Planner

for section headers,

for paragraphs,

• for list items. The job description includes sections: "About the role:" then paragraph(s). Then "What you'll do:" then bullet points with subheadings? Actually the content after "What you'll do:" includes bullet points with headings like "Merchandise Planning and Performance Analysis • ..." etc. The bullet points are indicated by "•". We need to treat each bullet as list item. Also there are subheadings within the bullet list? The text includes headings like "Merchandise Planning and Performance Analysis • Develop, analyse ..." Actually the bullet points start with a heading then a dash? Let's examine: "What you'll do: Merchandise Planning and Performance Analysis • Develop, analyse and maintain sales, margin, inventory, intake, markdown and promotional plans to evaluate portfolio performance against agreed commercial targets. • Investigate trading variances, quantify the impact of performance gaps and diagnose root causes of over-performance and under-performance. • Recommend planning actions to maximise sales and margin, improve inventory productivity and support delivery of category performance objectives. • Track key merchandise performance indicators, identify emerging risks and opportunities, and escalate insights with clear recommendations and commercial rationale. • Provide data-driven decision support that improves sales performance, profitability, stock health, availability and range productivity. Forecasting and Inventory Optimisation • Build, maintain and refine demand forecasts using historical trading data, customer demand patterns, seasonality, promotional activity and business trends. • Review forecast accuracy, challenge planning assumptions and recommend adjustments that improve stock availability, service levels and inventory efficiency. • Monitor inventory performance using key measures such as stock turn, weeks cover, stock-to-sales ratios and sell-through performance. • Identify and address inventory risks, including overstocks, stock imbalances, slow-moving inventory, aged stock, stock-outs and availability constraints. • Recommend stock interventions that balance availability, working capital, clearance activity, stock turn and margin outcomes. Assortment and Range Planning • Evaluate assortment performance and recommend range actions that improve sales density, margin contribution, stock efficiency and customer relevance. • Analyse store, cluster, regional and channel performance to inform ranging, allocation and inventory placement decisions. • Investigate customer and demographic trends to support assortment planning decisions. • Monitor the effectiveness of store clustering and recommend improvements where appropriate. • Contribute to category and assortment reviews by providing commercial analysis, scenario modelling and planning recommendations. Promotional and Commercial Performance • Plan, analyse and evaluate promotional and event performance to determine sales uplift, margin impact, stock sufficiency and achievement against business objectives. • Assess promotional forecast accuracy and identify opportunities to improve promotional planning, stock readiness and return on investment. • Investigate missed sales, margin leakage and stock availability issues, and recommend corrective actions to recover performance. • Use scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis to support pricing, promotional, intake, markdown and stock investment decisions. Stakeholder Collaboration • Partner with Buyers, Replenishment, Supply Chain, Finance and Store Operations to align planning recommendations with category strategy, stock flow and commercial priorities. • Provide stakeholders with clear planning insights, options and recommendations that support timely and commercially sound decision-making. • Resolve routine and moderately complex merchandise planning issues by applying commercial judgement, data analysis and cross-functional input. • Present findings, risks, trade-offs and recommendations in a concise and evidence-based manner to influence stakeholder action. • Build strong working relationships that enable effective execution of merchandise strategies, planning decisions and corrective actions. Planning Governance and Continuous Improvement • Monitor the effectiveness of planning assumptions, models, parameters and outcomes to ensure planning outputs remain commercially relevant and accurate. • Review planning processes, data inputs and reporting outputs, and recommend improvements that strengthen forecast accuracy, inventory productivity and decision quality. • Document planning assumptions, methodologies, decisions and performance learnings to support governance, consistency and future planning cycles. • Contribute to the enhancement of planning tools, dashboards, reports and disciplines to improve efficiency, accuracy and visibility of portfolio performance. • Share insights, lessons learnt and planning best practices to strengthen capability and consistency across the broader planning team." Thus each major heading (e.g., "Merchandise Planning and Performance Analysis") is followed by bullet points. The bullet points start with "•". The heading itself is not a bullet but part of the line. We need to decide how to format: The instruction: Use

