Montblanc Senior Manager, Merchandising Planning
- Seniority
- Manager
- Department
- Merchandising, Buying & Planning
- Industry
- Fashion, Apparel & Leather Goods
- Posted
- May 7, 2026
About Montblanc
Montblanc is an international luxury maison renowned for its writing instruments, leather goods, timepieces and accessories. As part of a major luxury goods group, the brand combines artisanal craftsmanship with global retail and wholesale operations and maintains a client-centric, heritage-driven approach to product and brand development.
Montblanc — Senior Manager Merchandising Planning in Hamburg. Lead assortment, forecasting and inventory strategy for a global luxury brand.
Role & Responsibilities
- Define and execute the merchandising planning strategy across channels to achieve sales, margin and inventory targets for seasonal and permanent assortments.
- Own demand forecasting, sales/markdown planning and open-to-buy processes; translate commercial plans into accurate financial forecasts and stock targets.
- Collaborate closely with Buying, Category Management, Retail Operations and Wholesale to shape assortments, allocation logic and replenishment rules.
- Monitor and report weekly/monthly KPIs (sell-through, stock cover, GMROI, sell-in vs sell-out) and implement corrective actions to optimise performance.
- Lead and develop a small team of planners and analysts; allocate resources and priorities across markets and product categories.
- Design and manage inventory flow and allocation across channels, including launch cadence, reorders and end-of-season clearance strategies.
- Present planning recommendations and performance reviews to senior stakeholders and contribute to commercial business reviews and product lifecycle decisions.
- Drive continuous improvement of planning processes, tools and cross-functional governance to increase forecasting accuracy and reduce working capital.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Merchandising or a related discipline; advanced degree or specialised training preferred.
- Proven leadership with 5+ years in merchandise planning, demand planning or commercial planning and at least 2 years in a managerial role, preferably within luxury, premium retail or accessories.
- Strong commercial numeracy with experience managing sales, margin and inventory KPIs across multi-channel operations.
- Demonstrable ability to influence cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills; strong organisational and project-management capabilities.
Skills
Experience
Minimum of 5 years’ experience in merchandising, demand or commercial planning with progressive responsibility; prior experience in luxury or premium retail and proven people-management experience is highly desirable.
Education
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Merchandising or equivalent; a master’s degree or specialised merchandising qualification is advantageous.
Workplace
This position is based in Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Culture
Montblanc combines a heritage of craftsmanship with a contemporary, international outlook. The workplace emphasises meticulous quality, design-driven thinking and cross-disciplinary collaboration, offering opportunities to work with high-touch products and global retail partners.
About Cerulean
Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.
Frequently Asked Questions
The luxury industry is characterised by a diverse and nuanced nomenclature. Esteemed houses frequently employ proprietary terminology, and even within a single organisation like Montblanc, titles may vary across global markets to reflect local conventions. To ensure absolute clarity, Cerulean assigns a standardised, industry-coherent canonical title to every listing. However, it is worth noting that this role is functionally synonymous with «Senior Merchandise Planner», «Head of Merchandise Planning», «Senior Manager, Demand & Inventory Planning», «Merchandise Planning Lead», and other variations. Our sophisticated search architecture anticipates these variations, ensuring that inquiries using related terms will seamlessly yield the exact roles you desire.