Group Director, Merchandise Planning

At Chanel, we are focused on creating an inclusive culture that nurtures personal growth, contributing to collective progress. We believe the uniqueness of each individual increases the diversity, complementarity and effectiveness of our teams. We strongly encourage your application, as we value the perspective, experience and potential you could bring to CHANEL.

CHANEL is looking for a Group Director to join our Fragrance & Beauty Merchandise Planning Team in New York, NY. You will be accountable for the entire Beauty catalog forecast and own all campaign performance and dimensioning, both retail and shipments. This role interfaces with many vital cross-functional partners across the business and is a strategic partner for developing an accurate SKU forecast, both on-going and campaign, to adhere to and impact brand financial goals and progress our brand’s leadership and future.  Our ideal candidate will have 8+ years of experience and a passion for data analysis, collaboration, and challenging the status quo. This role will be a driver of influence within the business and manage key business critical, cross-functional projects.

• Owning Beauty catalog SKU forecast, while delivering on forecast accuracy goals; including base business, promotional plans, new launch volumes, and seasonality
• Accountable for retail planning for all new campaigns, using benchmarks and partnering with cross-functional teams to dimension the overall volume, while mitigating E&O risk
• Drive monthly forecast validation meeting with marketing, sales, and finance, providing analysis to support decision making with key stakeholders regarding yearly outlook on retail performance and gross shipments
• Liaise with Sales & Marketing to ensure forecasts reflect company plans and promotional activities ensuring stellar customer service to retailers
• Shape & influence the yearly budget process by helping build company targets and highlight opportunities and risks
• Own and manage key cross-functional projects and processes, while being a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for a specific system managed by the team
• Shared accountability for achieving service level, inventory targets and excess & obsolete inventory goals in partnership with supply planners
• Ad hoc analysis for management observing demand variability for base business, new launches, and retailer specific activities 

• Working in a highly collaborative, team environment
• Navigating complexity and supporting consistent transformation and change management
• Leading cross-functional projects/systems by becoming a Subject Matter Expert (SME)
• Continuing to strive forward and challenge inefficiencies
• Facilitate transparent communication with key global partners

• Creative thinking skills to develop solutions to complex problems that do not appear to have one clear answer

• →Open mindedness to learn new systems & processes, while also challenging status quo
• →Efficient and strong time management, multitasking and prioritization skills to work through multiple issues concurrently, independently and adhering to deadlines
• →Highly analytical with an aptitude for interpreting and utilizing data to improve and propose change
• →Must be self-motivated and self-starter, with strong analytical skill, attention to detail, and systems acumen
• →Fundamental knowledge of the Supply Chain including supply planning, forecasting models, inventory management, manufacturing, and distribution
• →Strong written and verbal communication skills
• →Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills including the ability to communicate effectively with personnel at all levels of the organization
• →Supply Chain/Mathematics/Planning degree preferred, but not required
• →High proficiency of Microsoft Excel
• →Data Visualization skills (Storytelling: Tables, Charts, etc)
• →Unique industry or internship experience, a bonus

• 8 years of experience (minimum)
• Previous management experience strongly preferred
• BA/BS Degree
• Partially Remote: Role requires a minimum of three days in-person office presence in the New York, NY office

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​ *Chanel, Inc. reserves the right to edit, change, or make exceptions on designations where circumstances where deemed appropriate. 

• Relationship management & cross-functional collaboration
• Leading campaign tracking for responsible catalog
• Opportunities for visibility to senior leadership
• Contributor to key processes/systems through SME

CHANEL is a private company whose values are grounded in creating the conditions for people to perform at their best and feel fulfilled and confident in their work. We offer a unique work environment where individuals are encouraged to better understand the brand, the business, and motivations, so that together we can unlock the possibilities of growth. This is reflected in:

•       At CHANEL, we are intentional in promoting Diversity & Inclusion. We foster respect, empathy, and dignity for all.  We believe strongly that the diversity of our people across the full spectrum of human differences is essential to our organisation and the connections we have with each other and our clients.

•       We offer Employee Resource Groups in the US that are voluntary, open to all, employee-led groups formed around a shared identity or lived experience, whose aim is to foster a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community aligned with the values and missions of the communities they support.

•       CHANEL Community empowers our employees to channel their passions, talents and sense of purpose to contribute to and learn from our communities.

•       Employees are encouraged to take time off annually to volunteer through CHANEL Community. CHANEL also matches employee donations to select charitable organizations.

•       CHANEL Mission 1.5° is our climate action plan. It is focused on transforming the business in line with the ambitions of the Paris Agreement on climate change to limit the average global mean temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

•       Employees are encouraged to contribute to our US Sustainability efforts at the corporate level and within the divisions, through organized taskforces and initiatives.

•       We are committed to extending our legacy of cultural engagement. Global support includes the CHANEL Culture Fund, which supports a select group of leading art culture institutions across the globe, and the CHANEL Next Prize for the next generation of creative talent.  US support currently includes Annual sponsorship of the MoMA film program, Tribeca Film Festival programs and Through Her Lens, Support of the Academy Gold Fellowship for Women and Sponsorship of the BAAND Together Dance Festival at Lincoln Center.

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• Since 2011, Fondation CHANEL’s mission is for women and girls to be free to shape their own destiny.  Through multi-year partnerships with financial and technical support, Fondation CHANEL is committed to improving the safety and autonomy of women and adolescent girls around the world, impacting over a million women and girls in its first 10 years.   
• For more information, please navigate to the Fondation CHANEL website here.

•       We have dedicated in-house teams focused on supporting the onboarding of employees, developing leadership skills via custom programs like Imagine CHANEL People, Heart of Leadership and group and individual coaching, and blended online and live classes offered on our Bloom platform and by skilled trainers, such as Shape Your Career, to develop career building skills.

*CHANEL benefits and perks are dependent on eligibility and subject to modification by CHANEL at any time.