The Head of Supply Chain & Merchandise Planning is a senior business leader responsible for designing and leading the end-to-end supply and planning strategy of the organization. This role ensures that customer demand is translated into profitable, reliable, and scalable supply execution across Landers’ growing retail network.
Beyond functional oversight of logistics and planning, this role defines the operating model, decision frameworks, and governance that determine product availability, inventory investment, logistics cost efficiency, and supply resilience. The position has a direct impact on sales growth, gross margin, working capital efficiency, and overall business scalability.
This role acts as a strategic thought partner to the CEO and Commercial leadership, balancing growth ambitions with operational discipline and financial rigor.
- Define enterprise inventory strategy, service levels, and stock cover by category and store format.
- Design a scalable supply chain operating model balancing availability, cost, and agility.
- Translate expansion and promotion strategies into executable supply capabilities.
- Drive working capital efficiency without compromising customer experience.
- Advise senior leadership on supply, cost, and risk trade-offs.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Supply Chain & Distribution Leadership
- Lead DC operations and govern 3PL partners
- Set warehouse KPIs, standards, and service levels
- Ensure best-in-class inbound, storage, and outbound execution
Transportation & Logistics Strategy
- Own DC-to-store transport strategy for Metro and provincial stores
- Optimize routes, cost-to-serve, and delivery performance
- Build logistics resilience for peak demand
Merchandise Planning & Integrated Forecasting
- Own integrated demand and supply planning for all merchandise
- Lead scenario planning for baseline and promotions
- Translate forecasts into replenishment and allocation plans
Replenishment, Allocation & Inventory Governance
- Define replenishment strategies and allocation logic
- Control aging, excess, and slow-moving inventory
- Maintain low out-of-stock rates with optimized inventory investment
Promotion Planning & Performance Review
- Partner with Buying on promo volume planning
- Conduct post-promotion performance reviews
- Refine future planning based on sell-through insights
Financial & Working Capital Leadership
- Own inventory investment and working capital performance
- Drive logistics cost optimization for margin improvement
- Align planning decisions with financial targets
Governance, Controls & Decision Quality
- Define decision rights and escalation models
- Establish S&OP and inventory governance forums
- Ensure disciplined, data-driven decision-making
Leadership & Talent Development
- Build and develop high-performing team
- Set accountability and succession plans
- Coach leaders think commercially and systemically
QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, Business, Engineering, or related field
- MBA or postgraduate qualification preferred
- Strong ERP and planning systems expertise
SUCCESS CHARATERISTICS FOR THIS ROLE
- Enterprise-level strategic thinker
- Commercially and financially astute
- Balances strategy with execution
- Leads effectively through complexity and scale
- Trusted advisor to senior leadership