Retail Planner ON-SITE - Charlotte, NC 28273 The Cato Corporation is seeking a Planner to join our Planning & Allocation Team! JOB SUMMARY Responsible for the successful development, execution and communication of stores and e-commerce financial plans for assigned areas of business. Responsible to project open to buy sales, markdowns and inventory at the department and class level. Identify risks and opportunities and communicate recommendations to merchant partners as well as management. Develop and maintain collaborative relationships with the allocation and merchant teams. Provide support to Senior Planner and merchant team. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: • Maintain weekly open to buy for assigned area of business to identify risks and opportunities by class • Project sales, markdowns and inventory • Manage receipt flow • Present open to buy to management monthly • Develop markdown criteria • Project e-commerce sales and markdowns for the division • Analyze lost sales • Provide merchant team with buy recommendations • Evaluate e-commerce performance class and make recommendations to the merchant team • Responsible for the end to end development of pre-season stores and e-commerce financial plans • Create month to month plans for stores and e-commerce at the class level • Partner with Senior Planner to develop style counts by department • Quarterly analysis and hindsight • Provide quantitative analysis to teams for hindsight and strategy meetings • Analyze size selling for stores and e-commerce utilizing lost sales by size • Make recommendations based upon analysis for the hindsight and strategy meetings with merchant team and management • Manage the forecasting and recommendations for replenishment items • Develop sales and inventory plans for key volume drivers and make recommendations to the merchant team • Manage assortment planning process • Ensure departmental strategies are being executed • Partner with merchant team on the breadth and depth of the assortment • Work with Director of Planning & Allocation and Senior Planner on special projects and analyses • Develop and maintain relationships with cross functional teams QUALIFICATIONS EDUCATION: Bachelor degree required. Fashion Retailing or Business degree a plus WORK EXPERIENCE 4+ years experience in Merchandise Planning and Allocation. Previous retail planning experience required KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES REQUIRED: • Strong verbal, written, communication and mathematical skills • Strong organizational and time management skills • Strong detail orientation and problem solving ability • Proficient at Excel, Word and JDA Enterprise Planning a plus The Cato Corporation offers competitive salaries and excellent benefits including Medical/Dental/Life Insurance package, 401(K) Retirement Plan, Flexible Spending Plan, Stock Purchase Plan and more! The Cato Corporation is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, age, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.