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Commercial Planning Manager in Kuala Lumpur at ZALORA SOUTH EAST ASIA PTE LTD

NewJob Function: Strategy/PlanningEmployment Type: Full-Time
ZALORA SOUTH EAST ASIA PTE LTD
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Posted on
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Job Description

We are looking for a strategic, commercially minded leader to join our Commercial Planning team as Commercial Planning Manager. Reporting to the Commercial Planning Associate Director, the Commercial Planning Manager will own the end-to-end merchandise and commercial planning cycle across the region, from seasonal strategy and budget setting through in-season trading and intake management. He/she will translate business objectives into actionable category and brand plans, steer the allocation of Open-To-Buy (OTB) toward the highest-return categories and brands, and ensure the commercial, finance, and operations teams work to one aligned plan.

The role requires a strong blend of analytical depth, commercial judgement, and leadership, along with the confidence to challenge assumptions and influence decisions at senior levels. The ideal candidate will bring a proven track record in merchandise or commercial planning within e-commerce, fashion, sports or retail.

Responsibilities:
Strategic and Seasonal Planning
  • Lead the seasonal strategic planning and budget process across regions and business functions. Set top-down targets for sales, margin, inventory, and intake, and reconcile them with bottom-up category and brand plans.
  • Own the entire OTB framework and recommend budget allocation across categories, brands, and countries based on performance, growth potential, and profitability.
  • Lead pre-season assortment and buy planning, defining range breadth and depth (option counts, price architecture, and size curves) so that inventory investment is aligned with consumer demand, commercial targets, and seasonal strategy.
  • Develop multi-season and annual commercial plans in partnership with the Planning leadership, Category leadership, and Finance, ensuring alignment with company financial targets.
  • Build scenario models and sensitivity analyses to evaluate strategic options such as new category launches, market expansion, pricing and promotional strategies, and inventory risk.
In-Season Trading and Performance Management
  • Own the Weekly Sales Stock Intake (WSSI) and Intake Planner as the single source of truth for the business. Lead the monthly WSSI review with senior stakeholders and drive re-forecasting decisions.
  • Own the rolling forecast process at weekly, monthly, and seasonal level, and drive forecast accuracy as a key performance measure for the planning function.
  • Lead the weekly commercial trade meeting and planning meeting, presenting performance insights, identifying risks and opportunities, and driving clear decisions and accountability on actions.
  • Monitor key commercial KPIs (including sales, gross margin, sell-through, stock cover, inventory aging, markdown, and return rate) and recommend corrective actions such as intake adjustments, re-buys, cancellations, and clearance strategies.
  • Partner with category and brand teams to optimise inventory health and minimise aged and excess stock.
  • Ensure campaign readiness by planning stock depth and availability ahead of key sales events, and lead post-campaign and end-of-season reviews so that learnings feed into future plans.
  • Integrate performance across owned e-commerce and marketplace channels into total business forecasts and reporting.
Planning Tools, Processes, and Systems
  • Set the direction for the design, development, and continuous improvement of planning tools, moving the business toward more granular, automated, and scalable planning processes.
  • Lead the evaluation, business case, and implementation of new planning systems and use cases (for example, merchandise planning software, Looker dashboards, Pricing and forecasting tools) in collaboration with Tech and Data teams.
  • Ensure integration of planning tools with master data, transactional data, and reporting systems, and uphold data accuracy and governance across the planning function.
  • Establish regional planning standards, calendars, and best practices, and drive adoption across country teams.
Cross-Functional Leadership
  • Act as the key planning partner to Commercial, Finance, Operations, and Marketing leadership, translating plans into financial, operational, and capacity implications.
  • Partner with Finance on budgeting, monthly forecasts, cash flow planning, and inventory provisioning based on intake plans.
  • Support Category and Buying teams in brand and supplier negotiations with planning inputs on buy quantities, margin targets, and commercial terms such as returns, markdown support, and order cancellations.
  • Prepare and present planning insights and recommendations to senior management and regional leadership.
People Leadership
  • Lead, coach, and develop a team of planners and analysts, setting clear objectives, reviewing output quality, and building analytical and commercial capability.
  • Support country planning teams with guidance, training, and escalation management to drive consistency and efficiency across markets.
  • Foster a culture of accountability, data-driven decision making, and continuous improvement within the planning function.
Requirements:
  • Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Business, Finance, Mathematics, or equivalent. A Master’s degree or professional qualification is an advantage.
  • 5 to 8 years of experience in merchandise planning, commercial planning, or FP&A.
  • Proven experience in e-commerce, fashion, sports or retail planning, with a strong understanding of OTB, WSSI, seasonal planning, and inventory management.
  • Strong understanding of e-commerce KPIs and trading levers, including traffic, conversion, pricing, promotions, and marketplace dynamics.
  • Strong commercial acumen and the ability to connect data insights to business decisions and financial outcomes.
  • Expert-level MS Excel and financial modelling skills. Experience with SQL, BI tools (such as Power BI, Tableau, or Looker), or planning systems is highly preferred.
  • Experience leading or contributing to planning system implementations or process transformation projects.
  • Excellent stakeholder management, presentation, and influencing skills, with the confidence to engage and challenge senior leaders.
  • Strong leadership and people development capabilities.
  • Highly structured, able to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
  • Experience working across multiple markets in a multicultural, regional environment.
  • Passion for the e-commerce, fashion, and sports retail industries.

The ZALORA Story

ZALORA is Asia’s Online Fashion Destination. Founded in 2012, the company has a presence in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Hong Kong. ZALORA is part of Global Fashion Group, the world's leader in online fashion for emerging markets. ZALORA offers an extensive collection of top international and local brands and products across apparel, shoes, accessories, and beauty categories for men and women. Offering up to 30-day free returns, speedy deliveries as fast as 3 hours, free delivery over a certain spend, and multiple payment methods including cash-on-delivery, ZALORA is the online shopping destination with endless fashion possibilities.

ZALORA is not obligated to accept resumes from any third parties on behalf of potential candidates for any position (advertised or otherwise) by any means, unless ZALORA has executed a written agreement with such third party and has expressly requested such third party for candidate referrals. Third parties who provide unsolicited resumes of candidate(s) shall waive and forfeit all rights to claim for any placement fees or referral fees in the event that such candidate is eventually engaged or employed by ZALORA or Global Fashion Group

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Job Location

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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