Merchandise Planning & Development Manager

Brighter Futures Start Here

The Anko brand is owned by the highly successful, Australian-based Kmart Group, and the Anko Global business is the steward for international expansion.  With over 1.2 billion products sold annually across markets in ANZ, Europe, North America, the Group is now looking to expand its presence through Anko-branded stores in Southeast Asia.

In joint venture with the Ayala Corporation and Kmart Group Australia, the first Anko store in the Philippines was launched late 2024 in Makati with five stores now available across Metro Manila.  These Anko stores provide shoppers with quality, design, and affordability all in one place with products across key categories like home, kitchen, toys, and beauty.  The response from Filipino shoppers has been very positive which has driven the development an ambitious expansion program. 

About the role

The Merchandise Planning & Development Manager plays a pivotal role in connecting product strategy with commercial outcomes for Anko Global. This role is responsible for shaping and delivering integrated merchandise plans that drive sales, margin and inventory performance, while also helping to build scalable planning tools, processes and ways of working as Anko Global continues to grow internationally.

Operating in a fast paced, start up environment, this role suits someone who enjoys building foundations, working with ambiguity and making a tangible impact on how the business operates today and in the future.

What you will deliver

In this role, you will be expected to:

• Develop and manage end to end merchandise plans that deliver agreed sales, margin, inventory and customer outcomes.
• Lead seasonal, in season and event planning, including forecasting, buy plans, OTB management and stock flow optimisation.
• Partner closely with Category Managers to support range architecture and assortment decisions aligned to customer value and commercial strategy.
• Support country teams with trading insights, identifying risks and opportunities and enabling timely actions such as markdowns and stock rebalancing.
• Build and embed consistent reporting and analysis to support decision making across markets, with a focus on sales, margin, availability and inventory productivity.
• Contribute to the development of the Anko Global merchandise planning playbook, leveraging knowledge of Kmart planning systems to establish scalable tools, processes and planning rhythms.
• Ensure data integrity across planning systems, including pricing, forecasts, hierarchies and product attributes, enabling high quality insights and reporting.

What we are looking for:

To be successful in this role, you will bring:

• 7–10 years’ experience in merchandise planning, ideally within Kmart or a similar large scale retail environment.
• Strong experience in merchandise planning, forecasting and replenishment systems (Kmart systems experience is essential).
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex data into clear, actionable commercial insights.
• Experience building, improving or embedding planning tools, processes or systems in a scaling or evolving business.
• Comfort working in ambiguity, across multiple time zones, and within tight timelines typical of a start up environment.

Skills & Capabilities

You will be known for:

• Strong analytical, numerical and problem solving skills.
• A collaborative approach and ability to work effectively across merchandise, supply chain, finance, technology and country teams.
• Commercial acumen and a strong understanding of retail drivers and trade offs.
• Adaptability, curiosity and a continuous improvement mindset.
• Clear, confident communication and the ability to influence stakeholders without direct authority.

We are excited to have conversations with anyone who feels this could be the right next step in their career, so even if you don’t tick all the boxes listed above, we’d still love for you to apply!

A place you can belong:

At Anko we celebrate the rich diversity of the communities in which we operate and are committed to creating inclusive and safe environments where all our team members can contribute and succeed. We believe that all team members should feel valued, respected, and safe irrespective of your gender, ethnicity, indigeneity, religious beliefs, education, age, disability, family responsibilities, sexual orientation and gender identity and we encourage applications from all candidates.
If you would like to explore a career with Anko and this sounds like the perfect role for you - apply now!

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