Johannesburg: Retail Planning Lead – Germiston

About the Role

A leading School Supplies Retailer is seeking a Retail Planning Lead to build the planning infrastructure required to deliver profitable growth and optimal stock deployment across 55–60 branches nationwide. This critical new role will enable the organization to internalize analytics currently outsourced to DotActiv, retaining intellectual property and building sustainable competitive advantage through data-driven decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

• Build, manage, and govern Open-to-Buy (OTB) for all categories across retail branches
• Own weekly WSSI (Weekly Sales and Stock Intake) reviews to monitor stock flow and sales performance
• Drive forecast accuracy and set cover targets and inventory guardrails to optimize stock levels
• Lead weekly trade meetings with Retail Merchandisers to align on stock deployment and category performance
• Own the Sales and Operations Planning business process, integrating demand, supply, inventory, financial targets, and operational capacity into one agreed plan
• Collaborate with Supply Chain and Merchandising functions to align cross-functional priorities and resolve conflicts
• Define forecasting hierarchies, clustering rules, and allocation/replenishment policies for optimal stock distribution
• Approve major in-season pivots to respond to demand shifts or market changes
• Lead central allocation and replenishment processes to ensure branches receive appropriate stock levels based on performance and capacity
• Own pricing architecture in collaboration with Head of Retail Merchandising
• Deliver margin targets through price optimization and strategic pricing decisions
• Build promotional and markdown plans that maximize sell-through while protecting margin
• Track margin leakage and implement corrective actions to close gaps
• Manage weeks of cover and distribution centre/store balance to optimize inventory investment
• Monitor and manage aged stock, building exit strategies to reduce write-offs and free up working capital
• Reduce overstocks while protecting availability and customer satisfaction
• Partner with Retail Merchandising on SKU rationalization to streamline assortments
• Sign off on planogram capacity assumptions to ensure space-to-range alignment

Requirements

• Technical Skills: Retail Merchandise Planning (OTB, WSSI, Allocation), Demand Forecasting & Statistical Analysis, Pricing Strategy & Revenue Growth Management (RGM), Markdown Optimization & Promotional Planning, Inventory Management & Working Capital Optimization, Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP), Space Planning & Planogram Optimization
• Leadership Skills: Team leadership and development, Cross-functional leadership, Strategic planning, Performance management, Change management

Qualifications

Education: A relevant tertiary qualification in Supply Chain Management, Retail Management, Business Administration, Finance, Industrial Engineering, Data Science, or a related field is typically expected for this role. Postgraduate qualifications in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Finance, or Data Analytics may be advantageous but are not essential.

Salary & Benefits

Salary information is not available as it was not included in the original job description.

Note:

The above rewritten job description follows the exact structure and formatting guidelines provided.