Assistant Planner

**ASSISTANT PLANNER - FULL TIME - WASHINGTON TYNE & WEAR OR HIGHBURY LONDON**

**Who We Are**:
Inspired by a shared love of fashion, sneakers and the surrounding culture, END. was founded in Newcastle upon Tyne back in 2005. Bringing a combination of celebrated designers and emerging brands that were hard to come by outside of London, our first store in the UK nurtured a community of like-minded individuals who shared a passion within this ever-evolving culture.

Since then, END. has become a technology led retailer that provides a curated blend of menswear, womenswear, sneakers, homeware and lifestyle products for a global community.

At the core of everything we do as a brand is our customers. We recognise that it is our team and culture that makes the difference to our customers. With over 600 employees across our HQ, offices and retail locations, this customer centred approach continues to be a key focus for all END. staff.

As END. continues to grow with the culture, we want to ensure that all END. staff have a great experience at work and continue to contribute to our collective success.

Working in our busy, fast paced team at our Head Offices in Newcastle & London, you will play a pivotal role in the ensuring the business uses the best data and analysis to inform buying & trading decisions, maximises sales and profit opportunities and contribute to overall business strategy and growth.

We are building out a merchandising team to support our next phase of growth. Your remit will include the development and proactive improvement of the merchandising function, including assisting the establishment and management of best in class merchandising systems and processes.

You will also need to work closely with our buying, supply chain, retail and online teams to ensure a seamless delivery of product into each channel.

You will be a visible team player, working with a variety of stakeholders across the wider organisation and forming strong working partnerships especially with the buying team. You will add gravitas, have innovative ideas and bring experience, energy and enthusiasm into the mix. You will provide strategic vision and focus but with an eye on the detail. You will be an ambassador and role model for the brand.

**Here's a breakdown of what you'll be doing**:

- Work in conjunction with Merchandiser, Head of Merchandising and Directors to influence operational plans and developments.
- Support the the merchandiser and buying team to develop the category framework covering targets for sales, stock, intake, in season trading (promotional spend), end of life (markdown), net achieved margin and other commercial KPIs in line with company goals across your category / ranges.
- Ensure accurate data is used and analysed to make the best commercial decisions and work with various End. stakeholders to improve the underlying data integrity.
- Assist in the forecast / reforecast process for key KPIs and regularly monitor progress, suggesting corrective action where necessary.
- Support buyers / buying team in the development and buying of commercial ranges that deliver on company's brand, financial, product and customer goals.
- Support the management of overall stock levels for your category / ranges. Maintain line cards / WSSIs and monitor intake into UK, working with buying and supply chain teams and take corrective action where required.
- Work alongside channel teams (digital, store) to probe product performance, identifying issues and proposing corrective action.
- Analyse and monitor best and worst sellers, use latest data and sales trends across individual lines, ranges, channels etc to spot trading opportunities.
- Make informed recommendations to buying teams for action to ensure sales and profit opportunities are maximised.
- Work with key stakeholders to ensure product for an agreed launch / promotion is there for day 1 across all channels
- Develop ideas and suggestions to positively impact business trading through the use of (price) promotions across stores / channels.
- Advise and implement best practice to continually develop the merchandising and buying functions as necessary.
- Build effective and open relationships with all members of the buying, merchandising and supply chain teams, based on reliable, accurate and relevant data.
- Deliver key information at the right time, to the right people, and present at meetings as requested.
- Develop & enhance operational processes to improve overall consistent performance and compliance

**Who we're looking for**:

- Commercially aware with a strong understanding of merchandising. Knowledge of online brands marketplaces is a positive.
- A ‘trading mentality' with the ability and appetite to work in a fast paced, commercial environment
- Have strong functional experience learned in a fast-paced, complex multi-channel environment.
- Able to build and maintain robust but constructive relationships with buying, supply chain and other internal colleag