Sephora Inventory Planner, New Store Openings
- Employment
- Contract
- Seniority
- Mid-Level
- Department
- Supply Chain, Logistics & Inventory
- Posted
- Sep 8, 2026
About Sephora
Sephora is a global prestige beauty leader, renowned for redefining the retail experience through creativity, inclusivity, and expert service. Founded in France and now part of LVMH, the company brings together an exceptional portfolio of beauty brands with a distinctive culture of discovery and innovation. As an employer, Sephora offers a dynamic, customer-centered environment where talent is encouraged to learn, experiment, and grow across retail, digital, merchandising, operations, and corporate functions. Its teams are united by a passion for beauty, entrepreneurship, and belonging, making Sephora a compelling workplace for professionals seeking impact within a fast-moving international brand.
Sephora UK New Store Inventory Planner, 12-month fixed-term contract in London. Lead inventory planning for retail expansion.
Role & Responsibilities
- Lead the end-to-end inventory planning process for all new store openings across Sephora UK
- Develop opening stock plans tailored to store size, format, assortment strategy, fixture capacity and commercial objectives
- Build and maintain inventory planning templates, frameworks and assumptions to create scalable and repeatable new store processes
- Partner with Demand Planning to align opening forecasts, trading assumptions and launch plans
- Collaborate with Supply Planning teams to ensure stock requirements are operationally achievable and risks are identified early
- Own the inventory planning critical path for each store opening, delivering key milestones on time
- Support stock ranging, sizing, balancing and ordering activities to ensure strong availability for launch
- Establish initial replenishment parameters and inventory settings to support successful trading from opening
- Monitor store performance during the stabilisation period, reviewing sales, stock cover and availability for improvement opportunities
- Coordinate the handover of stores into business-as-usual ownership and ongoing inventory management
- Drive continuous improvement across new store planning processes, reporting and tools
- Maintain clear documentation of planning assumptions, decisions, risks and handover criteria
Qualifications
- Minimum 5 years of experience in inventory planning, merchandise planning, supply chain planning or a similar retail or FMCG environment
- Strong understanding of inventory management principles, stock flow and replenishment processes
- Advanced Excel skills and confidence working with large data sets
- Experience managing projects, timelines and multiple priorities simultaneously
- Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to identify risks and recommend solutions
- Exceptional attention to detail and structured approach to planning and execution
- Ability to build effective relationships and influence stakeholders across Supply Chain, Commercial, Retail and Project teams
- Previous experience supporting retail expansion, store openings or large-scale operational projects is advantageous
Skills
Experience
Minimum 5 years of experience in inventory planning, merchandise planning, supply chain planning or related retail or FMCG environment. Prior experience supporting retail expansion, store openings or large-scale operational projects is advantageous.
Workplace
This position is based in London, England, UK.
Benefits
Private healthcare, life assurance and private pension from day one; competitive pay with annual salary reviews; generous employee discount across prestige beauty brands; paid birthday day off; access to wellbeing and perks platform; LVMH Heart Fund support; generous holiday allowance with option to purchase additional days.
Culture
Sephora fosters a dynamic, inclusive workplace where creativity, curiosity, and a passion for beauty are encouraged at every level. As an employer, it is distinguished by its focus on empowerment, continuous learning, and a collaborative retail culture that celebrates individuality and client-centric innovation.
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 Sephora, 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 «New Store Planning Specialist», «Retail Inventory Strategist», «Store Launch Planner», «Opening Inventory Coordinator», and other variations. Our sophisticated search architecture anticipates these variations, ensuring that inquiries using related terms will seamlessly yield the exact roles you desire.