OPT Planner Jobs
Planner roles in urban planning, supply chain, and event management regularly appear on OPT-friendly job boards. Many employers in these fields sponsor H-1B visas for strong candidates. Your 12-month OPT window, extendable to 36 months with a STEM extension, gives you real time to establish yourself.
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Get Access To All JobsThe pay range is $73,000.00 - $132,000.00
Pay is based on several factors which vary based on position. These include labor markets and in some instances may include education, work experience and certifications. In addition to your pay, Target cares about and invests in you as a team member, so that you can take care of yourself and your family. Target offers eligible team members and their dependents comprehensive health benefits and programs, which may include medical, vision, dental, life insurance and more, to help you and your family take care of your whole selves. Other benefits for eligible team members include 401(k), employee discount, short term disability, long term disability, paid sick leave, paid national holidays, and paid vacation. Find competitive benefits from financial and education to well-being and beyond at https://corporate.target.com/careers/benefits.
About us:
Working at Target means helping all families discover the joy of everyday life. We bring that vision to life through our values and culture. Learn more about Target here.
A role in Planning means being in charge of the financials and forecasting for one of Target’s businesses. Here, you’ll conduct comparative analysis of holiday or other seasonal performance reports and provide the insights that inform the Inventory team’s work to ensure that product supports projected sales. Acting as the hub between Merchandising and Supply Chain, you will create a financial link between these two essential groups and have a voice in some of the most important decisions from a financial strategy standpoint.
As a Merchandise Planner, you’ll provide in-season decision support, collaborate on assortment planning, recommend localization and channel strategies including cluster types and profiles, and lead demand forecasting. You’ll support the divisional strategy through your category expertise and partnerships with cross-functional teams and vendors. You will head up the open-to-buy process and decide on category-level investment and the financial validity of assortments. You will conduct root cause analysis for variation between supply and demand forecasts to support “chase-cancel” decisions and communicate implications to vendors. You’ll conduct scenario planning, build unit plans, and lead initial set planning and operationalization to optimize assortments. A large part of your role will be to interpret forecast results and conduct “what if?” analysis to guide your go-forward recommendations. You will validate the unit promo planning forecast, drive maintenance, risk analysis and decision-making by the Pricing & Promotion Center of Excellence. And you’ll run event forecast creation and flow, analyzing item lifecycles and driving recommendations on end-of-season management.
Core responsibilities are described within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.
About you:
- Four-year degree or equivalent experience
- 2-6 years of relevant experience
- 3+ years of Merchandising experience
- Strong strategic, financial, and analytical skills; can easily translate data from an array of sources into insights and recommendations
- Strong collaboration skills to partner with cross-functional teams
- Flexible, resilient and comfortable working in “grey areas” that are constantly changing
This position will require in office presence in downtown Minneapolis Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday each week, while working from on home on Friday will be an option. Work duties cannot be performed outside of the country of the primary work location, unless otherwise prescribed by Target. Click here if you are curious to learn more about Minnesota.
Benefits Eligibility
Please paste this url into your preferred browser to learn about benefits eligibility for this role: https://tgt.biz/BenefitsForYou_D
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
In compliance with state and federal laws, Target will make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please reach out to candidate.accommodations@HRHelp.Target.com. Non-accommodation-related requests, such as application follow-ups or technical issues, will not be addressed through this channel.
The pay range is $73,000.00 - $132,000.00
Pay is based on several factors which vary based on position. These include labor markets and in some instances may include education, work experience and certifications. In addition to your pay, Target cares about and invests in you as a team member, so that you can take care of yourself and your family. Target offers eligible team members and their dependents comprehensive health benefits and programs, which may include medical, vision, dental, life insurance and more, to help you and your family take care of your whole selves. Other benefits for eligible team members include 401(k), employee discount, short term disability, long term disability, paid sick leave, paid national holidays, and paid vacation. Find competitive benefits from financial and education to well-being and beyond at https://corporate.target.com/careers/benefits.
About us:
Working at Target means helping all families discover the joy of everyday life. We bring that vision to life through our values and culture. Learn more about Target here.
A role in Planning means being in charge of the financials and forecasting for one of Target’s businesses. Here, you’ll conduct comparative analysis of holiday or other seasonal performance reports and provide the insights that inform the Inventory team’s work to ensure that product supports projected sales. Acting as the hub between Merchandising and Supply Chain, you will create a financial link between these two essential groups and have a voice in some of the most important decisions from a financial strategy standpoint.