  for section headers (e.g. Responsibilities, Qualifications, Requirements, Education, Experience, Skills, How to Apply, Key Duties, About the Role). So "What you'll do:" is a section header. Under that, there are sub-sections like "Merchandise Planning and Performance Analysis". Should those be

  as well? Possibly they could be considered subheadings but not listed. However we can treat them as

  as well? The instruction says use

  for section headers (e.g. Responsibilities, Qualifications...). It doesn't forbid using

  for other headings. Safer to treat each major heading as

  . Then the bullet points under each heading as

  • . The introductory sentence before the first heading? After "What you'll do:" there is a line break then "Merchandise Planning and Performance Analysis • Develop..." So there is no introductory paragraph; we could treat the heading as

    and then start list. Similarly "What you bring:" is a section header, then bullet list. Also "About the role:" is a section header, then paragraph(s). So we will wrap that paragraph in

    . Thus final HTML:

    About the role:

    The purpose of the Planner role is to drive the planning, analysis and optimisation of merchandise performance for an assigned General Merchandise portfolio by developing robust sales, inventory, intake, assortment, margin and promotional plans that support profitable growth, stock efficiency and customer availability. The role is accountable for translating trading data, customer demand patterns, financial targets and inventory performance into actionable planning recommendations that enable Buyers, Replenishment, Supply Chain, Finance and Operations to make informed commercial decisions. The Planner acts as a planning subject matter resource within the assigned portfolio, proactively identifying risks and opportunities, challenging assumptions, improving forecast accuracy and strengthening planning disciplines that support sustainable category performance.

    What you'll do:

    Merchandise Planning and Performance Analysis

    • Develop, analyse and maintain sales, margin, inventory, intake, markdown and promotional plans to evaluate portfolio performance against agreed commercial targets.
    • Investigate trading variances, quantify the impact of performance gaps and diagnose root causes of over-performance and under-performance.
    • Recommend planning actions to maximise sales and margin, improve inventory productivity and support delivery of category performance objectives.
    • Track key merchandise performance indicators, identify emerging risks and opportunities, and escalate insights with clear recommendations and commercial rationale.
    • Provide data-driven decision support that improves sales performance, profitability, stock health, availability and range productivity.

    Forecasting and Inventory Optimisation

    • Build, maintain and refine demand forecasts using historical trading data, customer demand patterns, seasonality, promotional activity and business trends.
    • Review forecast accuracy, challenge planning assumptions and recommend adjustments that improve stock availability, service levels and inventory efficiency.
    • Monitor inventory performance using key measures such as stock turn, weeks cover, stock-to-sales ratios and sell-through performance.
    • Identify and address inventory risks, including overstocks, stock imbalances, slow-moving inventory, aged stock, stock-outs and availability constraints.
    • Recommend stock interventions that balance availability, working capital, clearance activity, stock turn and margin outcomes.

    Assortment and Range Planning

    • Evaluate assortment performance and recommend range actions that improve sales density, margin contribution, stock efficiency and customer relevance.
    • Analyse store, cluster, regional and channel performance to inform ranging, allocation and inventory placement decisions.
    • Investigate customer and demographic trends to support assortment planning decisions.
    • Monitor the effectiveness of store clustering and recommend improvements where appropriate.
    • Contribute to category and assortment reviews by providing commercial analysis, scenario modelling and planning recommendations.

    Promotional and Commercial Performance

    • Plan, analyse and evaluate promotional and event performance to determine sales uplift, margin impact, stock sufficiency and achievement against business objectives.
    • Assess promotional forecast accuracy and identify opportunities to improve promotional planning, stock readiness and return on investment.
    • Investigate missed sales, margin leakage and stock availability issues, and recommend corrective actions to recover performance.
    • Use scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis to support pricing, promotional, intake, markdown and stock investment decisions.

    Stakeholder Collaboration

    • Partner with Buyers, Replenishment, Supply Chain, Finance and Store Operations to align planning recommendations with category strategy, stock flow and commercial priorities.
    • Provide stakeholders with clear planning insights, options and recommendations that support timely and commercially sound decision-making.
    • Resolve routine and moderately complex merchandise planning issues by applying commercial judgement, data analysis and cross-functional input.
    • Present findings, risks, trade-offs and recommendations in a concise and evidence-based manner to influence stakeholder action.
    • Build strong working relationships that enable effective execution of merchandise strategies, planning decisions and corrective actions.

