Senior Merchandise Planner

Apply now Job no: 564430
Work type: Full time
Site: Redditch
Categories: Supply
Location: West Midlands

About us

At Halfords, our mission is to inspire and support a lifetime of motoring and cycling. As a specialist retailer, we lead the market through customer-driven innovation and a distinct product range. We are dedicated to providing our customers with an integrated, unique, and convenient service experience-from e-bike and electric vehicle servicing to on-demand solutions. Our commitment is to foster customer loyalty by offering compelling reasons to keep coming back to our stores, ensuring a lifetime of motoring and cycling enjoyment.

The teams at our Redditch Support Centre work with every other area of our business, putting them at the heart of the action and playing a key role in our success and growth. Everyone brings their individual knowledge and experience to work every day, working as one team to keep things moving smoothly.

If you're willing to get stuck in, you'll love it here too. So put yourself at the heart of a dynamic, fast-paced working environment where expertise and focus take people far.

The role

As a Senior Merchandise Planner you'll play a pivotal role in ensuring we have the right products, in the right place, at the right time across both stores and online. Working in partnership with Buyers, Marketing, Store Development, Digital, Operations and suppliers, you'll take ownership of a key concept group within the Outdoor Leisure pillar, managing stock, forecasting sales and influencing commercial decisions that drive sales and margin performance.

Alongside managing your own area, you'll lead and develop a merchandising team, coaching and supporting them to deliver a right-first-time approach in a fast-paced retail environment. You'll be accountable for Open to Buy and inventory performance across your area, playing a key role in range reviews, promotions and seasonal planning. This is a highly collaborative role where you'll work cross-functionally to ensure plans land in store and online on time, stock flows smoothly through the supply chain, and performance stays on track against KPI's.

This role offers the opportunity to take ownership of a larger, more commercially significant area, with real visibility across the business and exposure to senior stakeholders. It's a role for someone who enjoys responsibility, thrives in a busy trading environment, and wants to play a key role in driving category performance while developing and leading a high-performing merchandising team.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and develop the Merchandise Planning Team within your category pillar ensuring a culture of continuous improvement and proactive development to enable a high performing merchandise Planning Team.
• Work along other Senior Merchandise Planners to ensure we are continually driving cross category improvements.
• Manage a Key category within your pillar.
• Manage inventory stock budgets within OTB and to agreed availability and stockturn KPI's.
• Own the sales volume forecast for specific categories under your control, taking input from trading teams and suppliers for new ranges, promotions and seasons.
• Own and manage intake plans in line with budget expectations.
• Influence sales and margin forecasts with buyers.
• Influence commercial decisions made with buyers and our space planning team.
• Ensure promotions and range reviews are landed in store, on time and to plan.
• Work to ensure clean exits of promotional product.
• Work to ensure obsolete and redundant stock targets are met.
• Influence and work with the logistics team to manage end-to-end product stock flow.
• Manage regular supplier communications with regular meetings and forecasts.
• Manage supplier relationships and performance
• Ensure strong communication with retail operations

About you

• A highly motivated, experienced individual with a passion for retail who will thrive in a fast-paced and pressurised environment.
• Proven track record of high performance in a retail supply chain role.
• Customer obsessed.
• Excellent analytical, problem solving and commercial skills.
• SAP / BW experience. Power BI an advantage.
• Strong excel and data handling skills.
• A proven team player demonstrating the ability to work cross functionally within a business.
• Be able to communicate confidently & concisely to all levels within the business.
• A fair and competitive salary evaluated against market data, annual discretionary bonus scheme, pension, life assurance, 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays and enhanced family leave.
• Commitment and dedication to your ongoing personal and professional development. We help you to own and grow your potential so you can be at your best in your current role and to support your future career aspirations.
• We offer hybrid working with a blend of working in our Support Centre and from home.
• You will have access to a wealth of employee discounts across the Halfords suite of products and services.
• Wellbeing and inclusion are at the heart of our colleague experience. We offer resources and ongoing support to enhance your wellbeing at work and active Colleague Networks supporting inclusion initiatives across Halfords.

Not sure you meet all the criteria? We'd encourage you to take the wheel and apply anyway! At Halfords we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for our colleagues. We're an equal opportunities employer and proud to welcome applications from all backgrounds and embrace diversity within our one Halfords Family.

Note: Halfords operates a hybrid working policy - this position will be based 3 days per week at our support centre in Redditch, West Midlands.

Advertised: 31 Mar 2026 GMT Daylight Time