As a Merchandise Planner, you’ll provide in-season decision support, collaborate on assortment planning, recommend localization and channel strategies including cluster types and profiles, and lead demand forecasting. You’ll support the divisional strategy through your category expertise and partnerships with cross-functional teams and vendors. You will head up the open-to-buy process and decide on category-level investment and the financial validity of assortments. You will conduct root cause analysis for variation between supply and demand forecasts to support “chase-cancel” decisions and communicate implications to vendors. You’ll conduct scenario planning, build unit plans, and lead initial set planning and operationalization to optimize assortments. A large part of your role will be to interpret forecast results and conduct “what if?” analysis to guide your go-forward recommendations. You will validate the unit promo planning forecast, drive maintenance, risk analysis and decision-making by the Pricing & Promotion Center of Excellence. And you’ll run event forecast creation and flow, analyzing item lifecycles and driving recommendations on end-of-season management.
Core responsibilities are described within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.
About you:
- Four-year degree or equivalent experience
- 2-6 years of relevant experience
- 3+ years of Merchandising experience
- Strong strategic, financial, and analytical skills; can easily translate data from an array of sources into insights and recommendations
- Strong collaboration skills to partner with cross-functional teams
- Flexible, resilient and comfortable working in “grey areas” that are constantly changing
This position will require in office presence in downtown Minneapolis Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday each week, while working from on home on Friday will be an option. Work duties cannot be performed outside of the country of the primary work location, unless otherwise prescribed by Target. Click here if you are curious to learn more about Minnesota.
Benefits Eligibility
Please paste this url into your preferred browser to learn about benefits eligibility for this role: https://tgt.biz/BenefitsForYou_D
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
In compliance with state and federal laws, Target will make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please reach out to candidate.accommodations@HRHelp.Target.com. Non-accommodation-related requests, such as application follow-ups or technical issues, will not be addressed through this channel.
See all 492+ OPT Planner Jobs
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding OPT Sponsorship as a Planner
Target industries with consistent sponsorship track records
Supply chain, logistics, urban planning, and management consulting firms file H-1B petitions for Planners regularly. Search Department of Labor LCA disclosure data to identify which companies have sponsored Planner roles in the past two years.
Connect your degree directly to the Planner role
H-1B sponsorship for Planner positions requires proving the role is a specialty occupation tied to a specific degree field. In applications and interviews, make the connection between your academic background and the planning function explicit.
Apply early relative to your OPT expiration date
H-1B cap-subject petitions are filed in April for an October 1 start date. If your OPT expires before October 1, confirm the employer can bridge your status or apply cap-exempt to avoid an authorization gap.
Highlight certifications relevant to planning disciplines
Credentials like AICP for urban planning or APICS certifications for supply chain planning signal professional seriousness to sponsoring employers. They also strengthen the specialty occupation argument USCIS evaluates during H-1B adjudication.
Ask about sponsorship policy before the final interview round
Bring up OPT work authorization and long-term sponsorship after a recruiter expresses genuine interest, not in your cover letter. Frame it as confirming logistics, not requesting a favor, and confirm whether the company has sponsored Planners before.
Use Migrate Mate to focus your search on sponsoring employers
Migrate Mate filters Planner roles to employers with demonstrated sponsorship histories, saving you from applying to positions where OPT or H-1B support is unlikely. This significantly improves your interview-to-offer conversion rate.
Planner OPT: Frequently Asked Questions
Do Planner jobs qualify for OPT work authorization?
Yes, Planner roles qualify for OPT as long as the position is directly related to your field of study. Urban planners, supply chain planners, and financial planners each draw on distinct degree fields, so the relevance requirement is typically straightforward to meet. Confirm the connection with your DSO before accepting an offer.
Can I get a STEM OPT extension as a Planner?
It depends on your degree, not your job title. If you hold a STEM-designated degree, such as industrial engineering, operations research, or a quantitative supply chain program, and your Planner role uses those technical skills, you likely qualify for the 24-month STEM extension. Check the DHS STEM OPT designated degree program list to confirm your CIP code.
Which types of employers are most likely to sponsor Planners for H-1B visas?
Large logistics and supply chain companies, consulting firms, municipal governments contracting through staffing agencies, and Fortune 500 operations teams sponsor Planner roles with relative frequency. Smaller employers and non-profits are less likely to have the legal infrastructure in place. Browse Migrate Mate to find Planner openings filtered by employers with documented sponsorship histories.
Does a Planner role count as a specialty occupation for H-1B purposes?
Planning roles can qualify as specialty occupations, but it is not automatic. The key is demonstrating that the position normally requires a bachelor's degree or higher in a specific field, not just any degree. Urban planning, supply chain analytics, and financial planning roles with technical requirements are stronger candidates than general coordination or scheduling positions with broad degree preferences.
What should I do if my OPT expires before my employer files my H-1B?
If your OPT authorization ends before an H-1B petition is approved, you need a bridge strategy. Options include applying for a cap-gap extension if you filed before April 1, asking the employer to file under a cap-exempt institution, or pursuing an alternative status like H-1B1 visa or O-1 visa if eligible. Consult an immigration attorney as soon as your timeline becomes clear.