Al-Futtaim Hiring for Demand Planning Manager Job at Dubai Full Time

Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United A”rab Emirates. Structured into five operating divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and healthcare; employing more than 35,000 employees across more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over 200 of the world’s most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Group’s entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organisation to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate.

By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration and integrity; Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our customers each and every day.

About the Role

The Planning Manager will be responsible for directing the development, execution, and communication of the strategic merchandise financial plans. This individual will partner with Buying in driving and maximizing sales and margin. The Planning Manager is a key stake-holder and will partner with HOB, OP’s manager, Brand Partners and cross-functional teammates – leveraging analytics and formulating strategies to drive the business.

The successful candidate must be able to move beyond applying standard templates for solving problems, and support the team with creative, innovative ideas that are translated into actionable insights for the business.

Key Role Specific Accountabilities

• Manage, in complete partnership with Buying and Sales Operations, the six-month Seasonal Merchandise Plans for their respective areas of responsibility and with respect to the company’s financial goals and targets. Guides their Planners in the development, presentation and defense of these plans.
• Manage, for their areas of responsibility, the Monthly Business Review (MBR) process by guiding the Planners in their development of sales, margin, receipt and inventory forecasts; the support of these forecasts with unit projections; and the reporting of unit performance, unit forecasts and receipt issues during the MBR meetings.
• Present top-line, cross-channel total results and forecasts at the Monthly Business Review meetings (MBR).
• Manage receipts and inventory against targeted weeks of supply objectives and partner with merchandising to recommend actions that drive sales and maximize gross margin by ensuring best receipt flow.
• Manage and guide the Planners in the development of ideal assortment to maximize sales and margin for each buy period, ensuring the appropriate costs, retails and number of customer choices to achieve each period’s targets. Review and approve the Planners’ unit quantities to buy and to reorder which will effectively maximize the ability of each channel to maximize sales and margin for each buy period.
• Manage markdown and promotional strategies and ensures exit strategy for seasonal lines to effectively mitigate aged inventory.
• Create Conceptual Assortment Plans (CAP) for Design needs and final Customer Choice (cc) counts by store level for assortments.
• Manage and provide direction to their Planners to partner across channels to ensure optimal inventories to best serve the customer needs, sharing inventories as needed which will maximize overall sales and margin.
• Prepare cross-channel department overviews to be presented at Weekly Business Meetings. Prepare comprehensive monthly hindsight recaps and present at monthly meetings.
• Guide the application of the lessons towards the framework for future deliveries and reaction to current business trends.
• Guide the development of their Planners’ Weekly Unit Plans and Key Item programs to exploit category opportunities to drive sales and margin.
• Travel to stores on a regular basis, to observe the performance of their merchandise; to review markdown racks for future decisions on the purchase quantities of merchandise; to gain an understanding of the customer base, store layouts and back stock space; and to foster a strong working relationship with the store teams.
• Oversee the sales performance by comparing the actual sales versus the weekly targets, previous years & projections, and take corrective action in coordination with other departments

About You

Minimum Qualifications and Knowledge:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration or equivalent.

Minimum Experience:

• 5 -8 years of specialty retail experience with a minimum of 7 years in Planning.

Job-Specific Skills:

• Strong analytical and financial skills.
• 2 – 4 years of demonstrated team leadership experience.
• Demonstrated knowledge of industry practices and current trends.

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Before you click “apply”: Please read the job description carefully to ensure you can confidently demonstrate why this opportunity is right for you and take the time to put together a well-crafted and personalised CV to further boost your visibility. Our global Talent Acquisition team members are all assigned to specific businesses to ensure that we make the best matches between talent and opportunities. We not only consider the requisite compatibility of skills and behaviours, but also how candidates align with our Values of Respect, Integrity, Collaboration, and Excellence.

As part of our candidate experience promise, we also want to make ourselves available to you throughout the application process. We make every effort to review and respond to every application.