Deputy Director - Demand Planning

Myntra is India’s leading fashion and lifestyle platform, where technology meets creativity. As pioneers in fashion e-commerce, we’ve always believed in disrupting the ordinary.

We thrive on a shared passion for fashion, a drive to innovate to lead, and an environment that empowers each one of us to pave our own way. We’re bold in our thinking, agile in our execution, and collaborative in spirit.
Here, we create MAGIC by inspiring vibrant and joyous self-expression and expanding fashion possibilities for India, while staying true to what we believe in.

We believe in taking bold bets and changing the fashion landscape of India. We are a company that is constantly evolving into newer and better forms and we look for people who are ready to evolve with us.
From our humble beginnings as a customization company in 2007 to being technology and fashion pioneers today, Myntra is going places and we want you to take part in this journey with us.

Working at Myntra is challenging but fun - we are a young and dynamic team, firm believers in meritocracy, believe in equal opportunity, encourage intellectual curiosity and empower our teams with the right tools, space, and opportunities.

Deputy Director – Demand Planning

Overview

As Deputy Director – Demand Planning, you will own the platform-wide demand number — the unconstrained view of what customers will buy across all categories, events and channels — which drives buying, inventory investment, network capacity and financial commitment. You will chair the consensus forecasting forum, own the forecast accuracy charter, and set the analytics and automation roadmap for the function. Success in the role is visible in the category P&L: higher availability at lower inventory, fewer stockouts on winners and lower markdown exposure on misses.

Responsibilities:

1. Demand Ownership: Own the platform-wide demand forecast across all categories, at the granularity each decision needs — category × month for OTB and financial planning, style/SKU × week for buying and replenishment — keeping unconstrained demand separate from the supply-constrained plan.

2. Consensus & S&OP: Design and chair the monthly demand review and consensus forum, from data cleanse and statistical baseline through commercial overlay to one agreed number for supply; arbitrate between Category, Marketing, Biz Fin, Supply Chain and CDM where views diverge.

3. Forecast Accuracy: Own the accuracy charter — WMAPE at the decision lag, bias tracked by input source, and Forecast Value Added measured at every touch — enforcing reason-coded overrides and feeding post-cycle error decomposition into the next cycle.

4. Analytics & Automation: Own the demand planning analytics and technology roadmap with Data Science and Product; sponsor and pressure-test statistical and ML models rather than build them, and drive the shift from spreadsheets to a governed planning system.

5. Demand Sensing & Events: Build the in-season sensing loop on live signals — traffic, search, sell-through, returns, price, visibility — and own event and campaign demand planning end to end, including uplift, cannibalisation and read-and-react checkpoints.

6. New Launch Forecasting: Set the method for no-history styles — attribute-matched analogues, indexed week-of-life curves, ranges over point estimates and an early re-forecast trigger.

7. Leadership Influence: Represent demand planning in leadership and business reviews with the range, the assumptions that move the number most and sensitivity quantified; escalate risk to the number early, with options attached.

Skills Required:

• Owns the number – comfortable being the single accountable voice for a forecast that other teams plan and spend against, and holding that position under commercial pressure.

• Strong problem-solving ability – structured, first-principles thinking with robust analytical skills and a strong orientation towards processes.

• Depth in data analytics – expert in Advanced Excel, strong SQL, and working fluency in Python and applied ML sufficient to direct and challenge Data Science work.

• Stakeholder management & influence – able to align Category, Biz Fin, Supply Chain, Marketing and CDM behind one number, largely without formal authority over them.

• People leadership – proven experience leading a team of 3–4 or more, and developing analysts into planners.

• Highly action oriented – At Myntra, we foster a culture that values proactive action and swift implementation. The incoming leader should own initiatives from conceptualisation through to execution, and be able to prioritise and deliver high-quality output with limited oversight in an ambiguous environment.

Education and Experience Required:

• 6+ years of relevant experience in demand planning, forecasting or category/merchandise planning in e-commerce / retail; fashion and lifestyle exposure preferred

• MBA from Tier-1 / Tier-2 B-School; BTech from Tier-1 / Tier-2 institutions

• Demonstrated ownership of a consensus forecasting / S&OP process at scale and of a published forecast accuracy metric

• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, with attention to detail and the ability to make data-backed decisions