Become a Part of the NIKE, Inc. Team
NIKE, Inc. does more than outfit the world’s best athletes. It is a place to explore potential, obliterate boundaries and push out the edges of what can be. The company looks for people who can grow, think, dream and create. Its culture thrives by embracing diversity and rewarding imagination. The brand seeks achievers, leaders and visionaries. At NIKE, Inc. it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.
WHO YOU’LL WORK WITH
This role is part of the Nike Japan Planning team and reports to the Director of SalesPlanning. It collaborates closely with the Marketplace Unit and receives seasonal guidance from Sporting Goods Business Planner during pre-season, transitioning to Marketplace Supply Chain (MSC) before the season begins. This role partners with Operations to confirm deliveries, Inventory Operations to assess excess or short inventory, and the Nike Value Stores (NVS) marketplace planning team for liquidation strategies. Additionally, the Territory Merchandising team & Sales serve as key partners for initiating depth planning for each season.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Nike seeks a leader who will drive pre-season depth planning and manage in-season and post-season activities for the Sporting Goods business. The ideal candidate demonstrates strong leadership to enable Nike Japan’s growth and act as an objective partner to Marketplace Unit (MPU) teams, ensuring clear, fact-based business decisions. This individual understands product, marketplace dynamics, insights, and marketing strategies to inform demand and inventory forecasts. They collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to identify risks and opportunities and foster an end-to-end process improvement mindset to optimize workflows.
Nike values leaders who embrace and lead change, acts with courage, value differences, thinks strategically and cultivate innovation.
- Minimum 6 years of experience in Buying, Planning, Allocation and/or Vendor Sales for a multi-store retailer or Assortment Planning experience with apparel/footwear wholesale organizations.
- Bachelor’s degree in business or related field.
- Comprehensive understanding of retail math, including gross margin profitability planning.
- Strong ability to communicate and influence effectively.
- Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially Excel (spreadsheets, advanced formulas, pivot table).
- Strong oral and written communication skills in both Japanese and in English.
- Experience analyzing customers, competitors and retail trends; knowledge of sports apparel and footwear market preferred.
WHAT YOU’LL WORK ON
You will lead and influence alignment on seasonal assortment plans for Sporting Goods, leveraging your expertise in consumer behavior, trends, and marketing activities.
- Provide detailed seasonal analysis based on actual sales results to inform future seasonal financial planning.
- Develop seasonal assortment plans at style-color level (and Key Franchise) for footwear, apparel, and equipment to maximize revenue, margin, and optimize inventory.
- Partner with Account Executives to negotiate with partners, ensuring adoption of suggested assortment plans and timely, accurate order entry.
- Communicate weekly sales results, highlighting positive and negative trends and proposing actionable plans.
- Create and manage monthly Stock & Sales Plan for key franchises, providing inventory outlooks to guide buying decisions.
- Manage product offer end-date extensions, return applications, and stock transfers.
OUR HIRING GAME PLAN
01 Apply
Our teams are made up of diverse skillsets, knowledge bases, inputs, ideas and backgrounds. We want you to find your fit – review job descriptions, departments and teams to discover the role for you.
02 Meet a Recruiter or Take an Assessment
If selected for a corporate role, a recruiter will reach out to start your interview process and be your main contact throughout the process. For retail roles, you’ll complete an interactive assessment that includes a chat and quizzes and takes about 10-20 minutes to complete. No matter the role, we want to learn about you – the whole you – so don’t shy away from how you approach world-class service and what makes you unique.
03 Interview
Go into this stage confident by doing your research, understanding what we are looking for and being prepared for questions that are set up to learn more about you, and your background.
