Curation Planning Manager

Salary Range: $103,500 - $115,000

About the Role

The Curation Planning Manager is a people manager responsible for both a team of Curation Planners and the most complex, high-impact supplier and SKU portfolios within Curation Planning. This role sets the bar for item-level planning, exclusivity strategy, and supplier execution, and acts as a key thought partner to the Senior Manager, Curation Planning and category leaders.

You will lead planning strategy for critical suppliers and categories, pilot new operating models, and formalize best practices for the broader team. You will directly manage and develop Curation Planners while driving impact on assortment differentiation, SKU health, and platform economics.

What You’ll Do

• Own performance, health, and strategic outcomes for high-impact curated SKUs and suppliers
• Define portfolio strategies balancing exclusivity, productivity, and SKU lifecycle management
• Design and execute advanced exclusivity roadmaps (e.g., staged delisting, inventory commitments, differentiated assortments)
• Build alternative differentiation strategies where exclusivity isn’t feasible (e.g., product specs, bundles, new suppliers)
• Act as senior escalation point for supplier performance, inventory risk, and execution issues
• Partner cross-functionally (Merchants, SRMs, SIMs, Retail Planning & Allocation) to resolve operational and structural gaps
• Own and evolve SKU health frameworks, including thresholds, triggers, and intervention playbooks
• Translate customer and operational signals into structured supplier improvement plans
• Lead strategic supplier business reviews using data-driven insights to influence decisions and investment
• Build and maintain executive-level supplier relationships supporting curated assortment strategy
• Oversee SKU launch planning and ensure coordinated, on-track execution
• Monitor ramp performance and drive corrective actions across stakeholders
• Influence Merchandising Vault governance, policies, and guardrails for curated SKUs
• Partner with analytics and tooling teams to improve dashboards, workflows, and prioritization tools
• Manage and develop a team of Curation Planners, including hiring, onboarding, and performance management
• Contribute to team playbooks, training, and best practices, raising execution and analytical standards
• Act as a thought partner to senior leadership on strategy, org design, and long-term planning

What You’ll Need

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a relevant field, or equivalent experience
• 6–8+ years of experience in retail, e-commerce, merchandising, planning, or supplier management with ownership of complex portfolios
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills across internal teams and external suppliers
• Proven ability to operate in ambiguity with a proactive, solutions-oriented mindset
• Track record of driving meaningful improvements in key business metrics (e.g., revenue, margin, availability, conversion, returns)
• Deep supplier management and negotiation experience, including holding partners accountable and influencing investment decisions
• Strong strategic thinking, connecting SKU-level actions to broader business outcomes
• Excellent communication skills, with experience presenting to senior stakeholders and external partners
• Proven people management experience, including developing talent and managing performance; team-building experience is a plus
• Willingness to adopt and integrate new AI tools into workflows