The Company

Usborne is an independent, family business, creating books which spark curiosity in children of all ages. These range from books for babies such as the bestselling That’s not my… series of touchy-feely books, to YA fiction from acclaimed authors such as Holly Bourne and Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé – with everything from Magic Painting to Politics for Beginners in between. The company is now a market-leader in children’s publishing and one of the best-known brands in children’s books and if you want to work somewhere close-knit enough for people to know your name, but which has a first-class reputation around the world, Usborne is the place for you

The Team

Usborne’s Community Partnerships division supports our community-based sales force in building successful home-based businesses selling Usborne books directly into homes, schools, online and via social media throughout the UK and Europe.

The Role

The Sales Leadership & Business Development Manager is tasked with designing and delivering a sales & business development and field leadership strategy to generate company sales and recruiting growth for the Community Partnerships division.

Main duties:

• Provide targeted and meaningful sales leadership & business development support to the community-based sales force. Develop and deliver an impactful and effective training & business development strategy to Independent Usborne Partners.

• Coach, mentor and motivate sales leaders to achieve their potential.

• Work closely with the marketing and events team to effectively execute sales and marketing campaigns and to ensure that Usborne’s product and publishing direction is well communicated to the community sales force.

• Develop compelling and motivating incentives and promotions to drive sales and recruitment.

• Work closely with the Communities Director to identify and communicate new sales and business development trends and opportunities within both the direct-selling and bookselling markets.

• As part of the senior leadership team, contribute to the ongoing development of the division and provide analysis on company performance in sales and recruiting.

• Identify external suppliers to deliver additional training and sales support on time and on budget.

• Provide line management & support of small team.

• Research and recommend appropriate new training partners, technologies, and opportunities (including but not limited to online resources, social media, video conferencing etc) that would enhance our overall sales & business development strategy.

Experience

The successful candidate will be a motivating, supportive and creative sales leader who has extensive demonstrable experience working with multiple remote teams throughout the UK and Europe.

With excellent communication, public-speaking, and presentation skills, they will excel in mentoring and coaching sales teams to reach their full potential, fulfilling the division’s sales and recruitment objectives and strategy.

They will have experience in developing compelling incentive and promotional campaigns to motivate and drive the sales force and achieve recruitment targets.

Experience or an understanding of the direct sales industry would be advantageous but more important are sales leadership, training and interpersonal skills and a keen interest in the way that books help children to learn and develop.  

This role will require attendance at all company (and some leader-led) events plus the flexibility to work occasional evenings and weekends as needed, to support and fulfil our sales activities. Some international travel may also be required.

Location and benefits:

We offer a 35-hour working week from our Eynsham office just outside of Oxford, where after a successful induction period we offer a hybrid working model of three days in the office and two days working from home.

In addition to our transparent salary grading structure, for this role we also offer a range of benefits including:

• 25 days paid holiday entitlement plus bank holidays

• Healthcare Scheme for you and your dependents

• Comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme

• 50% Discount on Company Books 

• Industry leading Pension Scheme and Life assurance

We particularly encourage applications from Black and minority ethnic candidates who are currently under-represented within this area.