UK Sales Director, HarperNonFiction and North

With a heritage stretching back nearly 200 years, HarperCollins is one of the world’s foremost English-language publishers, offering the best-quality content right across the spectrum, from enduring classics to cutting-edge contemporary fiction; from digital dictionaries to online curricula; and pretty much everything in between. HarperNonFiction is at the cutting-edge of commercial non-fiction, working with the biggest brand names and unearthing the hottest new talent. We lead the way in entertainment, sport, cookery, MBS and culture – including Peter Kay, Ben Lippet, Felicity Cloake, Bradley Wiggins, Marcus Wareing, Jay Shetty, Cathy Glass, and internationally bestselling authors Paulo Coelho and Rhonda Byrne. Our books aim to get people talking, inspire new thinking or capture a moment, and we work hard to share each author’s vision with the widest possible audience. HarperNorth, established in 2020, finds, nurtures and grows northern writing talent and brings the best voices to the widest national and international audiences, with authors such as Brian Groom, Sophie McCartney, Stuart Maconie and Sally Coulthard. At the vanguard of the movement to widen publishing’s regional diversity, HarperNorth offers a dedicated editorial, marketing and publicity function rooted in the north with an office in Manchester.

The successful candidate will be accountable and responsible for driving the divisional sales across the UK trade channel, reporting into the Sales Strategy Director to hit the sales and profit targets for each budget year. This role is responsible for the UK HarperNonFiction and HarperNorth trade sales team and works alongside the International Sales Director and Digital Sales team, ensuring sales strategies are closely aligned and co-ordinated in partnership with the marketing, PR, publishing, and other key divisional stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

• Work with the Sales Strategy Director, Group Sales Director and Commercial Director to set and deliver the short-term and long-term UK sales strategy for the divisions.
• Delivery of the UK divisional sales and profit targets.
• Maintaining excellent UK industry relationships and networks.
• Team management, development and leadership is key.
• Work closely with the digital team, as well as establish strong working relationships with the International, Irish and Sales Development teams.
• Work with the Retail Director around providing market intelligence to help the division make appropriate acquisition decisions.
• Provide the division with immediate market feedback to help them make the most of the titles in the market.
• Work closely with Marketing, Publicity, Editorial and other in-house departments.
• Attend internal meetings and chair meetings as required.
• Manage the stock and print program, work closely with the division attending jacket and scheduling meetings.
• Form a key part of the acquisitions process through unit forecasts and pricing recommendations.
• Manage the HarperNonFiction and HarperNorth key account team.
• Take responsibility for managing the retail spend budget for each year.

Key Skills and Experience:

• Strong understanding of the UK Adult market.
• First class communication skills – both verbal and written.
• Proactive and forward thinking – making the most of every situation and ability to implement change if required.
• Proven category management at a senior level.
• Track record of experience of working with multiple stakeholders, internally and externally.
• Established and advanced relationships at a senior level in retail.
• Solid experience of managing, motivating and directing others.
• Proven experience of developing business strategies and successful implementation.
• Excellent influencing skills along with the ability to build relationships, even in challenging situations.
• An individual with confidence in their own abilities, and who inspires trust and confidence in others.
• Genuinely enthusiastic about the list and able to generate enthusiasm in others.

Additional Information:

• Hybrid working model (3 days in the office).
• 28 days holiday plus bank holidays (option to buy and sell holiday days).
• Enhanced pay for maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave.
• Private healthcare cover and life assurance.
• Summer Hours.
• Free access to HeadSpace, employee assistance programme (24 hour helpline), mental health first aiders, and a wellbeing portal.
• Season ticket loans (from day 1 for entry level) and cycle to work scheme.
• Relocation Rent Support Loan.
• Employee networks: HC All In (open forum), Elevate (for ethnic minority colleagues), HarperParents, Menopause at Work, Pride at HC, Social Mobility Network and Neurodiversity at Work.
• Unlimited training on our Learning and Development portal, management courses (up to MA level) and mentoring programmes.
• Virtual GP and eyecare vouchers.
• Onsite physiotherapy (London only).
• Charitable donation matching and 2 volunteering days.
• Green Electric/Hybrid Car Benefit Scheme (salary sacrifice).
• With Trees for Life we plant a tree in the Highlands of Scotland for every permanent hire.
• Free e-books and audiobooks, digital newspaper subscriptions and discounts on books.
• Subsidised canteen and retail discounts.
• Onsite prayer room.

At HarperCollins, we value authenticity and integrity in our recruitment process. To ensure a fair and accurate evaluation of all applications, we ask that all responses to assessment questions reflect your own thoughts, experiences, and capabilities. This allows us to fairly assess your knowledge, skills, and experience to determine how they align with the role. We value diverse perspectives and genuine contributions, even if answers are not perfect.