Sales Assistant, UK Children's Education

The Vacancy

UK Children’s Education Sales Assistant, UK Consumer Sales

The opportunity

We are looking for an enthusiastic, well-organised and confident communicator with excellent time-management skills and attention to detail to work within our fast-moving UK Sales department.

Sales Assistants perform a key support role within the wider UK Sales team working across all Bloomsbury Consumer, Head of Zeus and Special Interest titles. The role will include assisting on the day-to-day administration and operations of the team and our customers. This particular appointment will support one specific area of publishing in the main i.e. the Children’s and Children’s Education team and will report in to the Head of Sales.

This is a superb opportunity to join a high performing UK Sales team of a top 5 UK publisher and to work in a vibrant and successful publishing sales environment.  Based in our Bedford Square office this will be a hybrid-working position.

The role

• General support for the Children’s, Children’s Education and Special Sales teams across all imprints
• Administration support for a range of individual UK retailer accounts
• Fielding queries and processing orders
• Prepare presentations for retailers and internal briefings 
• Prepare sales figures for the Sales team and senior sales colleagues on request
• Provide sales analysis for a range of needs, including Annual Business Reviews and internal trackers
• Responding to ad hoc requests for book samples/Advance Information (AI) sheets/book jackets
• Assisting at events and signings across the Sales department
• Absence cover for colleagues as required e.g. holidays/flexi Fridays
• General ad hoc admin and UK Sales tasks for whole team

Knowledge, skills and experience 

• Good communicator who is confident with dealing with people at all levels, particularly on the phone and over email/video
• Excellent attention to detail and focused on efficiency at all times
• Strong time-management, prioritisation and organisational skills with keen awareness of deadlines
• Ability to adapt to changing daily tasks
• Strong numerical and written skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Teams, and beneficial to have knowledge of internal systems such as Biblio, Nielsen, Cognos and Vista
• Experience in publishing or book trade environment helpful

Additional information

The role is a full-time, permanent position

Salary Pay Point: £27,000

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: Monday and Tuesday.

As an Assistant role, this position is eligible for Bloomsbury’s Rental Deposit Loan Scheme. To assist candidates who want to start and to establish a career in publishing, Bloomsbury offers an interest-free rental deposit to support securing somewhere to live. The rental deposit loan can be up to £3,000 and will be paid back over 2 years.

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 5th August 2024.

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

As well as a fantastic opportunity to join a global award-winning organisation, Bloomsbury offers the following competitive benefits package:

Working Pattern

• hybrid working pattern of: 2 days office based / 3 days home based (or fully office based if preferred)

Holidays

• 25 days holiday
• 3.5 days Christmas company holiday

Other Benefits

• 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
• Share Save Scheme
• AXA Healthcare Plan (Private Medical Insurance)
• In-house Doctor
• Eye Care Voucher Scheme

Company culture – Employee Voice Meetings, Staff Networks (Bloom (BAME), Accessibility, Mental Health, Pride, and Parents, Guardians and Carers, Multi-Faith) and 21 Mental Health First Aiders trained across the UK offices, Publishing Events and access to free Publishing Resources

For additional benefits see below

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 – Bloomsbury Publishing do not sponsor visa applications

The Book Trade Charity provide financial assistance for people looking to get into the publishing industry; you can find more information and talk directly here: http://booktradeentrysupport.org 

The Company

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Bloomsbury Publishing is a leading independent publishing house, established in 1986, with authors who have won the Nobel, Pulitzer and Booker Prizes, and is the originating publisher and custodian of the Harry Potter series. Bloomsbury has offices in London, New York, New Delhi, Oxford and Sydney. Within Bloomsbury’s Academic division, it publishes under Bloomsbury, as well as under a number of prestigious and historic imprint names. Read Our Story for how it all began. 

 Bloomsbury is committed to creating a working environment that stimulates creativity and collaboration, is respectful of difference, is inclusive and ethical in its practice, and promotes well-being. We are determined to nurture and develop our employees to reach their highest potential, and we know that our success is down to the passion, commitment and hard work of our talented people. We recognise the urgent need to attract and support applicants from all backgrounds and identities to become part of the global publishing industry, allowing diverse voices to reflect and shape our culture and society.

Please read more on our Missions and Values here.

Please read our environmental policy here.