Merchandise Planner (Hybrid)

About the role

Ounass is hiring a Merchandise Planner in Dubai on a hybrid basis. You will own the end-to-end merchandise planning cycle for your assigned divisions, categories and brands, turning commercial and buying strategies into budgets, OTB plans, MSSI reforecasts, inventory and markdown decisions to drive net sales, margin, sell-through and in-country fulfilment. You will also support the development of junior planning team members.

Key responsibilities

• Own the planning cycle from budget and OTB through in-season trading to end of season, and partner with Buying on assortment and brand strategy
• Lead weekly cross-functional trade meetings and manage MSSI reforecasting, OTB and budgeting
• Deliver net sales, margin and sell-through targets, reviewing performance weekly by brand, category, channel and market
• Manage inventory, warehouse stock cover and reorders, and optimise in-country fulfilment while reducing overstock and non-sellable stock
• Build product-level markdown recommendations and review pricing to protect margin
• Build reports, keep planning tools and records accurate, and coach and develop junior planners

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Retail or a related field
• 3-5 years of merchandise planning experience, ideally in luxury, fashion or e-commerce retail, with hands-on OTB, MSSI reforecasting and budgeting
• Strong knowledge of the fashion and luxury market, brands and their benchmarks
• Commercial mindset with a proven track record of delivering sales and margin targets
• Proficiency in English

Required skills

• Advanced Excel and analytical skills, with strong numerical capability
• Experience with planning and reporting tools such as MicroStrategy
• Knowledge of inventory management, markdown strategy, pricing and margin optimisation