EJD Assortment Planner

EJD Assortment Planner

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree with 5 years of assortment planning experience or 5-10 years of experience working with hardlines in the Pro and Hardware Industry
• Excel proficiency and experience with CAD required
• Excellent organizational skills with strong attention to detail
• Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a fast-paced environment
• Strong time management skills and ability to manage multiple projects and corresponding deadlines
• Advanced analytical skills
• Excellent interpersonal and written/verbal communications skills
• Collaborative approach with Retailers and cross-functional teams
• Embodies company’s values and is customer focused
• Highly creative, flexible, and adaptable with good follow-through
• Passionate about the Hardware, Pro, and Paint industry and knowledgeable about channel and industry trends
• Comfortable coming into the Oak Brook, IL office on Mondays and Wednesdays to collaborate with team members

Responsibilities

• Create fixture floor plan layouts, recommend department and merchandise adjacencies, and complete assortment plans for new ground-up stores, remodels, relocations, expansions, and consolidations
• Interface directly with retailers to advise and get approval on store layout and assortment selection
• Work collaboratively with internal project team to understand the local market and competition for each customer project
• Proactively communicate assortment plans and development status with all project team members and stakeholders
• Serve as a product knowledge and placement expert with deep understanding of category relevance for Pro and Hardware customers
• Build and expand product and brand knowledge through partnership with the Merchandising and Sales teams and other cross-functional partners and utilization of reporting tools and resources
• Perform assortment analysis on customer POS data and make recommendations on custom assortment needs by leveraging all current tools and reports (Power BI and excel)
• Effectively communicate these assortments to the field and space planning team for documentation and seamless execution
• Review, approve, and communicate all closeout and cancelled SKUs and their replacements and communicate this to the execution team
• Assist with identifying replacement SKUs and additional SKU matches as needed
• Educate and train the Retail Execution field team and other relevant partners on floor layout best practices
• Help develop core floor and merchandise plan templates
• Assist with creating any other relevant assortment planning SOPs (standard operating procedures)
• Stay current with marketplace trends and shopper behavior, understanding how these trends impact EJD as well as our Retailers business, particularly store design/layout and category space allocation/placement

Preferred Qualifications

• Hardware or Pro Lumberyard industry experience strongly preferred