Manager, Merchandise Analytics

Overview

This role owns the enterprise post-season and post-launch analytical discipline for the Merchandise organization. The position establishes the rigor for how the business looks backward—measuring what actually happened against what was planned—so future planning is grounded in evidence rather than intuition.

You will build and maintain a “hindsight” framework covering assortment performance, promotional effectiveness, sales and margin forecast accuracy, and new product introduction outcomes. Findings will be translated into specific, actionable recommendations that feed directly into assortment planning, pricing strategy, and demand planning cycles.

Responsibilities

Hindsight Framework & Reporting

• Own the hindsight calendar and cadence by establishing and managing recurring post-season, post-promotion, and post-launch review processes across all merchandise categories
• Build standardized hindsight templates covering:
  • Sell-through
  • Margin realization
  • Forecast accuracy
  • Markdown effectiveness
  • Inventory productivity
• Maintain data lineage and metric definitions to ensure consistent, reliable sourcing and trusted, comparable period-over-period outputs
• Deliver the hindsight package by preparing and presenting findings to Merchants, Planning, and senior leadership with clear, prioritized recommendations

Performance Analysis

• Assortment hindsight: quantify SKU- and category-level productivity; identify winners, underperformers, and structural patterns to inform the next assortment cycle
• Promotional and pricing hindsight: measure incrementality and margin impact of promotional events and pricing actions; distinguish true lift from pull-forward and cannibalization
• New product introduction (NPI) hindsight: evaluate NPI performance against pre-launch forecast and go/no-go criteria; feed learnings back into the forecasting framework
• Demand forecast accuracy: measure demand forecast accuracy and bias by category, item, and horizon; partner with Demand Planning on root-cause and remediation
• Margin forecast accuracy: measure margin forecast accuracy and bias by category, item, and horizon; partner on root-cause and remediation

Insight to Action

• Close the loop to ensure hindsight findings are documented, owned, and translated into changes in assortment, pricing, or planning assumptions—not just reported
• Partner with Merchants as an analytical thought partner by framing findings constructively and focusing on the decisions they should change
• Continuously improve the framework by refining hindsight methodology as data availability, tooling, and business questions evolve

Success Metrics

In the first 12 months, the role will be evaluated on:

• Adoption: Hindsight reviews established as a standing input to assortment and pricing planning cycles across all major categories
• Actionability: A documented decision log demonstrating specific plan changes driven by hindsight findings
• Forecast Accuracy: Established baseline measurement of forecast accuracy and bias, with a demonstrated improvement trend

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Statistics, Economics, or a related analytical field
• 6+ years of experience in financial analysis, merchandise finance, retail analytics, FP&A, banking, or a comparable analytical role
• Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills
• Experience with data visualization tools such as Power BI or Tableau
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex analysis into concise, actionable recommendations for non-technical audiences
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to present findings clearly to cross-functional leadership
• Strong attention to detail with the discipline to maintain consistent definitions and reproducible analysis
• High standards for accuracy and analytical integrity, with the ability to move quickly without sacrificing either
• Demonstrated ability to work calmly in a fast-paced team environment while managing multiple concurrent workstreams

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience designing or significantly improving post-season or hindsight processes
• Proficiency in SQL or a comparable data query language
• Experience with enterprise planning tools such as Oracle, Hyperion, or similar
• Experience with enterprise resource planning software such as SAP
• Experience in furniture, home, or big-ticket retail

Compensation & Benefits

Expected Base Pay

• $105,000 - $130,000 (base pay; not including potential commissions, incentive, bonus, etc.)

Benefits

• Nationally provided Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Paid Vacation, Personal Days, Sick Days, Holidays, work anniversary, and your Birthday
• 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan with a generous company match
• Pet Insurance
• Life insurance (employer-paid basic Life Insurance, with the option to add Voluntary Life Insurance)
• Financial Planning, Voluntary Legal Benefits, and Wellness Plans
• Generous Employee Discount starting on your 1st day
• Additional Employee Discounts through the Hays Perks discount program (hundreds of online discounts from favorite merchants)

Location

Not specified in the provided job description.