Merchandise & Demand Planning Manager

What’s in it for you?

• Leave you’ll value: 4 weeks paid annual leave plus the ability to take up to 6 weeks total each year.
• Parental leave: Up to 26 weeks paid for the primary carer and 8 weeks paid for the secondary carer (per policy).
• Real ownership: A highly visible role, fully empowered to build the capability and strategy for merchandise and demand planning and inventory management.
• A place that’s fun and celebrates wins: Unique talents are leveraged, and success is recognised.
• Serious career runway: Ongoing growth creates limitless opportunities for top performers.
• People-centric culture: Work where values truly guide decisions
• Learn from the best: Collaborate with highly regarded mentors and leaders.
• South-East location & flexibility: Modern, open, collaborative offices designed for connection on in-office days.

Your prospective employer:
This is a retail group that does things differently. With a large national store network and a strong reputation for delivering exceptional customer experience, they continue to grab market share year on year — not by standing still, but by innovating and investing in their people, their systems, and their stores. You’ll be joining a business that is future-focused: embracing technology, driving supply chain transformation, and elevating its merchandise and demand planning function to be best-in-class. The culture is one where collaboration and performance go hand in hand — where team members are encouraged to challenge the norm, contribute ideas, and be part of the company’s ongoing evolution. You will be surrounded by some of the brightest minds in retail, with leaders who value empowerment, trust, and delivering results as a collective.

Your role:
As the Merchandise & Demand Planning Manager, you’ll be the architect of the planning strategy — taking full ownership of how the merchandise and demand planning is structured, executed, and optimised across the store network. This is a senior, influential position reporting directly to the GM Merchandise, with visibility across the entire retail business. Working to your strengths, you will lead a significant inventory portfolio , driving decisions that directly influence sales performance, margin growth, and customer satisfaction. Your remit spans end-to-end planning, from forecasting and inventory management to pricing and promotional accuracy.

Specifically, you will:

• Set the direction: Build the merchandise and demand planning strategy, ensuring the right stock, at the right time, in the right place.
• Leverage data and insights: Use sales trends, market data, and further develop the forecasting tools to make purchasing decisions that drive profitability.
• Lead, coach, and inspire: Mentor and develop your direct and indirect team of Merchandise Planners, Demand Planners, and Allocators, building capability and succession strength.
• Shape best practice: Introduce new forecasting methodologies, improve ERP processes, and create streamlined reporting to support smarter decisions.
• Drive performance: Deliver sales, margin, and inventory targets that positively impact category and store results.
• Collaborate widely: Partner with Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, and Merchandise teams — as well as vendors and suppliers — to align stock levels and promotional activity.
• Be the change leader: Champion a culture of continuous improvement, guiding your team through transformation and capability uplift.

This is not just about “maintaining” a function — it’s about building and elavating it. You’ll be the driver of innovation, the connector between functions, and the voice that ensures the merchandise and demand planning is a strategic enabler of growth.

What it will take

• Proven depth: Senior leadership experience across merchandise/demand planning, forecasting and inventory management in retail, where you have had end-to-end ownership of the planning function.
• Strategic + hands-on: Are just as comfortable setting the vision and strategy and rolling up your sleeves in the day-to-day.
• Commercial rigour: Exceptionally strong with numbers; integrate clear analysis and business rationale into decisions.
• People leadership: A natural leader who has built, coached and scaled sizeable teams; trusted, influential and outcome-focused.
• Project & stakeholder excellence: Strong program delivery, stakeholder management and the ability to influence at all levels.
• Mindset: Astute, innovative and action-oriented; you spot opportunities and move decisively.
• Communication & integrity: You build trust, collaborate effectively and drive execution.
• Category-agnostic: Impactful leadership and planning depth matter more than specific category experience.

A career here is more than a job — it’s your chance to grow, thrive, and make a meaningful impact. If this sounds like you, APPLY now or contact Gabby Symons at gabbys@peopleequity.com.au or 0432 261 116 for a confidential conversation.