    Planning Governance and Continuous Improvement

    • Monitor the effectiveness of planning assumptions, models, parameters and outcomes to ensure planning outputs remain commercially relevant and accurate.
    • Review planning processes, data inputs and reporting outputs, and recommend improvements that strengthen forecast accuracy, inventory productivity and decision quality.
    • Document planning assumptions, methodologies, decisions and performance learnings to support governance, consistency and future planning cycles.
    • Contribute to the enhancement of planning tools, dashboards, reports and disciplines to improve efficiency, accuracy and visibility of portfolio performance.
    • Share insights, lessons learnt and planning best practices to strengthen capability and consistency across the broader planning team.

    What you bring:

    • Degree or Diploma in Commerce, Supply Chain Management, Retail Business Management, Economics, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related field – (essential).
    • + 5 years’ experience in Merchandise Planning, Demand Planning, Inventory Planning, or a related retail planning environment – (essential).
    • Demonstrated experience managing a merchandise planning portfolio within a retail, FMCG, or merchandise environment – (essential).
    • Strong knowledge and application of forecasting, inventory management, assortment planning, merchandise planning principles, and planning methodologies – (essential).
    • Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office 365 with an advanced level of Excel skill – (essential).
    • Strong numerical, analytical, and commercial problem-solving capability – (essential).
    • SAP Retail experience – (desired).
    • Arthur / Enterprise Planning experience – (desired).
    • Experience within General Merchandise, Non-Foods, Hardlines, or a similar merchandise retail environment – (desired).
    • Exposure to Power BI, SQL, business intelligence, or data visualisation tools – (desired).
    We must ensure no extra text, no markdown fences. Just HTML. Check that we preserved all content word-for-word. Need to verify that we didn't omit any text. Let's compare original sections. Original "About the role:" paragraph: we captured exactly? Let's copy original: "About the role: The purpose of the Planner role is to drive the planning, analysis and optimisation of merchandise performance for an assigned General Merchandise portfolio by developing robust sales, inventory, intake, assortment, margin and promotional plans that support profitable growth, stock efficiency and customer availability. The role is accountable for translating trading data, customer demand patterns, financial targets and inventory performance into actionable planning recommendations that enable Buyers, Replenishment, Supply Chain, Finance and Operations to make informed commercial decisions. The Planner acts as a planning subject matter resource within the assigned portfolio, proactively identifying risks and opportunities, challenging assumptions, improving forecast accuracy and strengthening planning disciplines that support sustainable category performance." We used that exactly, yes. Now "What you'll do:" we added headings for each subsection. Need to ensure we didn't lose any content. Let's verify each bullet. Original "Merchandise Planning and Performance Analysis" bullets: - Develop, analyse and maintain sales, margin, inventory, intake, markdown and promotional plans to evaluate portfolio performance against agreed commercial targets. - Investigate trading variances, quantify the impact of performance gaps and diagnose root causes of over-performance and under-performance. - Recommend planning actions to maximise sales and margin, improve inventory productivity and support delivery of category performance objectives. - Track key merchandise performance indicators, identify emerging risks and opportunities, and escalate insights with clear recommendations and commercial rationale. - Provide data-driven decision support that improves sales performance, profitability, stock health, availability and range productivity. We have those exactly. Next "Forecasting and Inventory Optimisation" bullets: - Build, maintain and refine demand forecasts using historical trading data, customer demand patterns, seasonality, promotional activity and business trends. - Review forecast accuracy, challenge planning assumptions and recommend adjustments that improve stock availability, service levels and inventory efficiency. - Monitor inventory performance using key measures such as stock turn, weeks cover, stock-to-sales ratios and sell-through performance. - Identify and address inventory risks, including overstocks, stock imbalances, slow-moving inventory, aged stock, stock-outs and availability constraints. - Recommend stock interventions that balance availability, working capital, clearance activity, stock turn and margin outcomes. We have those. Next "Assortment and Range Planning": - Evaluate assortment performance and recommend range actions that improve sales density, margin contribution, stock efficiency and customer relevance. - Analyse store, cluster, regional and channel