collaboration with cross-functional teams, including product and planning partners.

What’s in it for you:

• Culture: Join a team where analytical thinking, collaboration, and ownership are valued every day.
• Growth: Opportunity to own a meaningful category business and shape planning processes, tools, and reporting.
• Impact: Work closely with leadership and cross-functional partners to influence business outcomes and improve decision-making.