Demand Planner

The BusinessWe are an international licensed apparel and lifestyle business. We hold long-term licences for a portfolio of established global brands and operate them across multiple markets through wholesale accounts, appointed distributors, digital marketplaces, owned e-commerce and owned retail.Product is sourced from manufacturers across Asia and Europe, consolidated through a central trading entity, and distributed into the markets covered by our licences. The group operates a multi-entity structure with a single group ERP.Purpose of the RoleWe operate under licence agreements that carry contractual minimum net sales and guaranteed minimum royalty obligations. Every buy decision therefore has two consequences: a working capital consequence and a licence compliance consequence. This role exists to make both visible and controllable.The Demand & Merchandise Planner owns the group’s demand and inventory plan — translating the seasonal order book and sell-through data into buy quantities, phasing and an inventory investment plan the business can fund, while ensuring the sales trajectory required under each licence is forecast, tracked and flagged early.Key ResponsibilitiesSeasonal Planning & BuyingBuild and own the seasonal range and buy plan (SS / FW) by brand and territory, working from the pre-book order book, distributor commitments, historical sell-through and commercial input from Sales.Convert the order book into style / colour / size level buy quantities, including risk buys and replenishment provisions, with a clearly stated coverage assumption behind each.Set and manage Open-To-Buy by brand, season, entity and channel, sized against approved budget, available trade finance capacity and supplier payment terms.Phase the buy against supplier lead times and shipment windows so inbound stock lands ahead of the season’s delivery obligations, not after them.Maintain a rolling 18-month demand forecast by brand, category, channel and territory.Licence & Royalty PlanningForecast net sales by licence and contract year and track actual performance against contractual minimum net sales thresholds; escalate shortfall risk to the CFO with sufficient lead time for commercial action.Model the royalty and guaranteed minimum royalty impact of buy and sell-through scenarios, and support royalty reporting to licensors.Ensure buy and allocation plans respect licence territory restrictions, approved product categories, channel restrictions and any contractual limitation on off-price or discount disposal of stock.Support licensor-facing seasonal planning submissions and sell-through reporting.Inventory & Working CapitalOwn inventory targets by entity, brand and ageing bucket; report stock cover, turnover, sell-through and forecast accuracy on a fixed weekly and monthly cadence.Plan and monitor goods in transit, with inbound visibility from supplier ex-factory through to warehouse receipt, and support accurate landed cost build-up (freight, duty, insurance, FX).Plan intercompany stock movement and allocation between group entities, taking customs, duty and importer-of-record consequences into account.Quantify slow-moving, excess and obsolete stock; propose and cost corrective action (markdown, transfer, distributor placement, permitted clearance channels) and support the provisioning position taken by Finance.Provide the inventory and purchasing inputs to the group cash flow forecast, and flag where a buy commitment will draw on trade finance facilities.Cross-Functional & ReportingRun the Sales & Operations Planning cycle: chair the planning meeting, align Sales, Sourcing, Logistics and Finance on a single agreed plan, and hold the record of what was agreed.Work with Sourcing and Logistics on supplier lead time performance, order confirmation status, shipment tracking and delivery reliability; escalate supplier non-performance that threatens the sales plan.Support e-commerce and owned retail with replenishment plans and stock allocation, including marketplace stock commitments.Produce the weekly and monthly planning pack for the CFO and CEO: demand, inventory, licence coverage, forecast accuracy and exception items.Contribute to the group ERP roll-out — item master discipline, purchase order workflow, goods-in-transit and planning module configuration — and improve forecast accuracy and reporting automation over time.Qualifications & ExperienceBachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, Economics or a related discipline. A professional finance or supply chain qualification (CIMA, CSCP, CPIM, ACCA, CA) is an advantage.Five to seven years in demand planning, merchandise planning or inventory planning, of which at least three years in apparel, footwear, accessories or branded consumer goods.Direct experience of seasonal, pre-book wholesale planning is essential. Candidates whose experience is limited to continuous-replenishment FMCG or retail-only planning are unlikely to be a fit.Experience planning across multiple legal entities and territories, with a working understanding of intercompany stock movement, import duty and landed cost.Exposure to licensed brand operations, royalty reporting or distributor / franchise structures is strongly preferred.Advanced Excel is mandatory: Power Query, Power Pivot, XLOOKUP, dynamic arrays, and the ability to build a model another person can audit. Power BI is an advantage.ERP experience required. Experience of a mid-market ERP (Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Oracle, NetSuite or similar) is expected; experience of an ERP implementation or migration is an advantage.Fluent written and spoken English. An additional European language is an advantage.Willingness to travel internationally for planning cycles and showroom periods.What We Are Looking ForCommercial judgement, not just arithmetic — the ability to say what the number means for margin, cash and licence compliance.Willingness to challenge a sales forecast that is not supported by evidence, and to hold that position with senior stakeholders.Comfort operating with imperfect data in a business still building its systems, without using data quality as a reason not to produce a plan.Ownership of a single version of the truth, with assumptions documented and defensible.Directness. Bad news early is valued; bad news late is not.