Assistant Merchandiser

The Associate Merchandise Planner is responsible for building financial sales, gross margin, and inventory plans for both pre-season and in-season time periods. Partner with Buying & Merchandising group to create & deliver local assortment strategies maximizing sales and profits. Responsible for the successful development, execution and communication of financial and inventory plans. Provide analytics and support to the Merchandising organization as well as Executive updates on business performance.

This position will work out of the Lids office in London.

Principle Duties and Responsibilities

· Coordinate the development of annual, seasonal, monthly & weekly merchandise plans

· Construct merchandise purchase schedules for initial and in-season products

· Manage price updates markdowns, promotion setups, etc

· Analyze margins and IMU's to drive pricing opportunity & risk

· Analyze and provide reporting on capacity to identify areas of opportunity or risk resulting in allocation adjustments

· Analyze historic performance to identify areas of opportunity/risk

· Prepare preseason promotional/markdown strategy through inter-department partnerships

· Develop, maintain, and update tools & reports to support the business

· Establish process & tools to review product assortments; providing data & analysis to support decision making

Additional Principal Duties and Responsibilities

· Maintain business processes and serve as subject matter expert for process improvements.

· Partner with allocation & supply chain teams to implement consistent and profitable in-season replenishment strategies and practices.

· Develop enterprise wide risk mitigation plans and execute

· Test multiple business strategies simultaneously, quantifying & communicating business impacts.

· Manage sku intensive businesses.

· Manage location intensive assortments.

· Deliver local, regionally relevant assortments and business solutions.

· Manage multiple channels & banners that Lids Sports Group operates under.

· Communicate effectively, and at times persuasively, with employees at all levels of the company.

· Support and adhere to all company policies, procedures, and guidelines.

· Manage pricing updates - markdowns, promo setups, etc

· Analyze margins and IMU's to drive pricing opportunity or risk

· Analyze and provide reporting on store capacity to identify areas of opportunity or risk resulting in allocation adjustments

· Support allocation duties as needed while in-season

· Bachelor's Degree in Business, Finance, Marketing, Fashion Merchandising or a related field.

· Strong understanding of retail math and measure used in financial reporting.

· Proven ability to perform independently with minimal supervision.

· Ability to operate a computer and maneuver relative software programs.

· Analytic Skills: Ability to think objectively and interpret meaningful themes from quantitative and qualitative data.

· Financial and Business Acumen: Ability to evaluate financial and business indicators and translate data into actionable information to drive results.

· Problem Solving & Decision Quality: Able to use rigorous logic and methods to solve problems with effective solutions.

Preferred Job Required Knowledge & Skills

· 3-5 years merchandising, planning, buying, or equivalent experience preferred.

· Relationship Management: Able to build constructive and effective relationships with a broad and diverse group of business partners, both internally & externally.

· Dealing with Paradox: Ability to balance conflicting & competing priorities. Delivering a set of options, detailing impacts for each while driving to a single recommendation.

· Presentation Skills: Effective in a variety of presentation settings including one-on-one, small and large groups, and with peers and Executives

· Influencing and Negotiation: Can present ideas and directions that lead others to action

· Planning and Priority Setting: Demonstrate an ability to set objectives and goals and organize work appropriately to meet and exceed goals

· Process Management: Can identify and articulate the processes necessary to get things down efficiently and align resources effectively complete activities

· Systems and Tools Acumen: Advanced capabilities in Microsoft Excel, Proficiency in Microsoft Access, PowerPoint and Word. Must also have aptitude to learn technical applications quickly

Lids Sports Group is the largest licensed sports retailer in North America, selling fan and fashion-oriented headwear and apparel across the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Australia. Operating out of Indianapolis, IN, our retail stores offer officially licensed headwear and apparel from collegiate and professional sports teams, plus top brands like Nike, New Era, Adidas, and Mitchell & Ness.

We currently operate 1,200+ locations domestically and 50+ internationally, including specialty concept stores for the NBA, NHL, Paris Saint-Germain, and numerous MLB teams. In recent years, Lids has built partnerships with iconic global brands including Marvel, Playboy, and the Harlem Globetrotters, and gained ambassadors like Justin Jefferson, Quavo, and Josephine Skriver - creating a community for both sports fans and fashion lovers.

The company is currently expanding with the goal of becoming the largest licensed brick-and-mortar sports retailer across the globe.