Buying & Planning Lead - Merch

Job description

Job Title: Buying Planning & Merchandise Lead  Location: Gurugram, India About Lenskart Lenskart is a tech-led, omni-channel eyewear company with a growing footprint across India and international markets. We operate an integrated value chain across design, manufacturing, retail, and e-commerce. Role Overview The Buying Planning & Merchandise Lead will own the flow of merchandise from vendor to warehouse across all categories and regions. The role is anchored in demand forecasting, OTB, vendor capacity planning, and lead-time reduction — ensuring the right quantity of the right product reaches the right warehouse at the right time, at the right cost. Key Responsibilities Demand Forecasting • Own global demand forecasting across categories, channels, and regions. • Drive forecast accuracy through structured S&OP cycles, sell-through analysis, and seasonality modelling. • Translate top-down financial plans and bottom-up category plans into a single, executable demand view. OTB & Buying Planning • Own the Open-to-Buy (OTB) process — building, tracking, and re-forecasting through the season. • Manage inflow planning, phasing, and depth-vs-breadth decisions in line with sales, stock, and margin targets. • Partner with the buying and category teams to convert assortment plans into actionable buy quantities. Vendor Capacity Planning • Lead capacity planning with the vendor base — aligning monthly and weekly production capacity with the demand plan. • Work with sourcing and manufacturing partners to lock capacity ahead of peak periods and manage flex during demand swings. • Build visibility into vendor performance on capacity, on-time delivery, and fill rates. Lead-Time Reduction & Inflow • Drive reduction of lead times across the vendor-to-warehouse cycle through better planning rhythm, order release discipline, and vendor collaboration. • Improve PO-to-receipt timelines, in-transit visibility, and warehouse inbound predictability. • Work with logistics and warehousing teams to smooth inflow and reduce bullwhip across the network. Inventory & Allocation • Own inventory health across warehouses — turns, cover, ageing, and excess. • Drive allocation and replenishment models that maintain availability with controlled markdowns. Collaboration & Leadership • Work closely with Buying, Sourcing, Manufacturing, Logistics, Retail, E-commerce, and Finance. • Build and lead a strong planning and merch supply chain team. Key Requirements • Relevant experience in demand planning, merchandise planning, OTB, or merchandise supply chain roles. • Strong grounding in demand forecasting, OTB, vendor capacity planning, and lead-time management. • Commercial understanding of inventory turns, fill rates, markdowns, and working capital. • Hands-on with planning and analytics tools (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Anaplan, or equivalent). • Experience working with vendor networks and cross-functional supply chain teams. • Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, data-led environment. Why Join Lenskart • Own the end-to-end merchandise flow from vendor to warehouse at scale. • Operate at the intersection of planning, supply chain, and commercial strategy. • Work in a data-led, digitally native environment with international scope.