Associate Inventory Planner - IRP

Do your Best Work in Mooresville

This position is based at our headquarters in Mooresville, North Carolina. Our corporate office is a space where you can collaborate and do your best work. Take a walk, grab a bite (or a cup of coffee), work out or get a check-up – we invest in you so you can find your inspiration.

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time

Your Impact

The Associate Inventory Planner develops and executes inventory plans for assigned merchandise categories or business units to support product availability, sales performance, and inventory productivity. This role analyzes demand, sales, inventory, and supply data to identify risks and opportunities and recommends actions that balance customer demand with inventory investment. The Associate Inventory Planner partners with Merchandising, Replenishment, Assortment Planning, Supply Chain, Finance, and Store Operations to support promotions, seasonal events, assortment transitions, and other business priorities. This role maintains inventory planning assumptions and parameters, monitors inventory performance, and provides data-driven insights that support inventory decisions across stores, distribution centers, and digital fulfillment channels.

What You Will Do

- Develop and maintain inventory plans for assigned merchandise categories or business areas in support of sales, in-stock, service-level, inventory-turn, and financial objectives.
- Evaluate system generated forecasts and inventory scenarios, applying business knowledge to validate assumptions, challenge model outputs, and recommend strategic inventory actions.
- Oversee inventory performance management, prioritizing exceptions, validating recommendations, and adjusting planning strategies as business conditions evolve.
- Maintain inventory targets, planning assumptions, safety-stock levels, service levels, and other planning parameters within inventory systems.
- Partner with Merchandising, Replenishment, and Supply Chain teams to support inventory execution for promotions, seasonal events, product launches, resets, assortment changes, and product transitions.
- Collaborate with Replenishment partners to ensure inventory plans are effectively executed across stores, distribution centers, and fulfillment channels.
- Support assortment and product lifecycle decisions by providing inventory analysis and identifying potential availability or inventory-investment impacts.
- Investigate complex inventory exceptions, distinguish data-quality issues from business risks, and improve planning processes to reduce recurring exceptions.
- Translate system generated insights into clear business recommendations that influence planning decisions across merchandising, supply chain, and finance.
- Communicate inventory insights and recommendations to leaders and cross-functional business partners.
- Monitor performance against inventory plans and adjust assumptions or recommendations based on actual results and changing business conditions.
- Support inventory-planning system enhancements, testing, implementation activities, process documentation, and user adoption.
- Identify opportunities to improve inventory-planning processes, reporting, data accuracy, and system utilization.
- Maintain accurate planning data and follow established inventory controls, operating standards, and planning processes.
- Develop knowledge of assigned merchandise categories, customer demand patterns, vendor capabilities, and end-to-end retail supply chain operations.

Minimum Qualifications

- Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Business Administration, Finance, Economics, Business Analytics, Data Analytics, Mathematics, or a related field; or equivalent years of experience in lieu of education requirement, if applicable
- 3+ years of experience in retail, manufacturing, or supply chain.
- 2+ years of experience in inventory planning, replenishment, merchandise planning, demand planning, retail operations, merchandise buying, or assortment planning.
- Working knowledge of inventory-management concepts, including demand forecasting, safety stock, service levels, inventory turns, weeks of supply, and product lifecycle management.
- Demonstrated analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to interpret inventory, demand, sales, and supply data and develop recommendations.
- Experience using inventory-planning, replenishment, forecasting, ERP, or other supply chain systems.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including formulas, pivot tables, lookups, and analysis of large datasets.
- Strong attention to detail and commitment to maintain accurate inventory and planning data.
- Effective written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain analysis and recommendations to business partners.
- Ability to collaborate effectively with partners across Merchandising, Supply Chain, Finance, Operations, and other business functions.
- Strong organizational and time-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
- Ability to work through defined and moderately complex business problems in a fast-paced retail environment.

Preferred Skills/Education

- Experience supporting inventory planning in a large-scale retail, wholesale, distribution, or omnichannel organization.
- Experience with RELEX, SAP, Oracle, Blue Yonder, Manhattan, or a comparable inventory-planning or supply chain platform.
- Experience using Power BI, Tableau, SQL, or similar reporting and data-analysis tools.
- Experience supporting promotions, seasonal events, product launches, resets, or assortment transitions.
- Knowledge of merchandise financial planning, assortment planning, purchase-order management, or retail category management.
- APICS certification or other relevant supply chain education or certification.

About Lowe’s

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is a FORTUNE® 100 home improvement company with total fiscal year 2025 sales of more than $86 billion. Lowe’s employs approximately 300,000 associates and operates over 1,750 home improvement stores, 540 branches and 120 distribution centers. Lowe’s is a core value S&P 500 equity stock and a dividend aristocrat. Based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe’s supports the communities it serves through programs focused on creating safe, affordable housing, improving community spaces, helping to develop the next generation of skilled trade experts and providing disaster relief to communities in need. For more information, visit  Lowes.com .

Lowe’s is an equal opportunity employer and administers all personnel practices without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, gender, age, ancestry, national origin, mental or physical disability or medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other category protected under federal, state, or local law.