Converse, Retail Merchandise Business Planning Manager, N. Andov  

If you have a body, you are an athlete.
When Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman made this observation many years ago, he was defining how he viewed the endless possibilities for human potential in sports. He set the tone and direction for a young company called Nike, and today those same words inspire a new generation of Nike employees.

Our goal is to carry on his legacy of innovative thinking, whether to develop products that help athletes of every level of ability reach their potential, or to create business opportunities that set Nike apart from the competition and provide value for our shareholders.

It started with a handshake between two visionary Oregonians - Bowerman and his University of Oregon runner Phil Knight. They and the people they hired evolved and grew the company that became Nike from a US-based footwear distributor to a global marketer of athletic footwear, apparel and equipment that is unrivaled in the world.

Along the way, Nike’s established a strong Brand Portfolio with several wholly owned subsidiaries including Converse Inc., NIKE Golf, Cole Haan Holdings, Inc., and Hurley International LLC.

Our world headquarters is located near Beaverton, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. So while the Pacific Northwest is the birthplace to Nike, today we operate in more than 160 countries around the globe. Through our suppliers, shippers, retailers and other service providers, we directly or indirectly employ nearly one million people.

That includes more than 30,000 Nike employees across six continents, each of whom make their own contribution to fulfill our mission statement: to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world.

Strategic and tactical Planning/Financial Performance:

• Develop annual financial plans to sub-department and store and class level.
• Develop plans that support consumer focused strategies and trends as driven by the merchandising team. (Focus on pricing and margin analysis)
• Drive financial plans In accordance with sales per sq ft and capacity by store/fixtures.  Recap current space productivity and manage capacity data by store.
• Create quarterly strategic financial plans throughout the buying process in partnership with Merchandise Manager.
• Analyze weekly business trends and capitalize on opportunities to offset liabilities with Merchandise Manager.
• Assist in the development of the Retail Open to Buy process and lead for Retail and .com on a monthly basis.
• Provide direction, analysis and insight for the retail budget and financial planning by determining strategies to maximize sales, inventory, materials and returns for the retail business.
• Oversee reporting and develop insights for sales, gross margin, and inventory position for retail stores. Report and quantify results monthly.
• Integrate high level planning goals with bottoms up forecasting to determine gaps and provide direction for actions to ensure realization of business and revenue goals.

 Business Process Management:

• Drive process management excellence to ensure timeliness and accuracy of critical information, events and procedures
• Define, drive and manage recurring and high impact business and reporting processes to ensure consistent and accurate business operations. Collaborate with IT to insure timely and accurate reporting
• Develop and lead implementation of process improvements. 
• Develop business planning processes, budgeting timelines, and performance targets.
• Utilize internal and/or external partnerships that leverage resources and enhance business group effectiveness.
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Communication/Leadership:

• Drive the engagement of the Planning Team with the Merchants on all business levels
• Build high performing team responsible for the development and support of reports, systems and processes that ensure timeliness and accuracy of critical events and procedures.
• Guide team in developing strategies that maximize inventory management efficiencies, revenue and gross margin goals in order to optimize profitability.  Create the environment to drive calculated risks and new ways of thinking.
• Manage team and set team and individual goals.  Coach staff, create opportunities for staff development and make decisions or collaborate on hiring decisions, disciplinary actions, performance management and recognition and rewards.
• Resolve employee relations issues and support diversity.
• Develop team structure that facilitates and maximizes individual and team performance.  Establish team support.
• Drive communication of financial plans to the Converse Executive team, Merchandise Mgr. and Allocation teams.
• Actively participate in staff meetings and biz reviews.  Create presentations that support the business when necessary.
• Identify weekly store and sub-department variances to plan for further analysis by Merchandise Manager.
• Collaborate with the merchandise mgr. on the product procurement process.  Making class/sub-dept. by-door recommendations.
• Work with DOS, Director of .com, and store teams on specific requests, offering exceptional service to the stores. 
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• 5-7 years buying office or finance experience for a multi-store retailer


• Bachelors degree with a related degree 


• Retail Math including intricacies of open to buy and gross margin, retail and financial experience, understanding and familiarity of retail planning software.  Familiarity with merchandise management systems.  PC literate with working knowledge of Excel including setting up spreadsheets, formulas, etc.