Key account manager

Closing date for applications: Monday 9th February 2026

Salary: £35,000 - £38,000

Location: London

Step into a pivotal sales role at one of the UK’s leading publishers, managing major retail accounts and helping bring children’s books to readers nationwide. A key member of the UK Sales team, the Key Account Manager will sell all Bloomsbury Consumer Children’s titles to a selection of UK Key Accounts, including Tesco, WHSTravel and TGJones, and will also work closely with the Special Sales and Adult Sales team to sell in the entire Bloomsbury list to a range of gift and wholesale accounts including Allsorted and Bookspeed. They will also work closely with the wider Special Sales and the Digital teams to drive and contribute to retail strategy designed to achieve growth for the Children’s lists. This role will report to the Head of Sales, Children’s, who reports to the Sales Director, Children’s, responsible for Special Sales.

What you'll be doing:

• Achieving and exceeding the annual Children’s Consumer sales budgets by managing profitable sales of titles into selected key accounts.
• Managing the trading relationships and sell-in cycles for a selection of key accounts.
• Presenting new frontlist and backlist range titles on a regular basis to these accounts, negotiate and deliver promotional and range deals to secure best possible promotional space and marketing activity for Bloomsbury titles.
• Liaising with the Publicity & Marketing team to ensure market‑leading execution of shared strategic title plans in order to hit ambitious targets and maximise sales from all M&P activity by keeping retailers informed.
• Providing general support to the senior Children’s Sales team as required, including market research, data analysis and researching acquisition figures.
• Liaising with Bloomsbury stock management teams and Hachette warehouse teams to ensure efficient processing of and timely delivery of customer orders.
• Analysing sales data/effectiveness of Sales & Marketing campaigns on ROI etc.
• Conducting annual strategic reviews of key accounts’ business with Bloomsbury and make recommendations to drive sales in all forward strategic customer plans.
• Participating in the publishing process – from the acquisition process to publication working closely with colleagues from the editorial, marketing and publicity departments across the Children’s Consumer Division.
• Presenting to the ASM team at Sales Briefings, the wider team at internal meetings and contribute to and produce weekly sales reports as required.
• Attending Marketing meetings, and present sales updates.
• Taking on ad hoc projects as shared across the team.
• Absence cover for colleagues as required e.g. holidays/flexible Fridays.
• General ad hoc support for wider UK Sales shared tasks.

Knowledge, skills and experience:

• Experience of UK Retail account management.
• Excellent communicator who is confident with dealing with people at all levels, particularly on the phone and over email/video.
• Strong presentation skills.
• Excellent attention to detail and focused on efficiency at all times.
• Excellent time-management, prioritisation and organisational skills, with a close eye for detail and keen awareness of deadlines.
• Ability to build effective relationships with key contacts as well as in‑house colleagues.
• Experience of multi‑tasking and prioritising a busy work‑load with competing demands on your time.
• Ability to adapt to changing daily tasks.
• Strong numerical skills, excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong IT skills, particularly Microsoft Excel, Powerpoint, Word and Teams.
• Proficient with systems such as Biblio, BI, Nielsen, Cognos and Genesis.

Additional information:

The role is full‑time and permanent. The role is based at our London office 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP on a hybrid‑working pattern of 2 days office based / 3 days home based (or fully office based if preferred). Allocated office days for this role are: Mondays and Tuesdays.

Please apply with a CV and covering letter addressed to Human Resources (Word or PDF format only) via the ‘APPLY NOW’ button detailing how you meet the requirements outlined above for this role by 23:59 on Monday 9th February 2026. For best results, please use a desktop to apply as some mobile browsers may not fully support the application portal. Bloomsbury reserve the right to close the role early if we exceed the required number of applications.

Bloomsbury Benefits:

• Hybrid working pattern of: 2 days office based / 3 days home based (or fully office based if preferred).
• 25 days holiday. 3.5 days Christmas company holiday.
• Two paid Personal Wellness Days.
• Flexible Fridays – take Friday afternoon off by working an additional 3 hours and 30 minutes earlier in the week.
• Work Anywhere Fortnight - For two weeks of any calendar year. The minimum period for Working Anywhere is one week, the maximum period is two weeks.
• Season Ticket Loan.
• Learning & Development - Free access to LinkedIn Learning, BookMachine Campus, InRehearsal & IPG Skills Hub.
• Share Save Scheme.
• AXA Healthcare Plan (Private Medical Insurance).
• Ride to Work Scheme.
• Peppy Health App.
• In‑house Doctor.
• Eye Care Voucher Scheme.
• EAP Advice and Counselling.

Company culture:

Employee Voice Meetings, Staff Networks (Bloom, Accessibility, Mental Health, Pride, and Parents, Guardians and Carers, Multi‑Faith) and Mental Health First Aiders trained across the UK offices, Publishing Events and access to free Publishing Resources. Bloomsbury is a place where anyone of any background, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender identity, age, ability, or socio‑economic status can thrive, feel comfortable, and be heard and accepted. We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community. We are willing to make any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, please flag to the recruitment team if required. Applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK. We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under‑represented in the creative industries. Please make sure that you state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access.