Careers

Purpose of Position:

The Merchandise Operations Analyst is responsible for delivering data-driven insights that support merchandising, planning, allocation, and inventory decisions. This role analyzes sales, inventory, product, and operational performance to identify trends, risks, and opportunities that improve financial results and inventory productivity.

Working closely with Merchandising, Planning, Allocation, Finance, and Supply Chain teams, the Merchandise Operations Analyst develops reporting, dashboards, and analytical tools that enable leadership to make informed business decisions. The ideal candidate combines strong analytical capabilities with business acumen and the ability to translate data into actionable recommendations.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Reporting & Analytics

• Develop, maintain, and automate recurring merchandise, inventory, and sales reporting.
• Create dashboards and performance scorecards using business intelligence tools.
• Analyze sales, margin, inventory, and product performance trends across categories, channels, and locations.
• Provide executive-level reporting and business recaps highlighting key drivers of performance.
• Deliver ad hoc analyses to support strategic and operational decision-making.

Merchandise & Inventory Analysis

• Monitor key performance indicators including sales, inventory turns, in-stock rates, sell-through, weeks of supply, and gross margin.
• Analyze inventory productivity and identify opportunities to improve inventory efficiency and profitability.
• Support inventory forecasting and demand planning activities through data analysis.
• Identify sales and inventory risks and provide recommendations to business partners.
• Evaluate promotional, pricing, and assortment performance.

Business Insights & Decision Support

• Partner with Merchandising, Planning, and Allocation teams to identify business opportunities and performance gaps.
• Translate complex data into clear business insights and recommendations.
• Support seasonal planning processes through trend analysis and historical performance reviews.
• Build business cases and scenario analysis to support key decisions.
• Present findings and recommendations to leadership teams.

Data Management & Governance

• Ensure the quality, accuracy, and integrity of merchandise and inventory reporting.
• Validate data across multiple systems and identify discrepancies.
• Maintain reporting documentation and metric definitions.
• Support ongoing enhancement of reporting capabilities and analytical tools.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with Merchandising, Planning, Allocation, Finance, Supply Chain, and Store Operations teams.
• Serve as a trusted analytical resource for business partners.
• Participate in business reviews and planning meetings to provide analytical support.
• Support company initiatives through reporting and data-driven performance measurement.
• All other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including PivotTables, XLOOKUPs, and data modeling.
• Experience with reporting and visualization tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or similar platforms.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Education/Experience:

• Degree - Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Statistics, Data Analytics, Retail Management, or related field.
• Minimum experience of 2-5 years of experience in retail analytics, merchandise analytics, planning, allocation, finance, or related analytical roles.
• Preferred experience:
  • Experience supporting Merchandising, Planning, or Allocation organizations.
  • Proficiency with SQL or database query tools.
  • Experience with retail planning, merchandise management, or ERP systems.
  • Familiarity with inventory management and retail financial metrics.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations:

None.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

None.

Work Environment/Physical Demands:

The work environment characteristics and physical demands described are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

• This position is considered sedentary. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to, stand, sit; talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard reach, stoop kneel to install/move computer equipment
• The employee may be required to exert up to 10 lbs. of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Involves sitting most of the time, but may involve walking or standing for brief periods of time
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include near acuity at 20 inches or less due to computer work
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee will experience a moderate noise level (i.e. business office with computers, phone, and printers, light traffic)

Travel Requirements:

This position requires some travel, up to 25%.

Sportsman’s Warehouse is an Equal Opportunity Employer.