Role OverviewAs a Lead Associate - Planning, you will be responsible for driving category growth, optimizing inventory efficiency, and maximizing profitability. You will bridge the gap between data-driven planning and commercial execution by managing Open-to-Buy (OTB) budgets, curating high-performing assortments, and monitoring key lifecycle metrics.The ideal candidate possesses strong analytical guardrails, a problem-solving mindset, and the operational grit required to streamline merchandising and inbound processes in a fast-paced retail/e-commerce environment. Key Responsibilities1. Inventory & OTB Management • Monitor real-time inventory health and strategically plan inward stock movements based on GMV, Days of Hospitality (DOH), and Sell-Through Rate (STR) targets. • Manage the intake calendar to prevent stock-outs while minimizing capital lock-up.2. Assortment Planning & Selection • Build season-level buy plans and curated assortment frameworks mapped against historical performance and aggressive revenue targets. • Ensure a balanced and highly representative product category mix that caters to evolving consumer demands.3. Performance Analytics & Optimization • Review weekly/monthly style-level performance across core metrics, including Rate of Sale (ROS), Sell-Through (STR), Revenue Per Inventory (RPI), and Realized Gross Margin (RGM). • Formulate and execute swift corrective actions (e.g., markdowns, replenishments, liquidations) for slow-moving or high-performing inventory.4. Market Gaps & Category Expansion • Conduct continuous market and trend analysis to identify white spaces and gaps in current product offerings. • Propose data-backed brand additions and category expansions to capture untapped market share.5. Pricing & Margin Management • Oversee pricing strategies for both Sale or Return (SOR) and Outright (OR) models. • Partner with the commercial/category teams to secure timely, controlled internal pricing in alignment with planned STR and RGM. • Strategize and execute OR discounting models to meet strict profitability guidelines.6. Operational Excellence & Process Improvement • Own merchandising operations, inbound scheduling, cataloging alignment, and discount deployment. • Proactively identify bottlenecks in the current planning lifecycle and lead process-improvement projects to drive automation, efficiency, and scale.Required Qualifications & Skills • Experience: 2 to 6 years of proven experience in Retail Planning, Category Planning, or Merchandise Financial Planning (E-commerce or Fashion Retail background preferred). • Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Engineering, Fashion Management, or a highly quantitative field. • Analytical Prowess: Advanced proficiency in MS Excel/Google Sheets. Experience with SQL, Power BI, or planning software (e.g., o9, Anaplan) is a heavy plus. • Execution & Ownership: Ability to seamlessly pivot between high-level strategy and granular operational execution. • Stakeholder Management: Exceptional communication skills to collaborate effectively across Category, Operations, and Sourcing teams.