Key Account Manager - Children's (13-month FTC)

Bertelsmann; London; Hybrid; GBP 37,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job description

Are you a passionate advocate for children's literature, eager to inspire and engage new readers?

Do you have the vision to elevate beloved brands like Peppa Pig, Bluey, Roald Dahl, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid to new heights? Can you uncover hidden gems in our catalogue and discover innovative ways to share them with the world?

Join our dynamic Children’s Custom and Partnerships Sales team as a Key Account Manager. This is a thrilling opportunity to bring your energy and creativity to our team, driving our collective success to new levels.

The team manages a broad range of accounts, from value retailers including ALDI, B&M, Costco and Home Bargain to high street retailers like The Little White Company, Smyths Toys and The Works; from subscription boxes to gift and bargain wholesalers. They also manage commercial brand partnerships with clients ranging from McDonald’s to Premier Foods.

You’ll collaborate with a range of colleagues internally – from editorial and design through to production, operations and finance. You’ll also share market insights and sales analysis with the wider team.

Key responsibilities:

1. Presenting key titles to the mass market and securing support for relevant titles.
2. Building and maintaining excellent relationships with buyers and working closely with them to launch some of our biggest authors in the UK.
3. Organisation and preparation for customer meetings, completing title information grids and building PowerPoint presentations.
4. Driving sales, in a profitable way, to contribute to achieving our divisional annual budget and growth targets.
5. Proactively feeding your expert market knowledge back into the division and working with key stakeholders to influence and drive strategy across the business.
6. Working collaboratively across sales, marketing, publicity and editorial teams, as well as other UK account managers, in order to maximise sales opportunities and to help connect readers with our authors, brands and books.
7. Reporting and analysing sales and contributing to relevant divisional meetings.

What you’ll bring:

Essential criteria:

1. Proven experience in a sales role or similar, with demonstrable experience managing customer relationships and accounts, ideally within a retail or customs publishing environment.
2. A track record of strong negotiation skills, which you’ll use to secure the best space for PRHC’s books at retail.
3. Genuine interest and passion for children’s books and sales; you will be an advocate for the children’s division.
4. The ability to persuade and communicate confidently. You’ll be working closely with a wide variety of stakeholders internally and externally, so this will drive success in this role.
5. A knack for numbers, data, and analytics will add rigor to your conversations. You will regularly share market data with our publishing teams, so analytical ability is important.
6. An eye for detail, with experience of working with a physical supply chain advantageous.
7. Strong organisation and time management skills, with the ability to work autonomously and use initiative.

Application instructions:

Please apply with your CV and cover letter outlining why you are the right candidate for the role by 11:59pm on Monday 5th May. Please ensure you include a cover letter, as it is a crucial part of our assessment process. The cover letter offers an opportunity to show how your experience and interests align with the role requirements. Typically, we expect the cover letter to be no more than one or two pages in length.

Salary:

£37,000 - £42,000 dependent on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits.

What you can expect from us:

Our people are the heart of our business, and we work hard to support a culture of responsibility and recognition.

Hybrid working:

While our offices across the UK are places to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, we recognise that flexibility around where you work is just as important. For this role we expect that you will work from our office in London two days per week.

About Penguin:

We’re the UK’s largest publisher; made up of some 2,000 people and publishing over 1,500 books each year. Our doors are open to all kinds of talent. In a constantly evolving industry, we work hard to stretch the definition of the word publisher. Here, you’ll work with a breadth of talent who all play their part to make each of our books a success. Together, we make books for everyone because a book can change anyone.

The recruitment process:

As a Disability Confident Committed organisation, we offer interviews to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role, and opt-in on their application form. The essential criteria for this role are listed as part of the ‘What you’ll bring’ section. There may be times when the volume of applications means we cannot take all eligible candidates to interview.

We encourage you to tell us about any reasonable adjustments you may need by emailing [e-mail]. Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable to for us to support your request.

Please note, we are not able to accept agency CVs for this role. Any CVs sent speculatively will not be eligible for a fee.

Company: Penguin Books Limited

Country: United Kingdom

State/Region: London

City: London

Postal Code: SW11 7BW

Job ID: 279410