UK Higher Education Sales Representative

Informa is a leading academic publishing, business intelligence, knowledge, and events business, creating unique content and connectivity for customers all over the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.

Taylor & Francis is one of the world’s largest publishers of high-quality, peer reviewed scholarly journals, books, e-books and reference works. We empower learners, thinkers and doers with trusted knowledge that advances research and enriches lives. We bring together diverse people, ideas and opinions to validate and publish the experts, theories and truths that matter. And we’ve been doing this in an unbroken arc since 1798.

Our purpose is to foster human progress through knowledge. We strongly believe that this requires us to encourage and examine different ideas and voices, so that any work that meets our exacting levels of quality deserves to be included in our publications. This requires open minds, the opportunity for robust debate, and the courage to defend perspectives that stand up to scrutiny, even if they conflict with our personal beliefs or values. Because that’s the only way to find the best obtainable version of the truth and, ultimately, foster human progress. If you agree, then we’d love to hear from you.

We are currently recruiting for a Higher Education Sales Representative to cover a portfolio of academic institutions in the UK.

This role is a Maternity cover contract and available as hybrid working including travel to the T&F Head Office in Milton Park, Oxfordshire, for training and sales meetings, as well as the possibility of the occasional campus visit. Managing your own territory, you will be expected to generate new and maintain existing business by selling and developing relationships with lecturers and universities to expand our growing textbook adoptions.

The key responsibilities are:

• You will be required to analyse sales figures, run reports, maintain our adoption database and communicate with colleagues in the sales, marketing and editorial departments on a daily basis.
• Relationship management of a portfolio of customers, building a deep understanding of the customer, market and specific needs to provide a tailored sales service to drive the highest levels of customer service and satisfaction.
• Planning, scheduling, and carrying out occasional visits to key individuals within educational/institutional organisations to close adoption business and other sales opportunities within own sales region, using consultative selling techniques and offering bespoke and added value solutions to maximize sales opportunities.
• Monitoring sales of key adoptions to ensure relevant sell through is achieved, highlighting any underperforming, and taking relevant action to rectify this.
• Accurate and timely maintenance of CRM systems
• Liaising with colleagues in other sales teams (field-based and internal) to ensure textbook adoption information is provided effectively to achieve appropriate stockholding and sell-through.
• Building and maintaining effective external and internal relationship, building profile and understanding of the Higher Education sales strategy across the wider business and externally where appropriate.
• Developing alternative routes to market, including direct sales for print and digital content as appropriate, ensuring any direct commercial deals are consistent with the overall sales strategy in the market.
• Building and maintaining partnerships with colleagues to ensure all adoption business is closed and solutions to maximise sell through are offered within a given territory.
• Updating the H E Sales manager by the provision of reports on sales activities and bring to their attention any problems/challenges with recommendations for resolution.
• Preparing for, attending, and contributing to UK and international sales meetings to build product knowledge, strategic awareness and to gather market relevant intelligence.

The ideal candidate:

• Will be a self-motivated and organised individual who is happy to work in a home office, sales environment.
• Have a proven track record in a sales environment
• Have excellent communication and negotiation skills.
• Organisation and time management skills
• A commercial outlook with the ability to make recommendations to support sales targets.
• A focus on customer satisfaction and service
• Ideally have a knowledge of book sales or worked in academia but this is not essential

What we offer in return:

At Taylor & Francis we care about our colleagues, promoting work-life balance, wellbeing, and flexible working. You will be joining a thriving business, working alongside an exceptional group of people. We believe that the skills and experience you bring to Taylor & Francis are invaluable. We want you to have the opportunity to develop your abilities, and to innovate and develop in areas which you are passionate about.

• Competitive salary
• Bonus scheme of up to 25% of base salary
• An excellent work/life balance with a fantastic, flexible working culture
• 25 days annual leave per year plus bank holidays
• Company funded single cover private medical cover to all colleagues
• 3 additional discretionary days off during the holiday season at the end of the year
• 4 paid volunteering days each year
• Employee assistance programme – offering 24/7 well-being support
• Share Match – Plan that matches every share purchased with two free shares.
• Pension scheme
• Life assurance, plus optical and medical care

All applicants must have the right to work and live in the United Kingdom and hold a full, clean UK driving license.

Closing Date: 4th September 2024

Applications are shortlisted on a rolling basis, and we will be interviewing alongside advertising. We therefore encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity.

Location: – The successful candidate will be able to utilise our balanced working model. We ask that candidates live within a commutable distance to ensure that as a balanced worker they can make it to our office locations to collaborate as required.

Training And Professional Development:

We’re passionate about ensuring you have all the tools and resources at your fingertips to reach your short and long-term career goals. We’ll support you in your journey by working together on your own bespoke Taylor & Francis Development Plan, ensuring you have the resources, tools, support, and coaching that will get you where you want to be.

Interview process:

Once you have submitted your application, we may get in touch with you for an initial screening conversation or ask you to complete a short video interview to enable us to better understand your skills, experience, and motivation. Following this, you will be invited to attend a competency-based interview, either virtually or in person. Typically, we’d then finish the interview process with a final, 2nd stage interview before extending an offer to the successful applicant.

Taylor & Francis Group an Informa Business

We want all our candidates to shine in our recruitment process. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to ensure you are able to show us your best self. This could include having the application form in a different format, more time for questions, or anything else – please ask us, we are happy to be flexible Please contact recruitment@tandf.co.uk

Being Yourself at Taylor & Francis

If you’re excited about working with Taylor & Francis to foster human progress through knowledge, we invite you to apply even if your existing skills and experience don’t fit every item listed above. At Taylor & Francis, we are at our best and most successful when colleagues can be themselves and contribute regardless of their identity or background. As a colleague, you will have the opportunity to further innovate and develop in areas that you are passionate about. Our goal is to empower you with the resources, incentives, and flexibility you need to enjoy success at work and to live a healthy, balanced life.

Taylor & Francis is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe in and value diversity of people and thought, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where all colleagues can learn and succeed as their true selves. Taylor & Francis recruits, develops, and retains colleagues without regard to any protected personal characteristics or other non-merit-based factor.

We genuinely care about our colleagues, promoting work-life balance, wellbeing, and flexible working. We believe that the skills and experience you bring to Taylor & Francis are invaluable. We want you to have the opportunity to develop your abilities, and to innovate and develop in areas which you are passionate about. To find out more about our business and the great career opportunities please go to our Careers Site: 

Or better yet check out our LinkedIn ‘Life’ Page, highlighting our accomplishments, employees, and company culture. It’s also a good way of meeting our recruitment team, who will be happy to advise you on your journey here at T&F.