■Recruitment Background
GU, one of the Fast Retailing Group’s flagship brands, aims to become a true global brand by creating hit products that capture major trends, preventing stockouts of best-selling items, and delivering products and services that exceed customer expectations—all under the brand message “YOUR FREEDOM: The freedom to reinvent yourself.”
GU still faces many challenges on its path to becoming a true global brand.We are seeking a Product Planning Leader to join us in advancing GU’s unique global challenge—enabling customers to enjoy fashion to the fullest with a minimal number of SKUs and affordable prices—through transformations in every aspect of the apparel business. This includes building a stronger management team through the recruitment and development of diverse talent; enhancing the quality of products and styling; creating store environments that make shopping easier for customers; improving the accuracy of inventory and sales forecasts; and establishing a flexible system for additional production.

■ Department Overview
"Product Planning" involves devising the fundamental business strategy—deciding which products to produce, when and in what quantities, and how to present them to customers through compelling narratives. The mission of the Product Planning Department is to "simultaneously and sustainably enhance customer and store satisfaction, as well as company profitability."From setting product budgets to selling out inventory, we analyze past performance and future outlook from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives to formulate and execute strategies. In particular, as a leader in fashion trends, GU’s product planning requires the ability to forecast ever-changing trends, implement rapid PDCA cycles, and make dynamic decisions.
・The Product Planning Department has three main roles: Japan Operations, Overseas Operations, and E-commerce Operations.

■ Job Description
・As a category manager for GU’s product lines (Women’s, Men’s, Kids, etc.), you will be responsible for the entire business cycle—from formulating sales budgets and sales plans (by season, month, and week) for your assigned products, to creating the production plans necessary to achieve those goals, and managing the execution of these plans to ensure they are carried out as intended. The business volume under your purview ranges from hundreds of millions to billions of yen.

Specific duties are as follows:
(1) Strategy and Tactics Development: Analyze the market environment and formulate strategies and tactics to achieve sales and profit targets. You will also establish product management KPIs (such as SKU count and pricing) to manage the execution of these strategies and tactics.
(2) Formulation of Product Budgets: Create monthly, seasonal, and departmental budgets, as well as portfolios for sales, gross profit, cost ratios, and discount rates.
(3) Review of Merchandise Plans: Review merchandise plans proposed by MDs (Merchandise Merchandisers) using a quantitative and logical approach based on actual sales data to improve the accuracy of the plans.
(4) Demand Forecasting and Sales Planning: For the product plans in (3), we formulate and verify demand forecasts by product and propose revisions to the MDs. Based on the verified demand forecasts, we collaborate with relevant departments (Corporate Planning, MD, Marketing, IMD, Inventory Control, Sales) to develop countermeasures for identified issues and formulate sales plans.
(5) Based on the sales plan, we share sales tactics with stores and, taking actual results into account, manage progress and revise plans to achieve business targets (sales, gross profit, gross profit margin, and end-of-period inventory).

Since GU deals in fashion apparel, products change with each season, and given the scale of production and sales—ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of units per product—it is essential to balance a sense of urgency with the management of large-scale business operations. By successfully balancing highly complex planning and forecasting with precise numerical control, we dynamically drive business forward to achieve significant results and customer satisfaction.
・The Job Description may change within the scope of duties related to each department at headquarters due to departmental transfers or organizational changes.

■ Career Path
・Upon joining the company, you will be assigned to the Product Planning team for the Japan business, where you will gain a comprehensive understanding of GU’s overall business operations. Additionally, to provide foundational experience in business operations, you are expected to spend approximately six months managing a store at an appropriate time after joining. (Details will be provided during the interview.) Afterward, depending on your aspirations and aptitude, you may have the opportunity to take on challenges in overseas operations or e-commerce.
・As a Product Planning Specialist, you will be involved in a wide range of tasks spanning the entire GU value chain, from upstream to downstream, allowing you to develop the fundamentals of product management—Fast Retailing’s core competency—which includes creating plans based on fundamental principles, adjusting plans in response to immediate business conditions, and devising and executing sales strategies.
・In addition to honing your expertise within the Product Planning Department (Japan, Overseas, or E-commerce divisions), you will have access to a wide range of career paths within the Fast Retailing Group, including roles in Merchandising (MD), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Marketing, Visual Merchandising (VMD), Corporate Planning, Overseas Operations, Group Operations, and as a COO at overseas subsidiaries.

■ Required Experience, Skills, and Abilities
・Experience at a business company, trading company, consulting firm, or similar organization in analyzing issues based on facts and quantitative data, logically evaluating and implementing measures
・Experience taking the initiative to demonstrate leadership, collaborating with internal and external stakeholders, and driving projects forward with determination
・A strong interest in clothing design, or a strong interest in GU’s business model and culture

■Preferred Experience, Skills, and Abilities
・Experience or skills in business planning, marketing (brand management), merchandising (MD), or management accounting
・Business English proficiency (email communication, document creation and reading, internal and external meetings, and external business dealings)

■Company Name
GU Co., Ltd.

■Employment Type
Full-time Employee (Permanent position, with a 3-month probationary period)

■Annual Salary
・Annual Salary Range: 5.28–8.64 million yen (Monthly Salary: 330,000–540,000 yen)
・Allowances: Commuting allowance, overtime pay, etc. (※All subject to company regulations)
・Bonuses: Semi-annual bonuses twice a year, year-end bonus (eligibility and amount determined based on company performance and performance evaluations)
・Promotions twice a year (determined based on performance evaluations)
*Salary will be determined based on company regulations, taking into account your previous annual income and experience, in addition to the above.

■ Working Hours
Flexible work hours, or managerial/supervisory positions
・Flexible work hours
Standard daily working hours: 8 hours; Break: 1 hour
Core hours: 9:00 AM–2:00 PM
Flexible hours…6:00 AM–9:00 AM and 2:00 PM–8:00 PM (Overtime work may occur)
・Supervisors
Based on the working hours of the employee’s department, with the decision left to the employee

■ Holidays and Leave
Two days off per week (Saturdays and Sundays; national holidays are working days) Annual paid leave, special leave (including bereavement leave), childcare and nursing care leave systems, etc.
*In addition to paid leave, special leave is granted in the first and second halves of the fiscal year (the number of days granted varies depending on employment status and the company to which the employee belongs)

■Insurance Coverage
Social Insurance (Health Insurance, Employees' Pension Insurance, Employment Insurance, Workers' Accident Compensation Insurance, Long-Term Care Insurance)

■Employee Benefits
Employee stock ownership plan, mutual aid association, partner welfare programs, employee discount program, cafeteria, dedicated shuttle bus (for commuting to the Ariake office), defined contribution pension plan

■Other
・We are actively hiring mid-career professionals across our group companies (Fast Retailing, UNIQLO, GU, etc.). We would appreciate it if you could review the information below and consider applying.
- You may apply to multiple companies within the Fast Retailing Group simultaneously. However, please note that even if the selection process proceeds at multiple companies, you can only advance to the final selection stage for one position at a time.
- Based on your submitted resume and interview evaluations, we may contact you to discuss opportunities at other companies or positions within the Fast Retailing Group.

・Measures against secondhand smoke: Smoking is prohibited on the premises and indoors; we do not have designated smoking rooms. (Smoking is prohibited during working hours, including break times.)

Ariake Headquarters: 1-6-7 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo, UNIQLO CITY
*Your location may be changed to a location designated by the company, including overseas locations.