Director, Merchandising, Planning

**The Role: Director, Merchandising Planning and Analysis**

**What you are looking for**:

- A closely connected culture
- A total rewards package meant to enhance your work-life flexibility
- Fully utilizing your talent
- Professional growth and development via challenging projects and assignments
- Warm and fuzzy feelings knowing you have helped your community, your team, the business and social causes through the Rexall Care Network

The Director, Merchandising Planning and Analysis a strategic planning leader responsible for driving the development, integration, and execution of front-store business plans. Reporting to the SVP, Chief Merchant, this role supports the Senior Directors of Category Management, Merchandising, Marketing and Loyalty, by translating strategic priorities into actionable, insight-led plans that deliver sales, margin, inventory turnover, and market share growth.

This role serves as the central planner across Vitamins and OTC medications, Personal Care, and General Merchandise — enabling structured, data-driven execution across assortment, pricing, promotions, and vendor programs. The Director collaborates extensively with Finance, Supply Chain, Marketing, Loyalty, and Store Operations to ensure planning excellence and operational alignment across the business.

**What you’ll be doing**:
Strategic Category Planning Support
- Partner with the Senior Directors of Category Management, Merchandising, Loyalty and Marketing to develop annual and long-range business plans across key front-store categories.
- Translate strategic priorities into cross-functional execution plans — including assortment, pricing, promotional strategies, vendor funding, and performance targets.
- Support category lifecycle assessments (e.g., growth, rationalization, reinvention) and assist in shaping appropriate planning approaches.

Enterprise Planning & Financial Integration
- Lead the planning processes that bridge strategic goals with enterprise financial deliverables (sales, margin, supplier revenue, inventory turnover).
- Collaborate with Finance and FP&A to align top-down targets with bottom-up plans across all front-store categories.
- Build business cases, scenario models, and investment frameworks to support category decisions and funding allocation.
- Monitor and refine key KPIs including GMROI, promotional lift, inventory turns, and margin performance.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Execution
- Act as the primary planning liaison between Category Management and cross-functional partners in Finance, Merchandising, Supply Chain, Store Operations, Marketing, Loyalty and Finance.
- Work together with Senior Directors of Category Management, Merchandising, Marketing and Loyalty by integrating business and promotional plans that reflect customer strategy, category priorities, and executional readiness to deliver company KPIs.
- Work closely with Store Operations leaders to support successful in-store execution and performance follow-through by providing reporting and analysis for FS initiatives.
- Support vendor reviews and joint business planning by providing insight-driven financial and planning context.
- Collaborate with finance partners on all company budgeting, forecasting and reporting processes in line with corporate calendar.

Process Improvement, Tools & Reporting
- Champion planning tools and analytics that enhance decision-making and execution discipline across the organization.
- Create standardized planning templates, performance scorecards, and executive dashboards for use across teams.
- Continuously improve planning processes and forecasting accuracy using data modeling, business intelligence tools, and cross-functional feedback.
- Mentor direct reports and merchandising team members fostering a culture of analytical rigor and customer-centric planning.

**Knowledge, skills and experience**:

- 5-8 years of experience in category planning, merchandising strategy, or retail business planning, ideally within pharmacy, grocery, or mass merchandise.
- Strong experience working with national and private label brands in a multi-category retail environment.
- Demonstrated ability to lead complex planning processes and influence cross-functional stakeholders.
- Proven success supporting category strategy execution through disciplined planning, financial modeling, and business case development.
- Advanced Excel (pivot tables, macros, lookups), PowerPoint, and Power BI or Tableau skills.
- Preferred Proficiency in SQL and Python for data querying, analysis, and modeling.
- Familiarity with planning or ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, JDA, Anaplan).
- Experience working with syndicated data (Nielsen, IRI, Numerator) and customer insights platforms.
- Strong financial acumen and ability to develop data-backed models and recommendations.
- Leadership and development of planning and analytics professionals.
- Talent management and collaboration among peers.
- Strategic thinker with strong planning