What will you do
A day in the life of a Senior Planning Manager, ROA & Travel Retail looks a little like this.
You will provide strategic and end‑to‑end planning leadership for the Rest of Asia (ROA) market, covering Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia & New Zealand. This role owns business planning, buying, allocation, and in‑season execution, directly influencing commercial outcomes and P&L performance.
You lead a regional planning team to build and execute sales plans, seasonal OTB plans, buy plans, and inventory allocation strategies, ensuring the product offer is tightly linked to market demand and brand strategy. You will partner closely with Regional Merchandising, Sales, Finance, and cross‑functional teams to ensure plans are commercially sound, financially aligned, and successfully executed in‑market.
In addition, you play a critical role in defining and activating cross‑brand APAC Travel Retail initiatives, providing planning, buying, and merchandising expertise to support proof‑of‑concept pilots and commercial roll‑outs. This requires close collaboration with Sales Operations, Business Development, Merchandising, and the broader Planning community.
Let's break down that day‑in‑the‑life a bit more.
End‑to‑End Planning Leadership (ROA)
- Own ROA end‑to‑end planning across forecast, OTB, buying, allocation, and in‑season management
- Finalize seasonal buys, ensuring alignment to product strategy, financial targets, and profitability objectives
- Partner with Merchandising to build franchise strategies and manage new product lifecycles with clear exit plans
- Drive financial forecast accuracy in partnership with Finance, providing ongoing visibility into revenue and margin trajectory versus targets
- Lead in‑season management, including markdown and discount strategies, aligned with commercial direction and financial goals
- Closely monitor product launches, lifecycle performance, sell‑through, and deliveries actively drive corrective actions to ensure successful in‑store execution
- Actively contribute to the GTM process, representing the business perspective and ensuring robust fact‑based decision‑making
- Share channel‑specific insights and hindsight with Marketplace Analysts to inform future planning and buy decisions
- Develop team capability through coaching, on‑the‑job training, and continuous strengthening of analytical and business acumen
Travel Retail Merchandising & Planning - Proof of Concept
- Define and execute a clear cross‑brand merchandising strategy for Travel Retail proof‑of‑concept stores
- Translate the merchandising vision into clear goals, targets, and execution roadmaps
- Build a commercial, balanced, and premium cross‑brand range that resonates with the Travel Retail consumer
- Define seasonal buys from brands in line with Travel Retail strategy and space constraints
- Drive stock and sales density targets to optimize space productivity and store design
- Optimize sales, margin, and inventory days through active performance monitoring
- Analyze trading patterns, advise teams, and trigger timely corrective actions
- Partner with Retail Transformation to ensure merchandising vision is delivered in‑store
Travel Retail Merchandising & Planning - Store Roll‑Out
- Define and lead merchandising and planning strategy for Travel Retail store roll‑outs across geographies
- Establish and manage a dedicated Travel Retail merchandising and planning organization, including processes and best practices
- Communicate a clear cross‑brand merchandising vision and align stakeholders across the Travel Retail network
- Facilitate regular merchandising strategy and range alignment sessions with key partners and internal stakeholders
- Build and maintain a commercially relevant and balanced cross‑brand product assortment
- Optimize space planning, sales density, margin performance, and inventory efficiency
- Partner with Retail Operations to ensure flawless execution of merchandising strategy in stores
- Test, monitor, and scale new and innovative approaches to launching dedicated Travel Retail product ranges
- Foster strong partnerships that allow Retail insights to influence future product creation and seasonal line builds
Other Responsibilities
- Support cross‑brand Omnichannel Operations initiatives where specialized buying and merchandising expertise is required
- Contribute to broader APAC planning and retail transformation projects as needed
