Global Accounts Director, Retail and Wholesale

We are the world’s largest university press. We have both a worldwide reach and a personal understanding of local needs, partnering on the ground to adapt publications and resources to meet the individual needs of communities, societies, and countries. We partner with researchers, educators, and technology partners to stay ahead of the changing ways people around the world are accessing and sharing knowledge. With a presence in more than 50 countries and millions of customers around the world, an idea launched at OUP can have a global impact.

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ABOUT THE ROLE 

The primary purpose of the Global Accounts Director, Retail and Wholesale, is to oversee the end-to-end support of the Division's retail and wholesale operations. This role involves building and maintaining strong client relationships, developing and implementing sales strategies, and optimizing the end-to-end supply chain to ensure efficient distribution of our products to our global customers. Additionally, the director analyzes market trends to support business decisions, leads an international team of account professionals, and prepares regular reports to inform business decisions. Overall, the role is crucial for ensuring the smooth operation of OUP's retail and wholesale business. This role reports to the Academic Division's Global Sales Director.

Key Accountabilities for the position:
1. Client Relationship Management: Building and maintaining strong relationships with retail and wholesale clients
2. Sales and Revenue Growth: Developing and implementing strategies to increase sales and revenue, including negotiating contracts
3. Supply Chain Optimization: Overseeing the supply chain to ensure efficient inventory control, distribution of products and customer data supply
4. Market Analysis: Analyzing market trends and competition to identify new business opportunities
5. Team Leadership: Leading and mentoring a team of account managers to achieve targets and customer support
6. Reporting and Forecasting: Preparing regular reports on account status, sales figures, and key metrics to inform business decisions

Relationships that this role will build and strengthen:
1. Clients: Retail and wholesale clients are the primary stakeholders, and maintaining strong relationships with them is crucial for business success
2. Internal Teams: Collaborating with internal teams such as marketing, finance, and logistics to ensure smooth operations and alignment with business goals
3. Senior Management: Reporting to senior management and providing insights and updates on account performance and market trends

ABOUT YOU

• Strong commercial acumen and ability to develop strategic sales plans across multiple channels
• Experience managing and motivating diverse sales teams across retail and wholesale divisions
  
• Ability to analyze market trends, solve problems and adjust strategies accordingly
• Excellence in building and maintaining relationships with major retail buyers, wholesale distributors, and key accounts
• Strong negotiation skills for dealing with terms, policies, and distribution agreements
• Ability to understand and respond to the different needs of retail vs wholesale customers
• Understanding of publishing supply chain dynamics, including printing, warehousing, and distribution
• Ability to forecast demand accurately and manage inventory levels across channels
• Problem-solving: Identifying and resolving short- and long-term supply chain issues to ensure timely delivery and availability of products
• Proficiency with sales analytics and inventory management systems
• Ability to interpret sales data and market research to inform strategy
• Ability to troubleshoot issues across end-to-end print and eBooks supply chain around data, title slippage, publishing output
• Experience in US and UK retail pricing, discounting, and management of product mix (trade, academic, and Higher Education)
• Experience in devising and implementing book / eBook retail sales campaigns
• Familiarity with publishing schedules, lead times, returns processes, and their financial impact
  

BENEFITS  

We care about work/life balance at OUP. We offer 15 days’ vacation time that rises with service, 10 sick days, plus floating holidays, personal days, company holidays, and a 35-hour working week. We are open to discussing flexibility in respect of working hours and the use of technology to support regular remote working, dependent on role. We also have a great variety of active employee networks and societies.    

We care for you and your dependents by offering health, dental, and vision insurance plans to our full-time employees. Each plan has multiple levels of coverage to fit your needs and has a high level of contribution made by OUP. In addition, we offer Employee Assistant Programs for all full-time employees, regardless of whether you elect in health insurance. We also offer life insurance and disability insurance.   

We help make your money go further by providing a non-elective contribution on your behalf to your retirement plan of 7% of your salary and a matching contribution to the retirement plan of 50% on the first 6% of employee contributions on based earnings.

This role is eligible for a sales bonus.

Position Location: This role can be done in a hybrid environment in Cary, NC (2 times a week in office) or in New York City, New York.

GJC Level: M8 (for internal purposes only)  

Salary: $133,000 - $190,000 dependent on skills and experience

We are committed to supporting diversity in our workforce and ensuring an inclusive environment where all individuals can thrive. We seek to employ a workforce representative of the markets that we serve and encourage applications from all.