performance to inform ranging, allocation and inventory placement decisions. - Investigate customer and demographic trends to support assortment planning decisions. - Monitor the effectiveness of store clustering and recommend improvements where appropriate. - Contribute to category and assortment reviews by providing commercial analysis, scenario modelling and planning recommendations. We have those. Next "Promotional and Commercial Performance": - Plan, analyse and evaluate promotional and event performance to determine sales uplift, margin impact, stock sufficiency and achievement against business objectives. - Assess promotional forecast accuracy and identify opportunities to improve promotional planning, stock readiness and return on investment. - Investigate missed sales, margin leakage and stock availability issues, and recommend corrective actions to recover performance. - Use scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis to support pricing, promotional, intake, markdown and stock investment decisions. We have those. Next "Stakeholder Collaboration": - Partner with Buyers, Replenishment, Supply Chain, Finance and Store Operations to align planning recommendations with category strategy, stock flow and commercial priorities. - Provide stakeholders with clear planning insights, options and recommendations that support timely and commercially sound decision-making. - Resolve routine and moderately complex merchandise planning issues by applying commercial judgement, data analysis and cross-functional input. - Present findings, risks, trade-offs and recommendations in a concise and evidence-based manner to influence stakeholder action. - Build strong working relationships that enable effective execution of merchandise strategies, planning decisions and corrective actions. We have those. Next "Planning Governance and Continuous Improvement": - Monitor the effectiveness of planning assumptions, models, parameters and outcomes to ensure planning outputs remain commercially relevant and accurate. - Review planning processes, data inputs and reporting outputs, and recommend improvements that strengthen forecast accuracy, inventory productivity and decision quality. - Document planning assumptions, methodologies, decisions and performance learnings to support governance, consistency and future planning cycles. - Contribute to the enhancement of planning tools, dashboards, reports and disciplines to improve efficiency, accuracy and visibility of portfolio performance. - Share insights, lessons learnt and planning best practices to strengthen capability and consistency across the broader planning team. We have those. Now "What you bring:" bullets: - Degree or Diploma in Commerce, Supply Chain Management, Retail Business Management, Economics, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related field – (essential). - + 5 years’ experience in Merchandise Planning, Demand Planning, Inventory Planning, or a related retail planning environment – (essential). - Demonstrated experience managing a merchandise planning portfolio within a retail, FMCG, or merchandise environment – (essential). - Strong knowledge and application of forecasting, inventory management, assortment planning, merchandise planning principles, and planning methodologies – (essential). - Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office 365 with an advanced level of Excel skill – (essential). - Strong numerical, analytical, and commercial problem-solving capability – (essential). - SAP Retail experience – (desired). - Arthur / Enterprise Planning experience – (desired). - Experience within General Merchandise, Non-Foods, Hardlines, or a similar merchandise retail environment – (desired). - Exposure to Power BI, SQL, business intelligence, or data visualisation tools – (desired). We have those. All good. Now ensure we didn't add any extra punctuation or change wording. We kept the bullet text exactly as original, including the leading bullet replaced by
  • . The original bullet had a "•" and a space. We removed that and placed inside
  • . That's fine as we preserve the text after the bullet. The instruction: Preserve ALL original content word-for-word — do not add, remove, summarise, or rephrase. Does removing the bullet character count as removal? The bullet is part of original content. We should keep it? The instruction says use
    • for list items. Typically the bullet is implied by the
    • . But to preserve original content word-for-word, we might need to include the bullet character inside the
    • . However the bullet is not part of the text after the bullet; it's a marker. The original content includes the bullet character. If we drop it, we are removing content. The instruction says preserve ALL original content word-for-word. So we should keep the bullet character inside the
    • maybe as part of the text. But typical practice is to drop the bullet because
    • provides bullet. However the instruction is strict: preserve all original content word-for-word. Let's interpret: The bullet character is part of the original content; we should keep it. But we can keep it as part of the
    • text: e.g.,
    • • Develop, analyse and maintain ...
    . That would