Senior Director, Merchandise Planning & Data Science Technology

Who We Are

lululemon is an innovative performance apparel company focused on yoga, running, training, and other athletic pursuits. We excel in technical fabrics and functional design, creating transformative products and experiences that support well-being. Our success stems from innovative products, strong store presence, commitment to our people, and deep community connections. We are dedicated to fostering positive change and building an equitable, inclusive, and growth-focused environment for our team.

About This Team

The Global Product Technology (GPT) team builds platforms and capabilities that power lululemon’s product lifecycle, from 2D/3D design to merchandising, sourcing, assortment planning, master data management, and go-to-market strategies. We collaborate closely with design, technical development, merchandising, sourcing, and planning to enhance speed to market and quality through PLM modernization, digital product creation, robust data and integration platforms, assortment and size planning, master data management, advanced analytics, decision-making solutions, and AI-assisted workflows.

The Role

We are seeking a Senior Director, Merchandise Planning & Data Science Technology to define and execute a multi-year technology strategy that will revolutionize how lululemon merchandises, plans, and delivers products to our guests. This leader will be instrumental in modernizing the merchandise planning and allocations suite of solutions and their associated integration stacks. You will scale our capabilities to enable sophisticated assortment, space, and size planning, while embedding AI-driven automation to shorten planning cycles and enable superior business decision-making through both historical and forward-looking insights. This role involves leading a global, multi-disciplinary engineering organization across North America and India, overseeing platforms, products, and vendor ecosystems that serve our merchants and planners end-to-end.

The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of leading large, cross-functional, and global teams to successfully execute transformational initiatives within complex organizational structures. You must thrive in fast-paced environments, navigate ambiguity and complexity adeptly, commission strategic charters, and empower teams to create and streamline processes, all while supporting a growing global organization. This position demands excellent communication, strong organizational skills, and the ability to drive ideas from conception to execution. Maturity, curiosity, creative problem-solving, and exceptional team leadership are critical for success.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders, drive change initiatives, and foster a culture of continuous improvement aligned with the organization’s growth strategy.
• Manage resources, oversee financial interests, and implement essential policies, practices, and processes.
• Demonstrate strong leadership skills, a proven ability to build high-performing teams, set ambitious standards, challenge individuals to excel, and elicit sustained high performance.
• Ensure excellent verbal and written communication skills are applied across all interactions.
• Drive the creation of world-class engineering solutions that are reliable, observable, secure, compliant, and highly available.
• Combine deep technical expertise with visionary leadership to guide a globally dispersed engineering team, driving platform and solution modernization with advanced AI capabilities such as LLMs, vector retrieval, computer vision, and intelligent agents.
• Lead the design and implementation of scalable, secure, and responsible AI/ML-enabled systems that seamlessly bridge merchandising and planning, ensuring technology accelerates decision-making.
• Translate lululemon’s merchandising and planning vision into a comprehensive multi-year solution realization strategy.
• Leverage AI and ML solutions to deliver measurable impact across planning capabilities, including attribute generation, demand forecasting, allocation optimization, and store clustering.
• Translate complex AI/ML architectures into clear, compelling narratives for executive stakeholders.
• Champion transparency, inclusion, and ethics as fundamental enablers of innovation.
• Develop future-ready leaders who can balance technical depth with business acumen to drive meaningful growth.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field.
• 5+ years of engineering leadership and delivery experience.
• 5+ years in retail, merchandise planning and allocations, or a related field (bonus).
• Demonstrated experience in managing large budgets.
• Proven experience translating business strategy into technology and engineering roadmaps.
• Demonstrated experience with data-heavy planning systems such as Anaplan, Oracle RPAS.
• Expert proficiency in programming languages (e.g., Python, Java) and relevant libraries/frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn).
• Deep understanding of machine learning, NLP, computer vision, and generative AI techniques.
• Ability to produce documentation such as narratives and root cause analysis providing actionable insights.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and MLOps tools.
• Strong knowledge of data engineering concepts and big data.
• Continuous learning mindset, staying at the forefront of applied ML, LLM’s, and NLP advancements.
• Exceptional communication and storytelling skills tailored for executive audiences.
• PhD/Master’s in computer science, applied mathematics, or statistics (bonus).

Must-Haves (Lululemon Cultural Principles)

• Acknowledge the presence of choice in every moment and take personal responsibility for your life.
• Possess an entrepreneurial spirit and continuously innovate to achieve great results.
• Communicate with honesty and kindness, creating space for others to do the same.
• Lead with courage, knowing the possibility of greatness is bigger than the fear of failure.
• Foster connection by putting people first and building trusting relationships.
• Integrate fun and joy as a way of being and working, without taking yourself too seriously.

Workplace Arrangement

This is a Hybrid role requiring in-person collaboration and connection a minimum of 4 days per week.

Compensation And Benefits Package

Lululemon’s compensation philosophy is pay-for-performance, recognizing individual and team achievements. The typical hiring range for this position is $223,100 – $292,800 annually; actual base pay varies by market location, knowledge, skills, experience, and internal equity. Permanent employees may be eligible for our competitive annual bonus program and equity offerings, subject to eligibility.

At Lululemon, investing in our people is a top priority. We strive to be a place where inclusive leaders develop and enable all to thrive. Our total rewards include support for career development, well-being, and personal growth, such as:

• Extended health and dental benefits, and mental health plans.
• Paid time off.
• Savings and retirement plan matching.
• Generous employee discount.
• Fitness & yoga classes.
• Parenthood top-up.
• Extensive catalog of development course offerings.
• People networks, mentorship programs, and leadership series.

Note: Eligibility requirements apply to incentive programs, benefits, and perks. The Company reserves the right to modify these programs at any time.

Key skills/competency

• Merchandise Planning
• Data Science
• AI/ML Solutions
• Engineering Leadership
• Cloud Platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure)
• Big Data
• Retail Technology
• Strategic Vision
• Team Management
• Executive Communication