Capability Lead Planning & Inventory Management

Overview

Capability Lead for Planning & Inventory Management at Target in Bengaluru, a senior individual contributor role (Level 6, Senior Manager equivalent) that builds and evolves enterprise planning and inventory capabilities across demand forecasting, inventory strategy and operational execution.

What you'll do

• Own enterprise-level inventory management and demand forecasting capabilities, not just functional execution.
• Shape the strategic direction of short- and long-term demand forecasts by synthesizing algorithmic model outputs, historical performance, trend indicators and business context.
• Partner with Data Science to refine forecasting models, validate assumptions and improve accuracy across stable, seasonal, promotional, transition and fast-cycle categories.
• Integrate guest behavior, digital and store signals, competitive dynamics, fashion and trend insights, macroeconomic inputs, weather impacts and price/promo effects into demand and inventory plans.
• Translate complex signals into clear, actionable guidance for Merch Planning, Inventory Management and Merchant partners.
• Lead enterprise inventory management across receipt planning, flow phasing, weeks of supply (WOS) and inventory health metrics.
• Partner with Inventory Operations and Supply Chain to align planning intent with execution constraints, including lead times, capacity, network flow paths and vendor performance.
• Act as the integrator between demand forecasting, Merch Planning and Inventory Management to maintain a single, aligned enterprise view of demand, receipts, flow and inventory investment.
• Influence cross-functional partners including Merch Planning, Inventory Management, Supply Chain, Finance and Analytics around a unified demand and inventory outlook.
• Represent planning and inventory strategy in Integrated Business Planning (IBP) forums by framing demand and inventory risks, opportunities and scenarios.
• Partner with Data Science and Analytics teams to evolve demand sensing and inventory optimization capabilities.
• Lead forecast accuracy, inventory health and flow performance reviews across Promo, Seasonal, New Item, Transition and Frequency categories.
• Build durable planning and inventory capability through frameworks, playbooks, documentation and hands-on coaching.

What you'll need

• Minimum 10+ years of overall experience.
• 8+ years in Demand Planning, Assortment Planning, Supply Planning, Inventory Management, Merchandise Planning or related Planning functions, with deep expertise in retail planning processes and business operations.
• Experience with enterprise planning platforms such as o9 Solutions, Blue Yonder (JDA), SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP), Kinaxis, Oracle Demand Planning or similar planning solutions.
• Proven experience fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation and continuous learning.
• Deep expertise in enterprise planning methodologies, demand forecasting, assortment planning, inventory optimization, planning governance and performance enablement.
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional initiatives through project management, stakeholder engagement, communication and influencing skills.
• Strong strategic thinking and business acumen, with the ability to lead through ambiguity, drive organizational change and accelerate adoption of planning capabilities and new ways of working.

Details

• Location: Tower 02, Manyata Embassy Business Park, Bengaluru.