Senior Vice President Retail

Informa Plc; Abingdon; Hybrid; GBP 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading global publishing company is seeking a Senior Vice President of Retail to develop a comprehensive retail strategy that drives growth and optimizes customer engagement. This role focuses on strategic leadership, operational excellence, and building high-performing teams to enhance customer experience in the retail sector. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in retail strategy within the Academic Publishing industry and demonstrate effective leadership skills in driving innovation. The position also offers flexibility with a balanced working model.

Benefits

Flexible working

Work-life balance

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience in Academic Publishing or content business is advantageous.
• Proven track record in retail strategy and growth.
• Ability to drive operational excellence.

Responsibilities

• Develop retail strategy across multiple channels.
• Identify growth opportunities in retail markets.
• Build and lead high-performing retail teams.
• Oversee retail P&L responsibility.

Skills

Strategic view of consumers

Proven retail strategy development

E-commerce platform understanding

Excellent communication skills

Agile mentality

Innovative mindset

Business acumen

Leadership capability

Job description

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.

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.

Job Description

The Senior Vice President of Retail will be responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive direct‑to‑consumer retail strategy that delivers results across multiple product lines. This senior‑level role will drive a new focus for our consumer segment, optimising revenue and customer attraction in the retail space. They will focus on building strategic partnerships to position the organisation as a market leader in the consumer sector.

This executive position represents a cornerstone role in driving the organisation's retail strategy forward, ensuring sustainable growth and market leadership through innovative approaches, operational excellence, and superior customer experience.

The Academic Publishing industry and T&F are on an exciting growth agenda; from a portfolio of separate products to an integrated platform with a focus on leveraging emerging technologies to ensure advanced, substantiated knowledge is accessible and can have a real‑world impact. This role is pivotal in placing our content directly in the hands of consumers on an individual basis, ensuring quality content can have real impact by reaching as vast an audience as possible. The role provides T&F with a competitive advantage in a dynamic business environment and ensures our long‑term success.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Act as the architect and implementer of a comprehensive retail strategy, spanning multiple channels, including sophisticated digital platforms, institutional sales networks, and direct‑to‑consumer pathways.
• Identify and capitalize on new growth opportunities in retail markets
• Drive regional retail expansion initiatives based on market analysis, working collaboratively with internal stakeholders in regions to target sectors and geographies to maximise returns.
• Position the organization as a leader in retail innovation and customer experience
• Enhance stakeholder relationships with retail suppliers and distributors, including Amazon, ensuring T&F has more beneficial terms of engagement. Where required, lead high‑level negotiations with major retail accounts, ensuring mutual value creation. Working to provide stability and strategic advantage from the relationships on beneficial terms.

Operational Excellence

• Optimise the retail end‑to‑end customer journey – devising and implementing go‑to‑market readiness in a largely untapped space for T&F.
• Implement standardised processes to ensure consistent customer experience, including category management and keyword allocation – driving the discoverability of content for the consumer.
• Develop and monitor key performance indicators for retail

Team Leadership

• Build, develop, and lead high‑performing retail operations teams
• Establish clear performance expectations and accountability measures
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and customer‑centricity
• Provide mentorship and professional development opportunities for team members

Financial Management

• Oversee retail P&L responsibility including revenue growth, cost management, and profitability
• Work closely with our Pricing Director to ensure pricing levels for the consumer channel maintain strong revenue and margin.
• Analyse promotional discount effect and make cases for where and when, globally this can be an advantageous tool.
• Develop annual budgets and long‑term financial forecasts for retail
• Identify opportunities for cost optimisation without compromising customer experience
• Ensure capital investments in retail deliver expected returns

Customer Experience

• Design and implement customer experience strategies that drive loyalty and repeat business
• Utilise customer feedback and market research to continuously improve retail offerings
• Ensure seamless integration between physical and digital retail experiences
• Develop innovative approaches to enhance customer engagement and satisfaction

Qualifications

• A strategic view of consumers in the value chain of content, experience‑based in an Academic Publishing or content business would be an advantage.
• Proven track record in developing successful retail strategies and driving growth
• Comprehensive understanding of e‑commerce platforms and digital technologies
• Demonstrable strategic long‑term planning, able to execute results from a standing start.
• Excellent communication skills – communicating clearly and with authenticity at all levels.
• A flexible and agile mentality able to quickly adapt and respond to changing work pressures and prioritise.
• Highly effective influencing skills, able to drive meaningful change.
• Innovative mindset and creativity, to problem solve effectively.
• Strong business acumen and commercial understanding; an analytical thinker with ability to work with wide range of internal and external financial data.
• Decisive and able to work at pace.
• Demonstrated ability to drive operational excellence and financial performance
• Proven leadership and mentorship capability, experience running high performing global teams. Fostering a culture of confidence and trust across department

Additional Information

Location – The successful candidate will be able to utiliseour balanced working model. There is an expectation for a minimum of 3 days per week of in‑person time.

Closing date: 10th January 2026

Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa Business

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: http://www.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/careers

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.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/taylor-&-francis-group/life/79e0c27c-afdf-4bbb-84e6-5f8ed5e10bb8/