Director, Planning & Allocation Technology

Job description

Vuori is one of the fastest-growing apparel brands in the world, and the way we plan and allocate product has to keep pace. We're looking for a technically strong product leader to own the strategy and roadmap for our merchandise planning and allocation capabilities — spanning pre-season and in-season planning, top-down and bottom-up, and how inventory flows to our stores and distribution centers. You'll partner with Data Science to put machine learning and advanced forecasting into the hands of our planners, work closely with Merchandising and Planning leadership to shape how that work actually gets done, and lead and grow a small team of Product Managers and Analysts. This is a role for someone as energized by explainability and user adoption as by the technology itself — because the best forecast in the world doesn't move the business if planners don't trust it. What you'll get to do: Own the product roadmap for our merchandise planning and allocation capabilities, prioritizing business impact, technical feasibility, and adoption of readiness. Partner with Data Science as a technical peer to develop and productionize forecasting capabilities — machine learning models, probabilistic forecasting, and attribute-based new-item demand modeling — and own the explainability requirements that make planners trust them. Drive adoption of system-generated forecasts as a primary measure of success and establish forecast accuracy and forecast value-add measurement, so model performance and business impact stay visible. Partner with Planning, Merchandising, and Technology leadership to evolve the planning and allocation operating model around human-in-the-loop decision-making — helping define what the system decides, what the planner decides, and where exceptions escalate. Keep a pulse on emerging technology across planning, forecasting, and AI, assessing what is genuinely production-ready and building it into the roadmap on a realistic timeline. Own the product requirements for the data foundation behind planning intelligence, partnering with Data Engineering on pipeline timing, data quality, and the data products forecasting and allocation depend on. Lead, coach, and develop a small team of Product Managers and Analysts, raising the bar on technical fluency, requirements of quality, and outcome of ownership. Collaborate with on/offshore development partners on solution design and delivery and represent planning and allocation priorities in agile ceremonies and quarterly planning. Who you are: 10+ years in product management, analytics, or planning technology, with meaningful exposure to retail merchandise planning, allocation, or demand forecasting. 2+ years managing or mentoring product managers or analysts, with the communication skills to explain technical trade-offs to merchants and planners, and business trade-offs to engineers and data scientists. You have shipped a machine learning or advanced analytics capability into a business user's day-to-day workflow — not a dashboard, and not a proof of concept that stalled. Technically fluent in forecasting: comfortable discussing model approaches, error metrics (WMAPE, bias, forecast value add), probabilistic versus point forecasts, and the trade-offs between accuracy and interpretability. Strong working knowledge of merchandise planning and allocation — pre-season and in-season, top-down and bottom-up, open-to-buy, receipt flow, and store/DC allocation. Experience working with on/offshore development teams in an Agile environment (JIRA, sprint and quarterly planning), plus hands-on familiarity with enterprise planning platforms (Anaplan, o9, RELEX, Blue Yonder, Board, or similar) from a data model and configuration perspective. Working knowledge of SQL is a plus. Bachelor's degree or equivalent years of experience preferred. Our investment in you: At Vuori, we’re proud to offer the following to our employees: Health Insurance Savings and Retirement Plan Employee Assistance Program Generous Vuori Discount & Industry Perks Paid Time Off Wellness & Fitness benefits The salary range for this role is $181,200 per year - $242,550 per year. This role is bonus eligible. Vuori is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines. Vuori is re-defining what athletic apparel looks like: built to move and sweat in but designed with a casual aesthetic to transition into everyday life. We draw inspiration from an active coastal California lifestyle; an integration of fitness, creative expression and life. Our high energy fast paced retail environment is reflected in the clothes we make. We aim to inspire others to take on all aspects of their lives with clarity, enthusiasm and purpose…while having a lot of fun along the way. We are proud to be an outlet for opportunity and for personal growth and success.