Assortment Planning Manager – Nike Store Partner (NSP)
As an Assortment Planning Manager – Nike Store Partner (NSP), you will work closely with the Country team, Territory Planning, Merchandising, Business Planning, Partner Management, and other key stakeholders to develop and execute optimal assortment and classification plans. You will be responsible for determining style depth, breadth, assortment flow, and shipment strategies to support financial and retail sales objectives.
The role will lead pre-season, in-season, and post-season assortment planning, while leveraging consumer insights, business performance, and market trends to optimize product strategies, inventory productivity, revenue, and margin.
Key Responsibilities
Pre-Season Planning
- Partner with Country and Territory Planning teams to refine CC targets for NSP based on retail strategies, business opportunities, and market needs.
- Ensure assortment plans are aligned with and reconciled against the top-line financial plans developed by Business Planning.
- Collaborate with Partner Managers and Merchandising teams to develop and recommend seasonal product flow and assortment strategies.
- Develop Open-to-Buy (OTB) investment plans by Franchise, Classification, Gender, and Must-Win Doors.
- Gather input from MFP, Merchandising, Partner Management, and other cross-functional stakeholders and present assortment recommendations to retail partners.
- Incorporate the expected impact of seasonal marketing campaigns, key initiatives, and consumer moments into assortment and financial plans.
- Collaborate with Country and Territory Assortment Planners, Merchandisers, and Partner Managers to forecast and manage allocations for Capacity-Constrained, Intentionally Constrained, and High-Heat/Launch Products.
- Partner with Operations teams to support effective order management and product availability.
In-Season Planning & Optimization
- Provide regular in-season business recaps and performance analysis, identifying best sellers, slow sellers, and performance variances against forecast and prior-year results.
- Monitor key product and seasonal story performance and recommend actions to maximize revenue, margin, sell-through, and inventory productivity.
- Manage the balance of full-price and off-price inventory, recommending actions to maintain inventory health and capitalize on key consumer moments.
- Analyze product and assortment performance to identify opportunities for inventory optimization and sales growth.
- Share actionable insights with cross-functional partners and ensure the voice of the consumer is incorporated into future assortment plans and business strategies.
Post-Season Analysis
- Conduct comprehensive post-season assortment reviews, including average weekly sell-through, color performance, SKU productivity, and overall assortment effectiveness.
- Analyze key item contribution and evaluate the performance of marketing campaigns and seasonal product stories.
- Identify key learnings, trends, and opportunities to improve future assortment and product planning.
- Proactively provide data-driven insights and recommendations to inform future planning cycles and assortment strategies.
About you
Ideal candidate will possess a comprehensive understanding of retail metrics, buying, forecasting, account management, and how they are used across functions to deliver profitable and sustainable growth for Nike. The candidate should also possess strong ability to interpret financial sales data to make decisions and recommendations that impact the business, as well as commercial acumen and ability to influence external accounts. Strong communication skills are critical.
6 years retail relevant experience in merchandise/business/demand/supply planning.
- Ability to interpret financial sales data to make decisions and recommendations that impact the business, comprehensive understanding of retail math.
- Ability to build and understand stock and sales plan and Open To Buy (OTB).
- Ability to create monthly reports, style-level sales plans, track performance vs. forecast and share insights and recommendations in internal and external business meetings.
- Experience in developing an understanding of customers, competitors, and retail trends; knowledge of sports apparel and footwear market preferred.
- Strong and demonstrated ability to effectively communicate and influence others.
- Advanced knowledge of MS office applications; expert proficiency in Excel including managing complex spreadsheets, complex formulas, pivot tables, etc.
- Experience with planning software/tools and merchandise management systems is preferred.
Ability to work in a matrix environment with multiple business function.
