Lead Assortment Planner - 6+ months - Hilevrsum (Hybrid)

Lead Assortment Planner (Retail / Sports Industry)

We're currently looking for a Lead Assortment Planner to join a global player within the sports retail industry, supporting owned retail stores across EMEA.

This is a hands-on role with strong exposure to both strategic planning and in-season trading, working closely with senior stakeholders and field leadership.

What you'll be doing

• Own end-to-end assortment planning for a specific sport/category across owned retail stores
• Develop multi-season assortment strategies, balancing commercial performance and consumer needs
• Lead in-season trade reviews, partnering with field leaders to assess performance and define actions
• Build and manage sales plans, allocation strategies, and inventory optimisation
• Analyse KPIs, trends and last season performance to shape future assortment plans
• Present insights and strategies to senior stakeholders, combining data with strong storytelling
• Collaborate cross-functionally across merchandising, planning, finance, and operations
• Contribute to both upstream (pre-season planning) and downstream (in-season execution) activities
• Support ongoing transformation initiatives, including new planning tools and AI-driven capabilities

What we're looking for

• 6+ years' experience in assortment planning, merchandise planning or trading
• Strong analytical mindset with experience working with KPIs, financial metrics and data-driven decisions
• Proven ability to translate data into clear, commercial recommendations and storytelling
• Experience in retail or consumer-focused environments (ideally with complex assortments)
• Confident working in fast-paced, cross-functional environments
• Ability to operate both hands-on and at a strategic level (zoom in / zoom out)
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills