Ralph Lauren Wholesale Regional Merchandising Associate, Men's

Company Description

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) is a global leader in the design, marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in five categories: apparel, accessories, home, fragrances, and hospitality. For more than 50 years, Ralph Lauren's reputation and distinctive image have been consistently developed across an expanding number of products, brands and international markets. The Company's brand names, which include Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children, Chaps, among others, constitute one of the world's most widely recognized families of consumer brands. At Ralph Lauren, we unite and inspire the communities within our company as well as those in which we serve by amplifying voices and perspectives to create a culture of belonging, ensuring inclusion, and fairness for all. We foster a culture of inclusion through: Talent, Education & Communication, Employee Groups and Celebration.

Position Overview

To work in conjunction with key functional areas (merchandising, account planning, sales, sourcing and finance) to assist in the development, forecasting and retail delivery of a well-balanced, lifestyle appropriate assortments that provide both volume and margin growth for our retail partners and reflects the seasonal RL merchandising vision for the Menswear business.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Work collaboratively with key partners to identify and define product strategies and opportunities
• Analyze historical and in-season selling to guide and action future seasons plans
• Assist with projection management from initial pre-planning stage through line opening
• Demonstrate proactive communication between merchandising, sales and account planning teams
• Support Account Planning process to develop and deliver strategic detailed plans that will drive mutually beneficial results
• Key liaison for tracking inventory commitments and conveying information between account planning and merchandising
• Participate in pre-season merchandising meetings to understand product and global assortment strategies in order to deliver balanced assortments for wholesale
• Assist in developing the seasonal strategies based on product flow and classification percents by delivery. Duties will involve analyzing historical bookings and selling.
• Manage seasonal projection entry and updates as needed
• Develop and update various tools for market prep to be used as selling tool for all account planning and sales meetings
• Produce weekly product selling reports and provide monthly hindsight analysis
• Report on key deliverables; sell-through, product margin, bookings, class penetrations pre and post market
• Work with team to enhance, develop and maintain various tools for market prep
• Various ad-hoc projects that will require a full understanding of product life cycle
• Partner with key stakeholders to manage seasonal projections and continue to update best practices for evolving business needs
• Work closely with key partners to adjust weekly projections and manage deliverables on time
  
  

Experience, Skills & Knowledge

• Minimum of 1 to 2 years merchandise planning experience required in the apparel industry
• Self-starter and highly motivated
• Strong analytical skills
• Proficiency in retail math
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Strong computer and analytical skills with attention to detail and accuracy critical; advanced Excel (pivot tables, v-lookups, macros) required
• Self-motivated and organized