What is a day in the life of a Merchandise Planner?

Owns the forecasting, planning and inventory management of the European Brand Portfolio with a focus on Emerging Marketplaces.

Drives alignment across the commercial trading functions; inputting into annual, quarterly and monthly budgets in partnership with Ecommerce and Finance. Maintaining WSSI forecasts and quantifying divergence from JBP.

Uses available data, statistical models and algorithmic tools to ensure accurate stock and sales projections are maintained throughout the year, proactively identifying trends, risks and opportunities and continuously refining automated forecasting logic for improved accuracy.

Uses trading levers such as swap and return negotiations, EOL MD management and promotional planning to ensure inventory position, revenue and margin targets are achieved, leveraging automated replenishment rules to optimise decision-making at scale.

Provides analytical and actionable insights into forecast deviations and future implications, working collaboratively to identify and implement solutions, including opportunities to further automate manual planning processes.

Presents to external clients, leading discussions around Buying Strategy & Sell In-Sell Out forecasts across new and emerging marketplaces.

Oversees category intake, managing OTB, ordering and selection processes. Ensures optimum inventory health, with 95%+ availability on core ranges and targeted sell through on seasonal areas.

Works closely with brands to ensure order fulfilment and supply chain efficiencies, aligning with Ecommerce management on ordering strategies implemented by the inventory management team.

Drives operational excellence through collaboration with key stakeholders and ownership of innovation projects, as a core member of the Replenishment & Automation Pod, helping to design, test and implement reporting and tech improvements.

What will I need to thrive in this role?

Bachelor’s degree. 

A track record of progression in a multi-category/brand merchandising or planning role — we care more about clear evidence of growth, curiosity and drive than hitting an exact number of years’ experience.

Experience in Demand and Supply Chain Planning.

In-depth understanding of merchandising and trading approach .  

Previous experience working with an eCommerce channel (eg. D2C)

Highly Commercial mindset, considering both the customer and business needs.

Genuine motivation, curiosity and a desire for a new challenge: candidates who’ve taken on projects beyond their core role, identified and solved a problem on their own initiative, or pursued side projects in data and analytics tend to stand out.

Comfortable adopting AI tools to support forecasting, planning and reporting workflows.

Sounds great! What’s the company culture? We are looking for individuals who are:

Game Changers - A game changer is someone who looks at problems with an open mind and shares new ideas with team members, regularly reassesses existing plans and attaches a realistic timeline to goals, makes profitable, productive, and innovative contributions, and actively pursues improvements to Pattern’s processes and outcomes.

Data Fanatics - A data fanatic is someone who recognizes problems and seeks to understand them through data, draws unbiased conclusions based on data that lead to actionable solutions, and continues to track the effects of the solutions using data. 

Partner Obsessed - An individual who is partner obsessed clearly explains the status of projects to partners and relies on constructive feedback, actively listens to partner’s expectations, and delivers results that exceed them, prioritizes the needs of your partners, and takes the time to create a personable experience for those interacting with Pattern.

Team of Doers - Someone who is a part of a team of doers uplifts team members and recognizes their specific contributions, takes initiative to help in any circumstance, actively contributes to supporting improvements, and holds themselves accountable to the team as well as to partners.

What is the hiring process?

1. An initial phone interview with Pattern’s talent acquisition team (30 minutes)

2. Focus interview with a hiring manager (Zoom - 30 minutes)

3. Assessment Interview with Task (Zoom - 1 hour)

4. Final Interview (Zoom/ or In-Person 30 minutes)

5. Top Grading with Talent & Reference Collection

6. Offer

How can I stand out as an applicant?

Be prepared to talk about professional accomplishments with specific data to quantify examples

Be ready to talk about how you can add value and be the best addition to the team

Focus on mentioning how you would be partner-obsessed at Pattern

Be prepared to talk about any side projects related to data and analytics

Why should I work at Pattern?

Pattern offers big opportunities to make a difference in the e-commerce industry! We are a company

full of talented people who evolve quickly and often. We set big goals, work tirelessly to achieve them,

and we love our Pattern community. We also believe in having fun and balancing our lives, so we offer

great benefits that include:

28 days Holiday (increasing to 32 with each year of service)

Competitive salary and stock options

Private Medical Insurance + gym discounts

Free breakfast and snacks in the office

Enhanced Pension Scheme

Cycle to Work scheme 

Enhanced Maternity and Paternity leave and pay

4 week work from anywhere policy

Regular company socials

Nursery Scheme