A rare opportunity to join the Sales Team of a top 5 UK Publisher at a time of dynamic investment and growth, to lead our Special Sales strategy. Reporting in to the Sales Director responsible for Special Sales, and with line management responsibility for a Sales Executive and Sales Assistant, this role will work closely alongside the UK Trade Sales Team based in London and will sell titles from across the diverse Bloomsbury Consumer and Special Interests lists.
The role
The successful candidate for the Special Sales Manager role will be proactive, creative and solution driven. They will sell into non-trade and non-traditional accounts and be responsible for hitting the Special Sales targets and leading channel specific strategy alongside contributing to group title strategy. An exciting chance for a hungry self-starter keen to maximise revenue from this channel from high price point and bespoke products to remainder deals.
The Special Sales account base has changed in recent years, moving away from the traditional book club model. Special Sales is often firm sale, no longer exclusively high discount, and with a growing presence of non-trade retailers on the high street in the form of The Works, and the emergence of supermarket chains such as ALDI. There is opportunity to adapt to capture new business including subscription boxes which are growing significantly YOY, and extend our reach through influential platforms and charitable partnerships such as Book Trust.
- Responsible for managing, leading and motivating the Special Sales team.
- Maximise turnover and profit of Special Sales department, selling across adult trade, special interest and children’s divisions whilst working towards group sales strategy and targets.
- Responsible for achieving Special Sales targets for established account base and actively identifying new business opportunities in the non-trade and non-traditional retail sector.
- Account management responsibility for the biggest Special Sales accounts including ALDI and The Works. Communicate via regular presentations and negotiating deals that secure best possible visibility for Bloomsbury titles.
- Manage the Special Sales team’s portfolio of accounts ensuring best practise is followed internally and externally by all team members, setting a positive and professional example as a people and account manager.
- Represent the Special Sales team at relevant internal meetings, providing market insight, contributing to and shaping sales strategy, and feeding into internal reporting across all publishing divisions. Including, but not restricted to business reviews, acquisition discussions and weekly sales updates.
- Work closely with the publishing, production and operations teams to create special editions, bespoke print runs and custom products, achieving best possible margin for business.
- Responsible for all sales to UK remainder channels ensuring swift and clear sell through for maximum profit.
- Line management responsibility for the Sales Executive and Sales Assistant. Managing their workload and supporting their training and development requirements.
Skills, knowledge and experience
- Strong oral and written communication skills and the ability to communicate with stakeholders of different levels
- Excellent time-management and organisational skills, experienced at multi-tasking and prioritising work-load
- Confident presenter able to inspire and motivate customers and colleagues alike
- Demonstrate commercial awareness and an understanding of budgets and deal P&Ls in order to prioritise workload and forward plan to maximise ROI for department.
- Demonstrate excellent client relationship building and development skills
- Ability to work under pressure and to deadlines
- Self-starter, able to use initiative with excellent problem solving skills
- Experience of line-management, confident at delivering feedback and undertaking difficult conversations
- Strong negotiation skills with a clear understanding of the commercials
- Creative, flexible and agile approach to sales
- Ability to adapt and react quickly to change
- Good attention to detail
- Knowledge of Biblio, Vista, Nielsen and Cognos would be advantageous
- Advanced skills in Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Additional information
The role is a full-time and permanent position
The role is based at our London office 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, however, as all Bloomsbury employees are currently working from home, this role will also be based from home until our offices reopen on a mandatory working pattern of 2 days office based / 3 days home based (or fully office based if preferred).
As well as a fantastic opportunity to join a global award-winning organisation, Bloomsbury offers competitive benefits, generous staff discounts and flexible working arrangements.
Please apply with a CV and covering letter addressed to Human Resources (Word or PDF format only) detailing how you meet the requirements outlined above for this role by 19th July 2021.
Applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK.
The Company
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Bloomsbury Publishing is a leading independent publishing house, established in 1986, with authors who have won the Nobel, Pulitzer and Booker Prizes, and is the originating publisher and custodian of the Harry Potter series. Bloomsbury has offices in London, New York, New Delhi, Oxford and Sydney. Within Bloomsbury’s Academic division, it publishes under Bloomsbury, as well as under a number of prestigious and historic imprint names. Read Our Story for how it all began.
Bloomsbury is committed to creating a working environment that stimulates creativity and collaboration, is respectful of difference, is inclusive and ethical in its practice, and promotes well-being. We are determined to nurture and develop our employees to reach their highest potential, and we know that our success is down to the passion, commitment and hard work of our talented people. We recognise the urgent need to attract and support applicants from all backgrounds and identities to become part of the global publishing industry, allowing diverse voices to reflect and shape our culture and society.
Please read more on our Missions and Values here.
Please read our environmental policy here.
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