Sales Assistant, UK Sales

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 and Special Interest titles. The role will include assisting on the day-to-day administration and operations of the team and our customers.

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

• Assist on retailer/customer account administration
• Fielding queries from current customers and processing orders through our distributor
• Work closely with the warehouse and Bloomsbury operations team to be sure of successful supply to all accounts
• Prepare customer presentations
• Prepare title slides for internal sales team briefing
• Prepare sales figures for the Sales team and senior sales colleagues on request
• Prepare title sales information when requested
• Provide support for regular and ad hoc business analysis including Annual Business Reviews
• Responding to requests for catalogues / book samples/AI sheets/ book jackets
• Helping other UK Sales colleagues with e.g. author signing sessions with Bloomsbury authors
• Absence cover for colleagues as required e.g. holidays/summer hours
• General ad hoc admin and wider UK Sales tasks

Knowledge, skills and experience 

• Excellent 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
• Excellent time-management, prioritisation and organisational skills, with a close eye for detail and keen awareness of deadlines
• 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, Nielsen, Cognos and Vista would be helpful
• Experience in publishing or book trade environment helpful

Additional information

The role is a full-time permanent position with a salary of £23,000

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:

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 Thursday 25th November.

Please note:  the 1st round interview will include a task, no preparation needed

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:

Season Ticket Loan

Share Save Scheme

Summer Hours – June to August

In-house Doctor

Eye Care Voucher Scheme

Company culture! – Employee Voice Meetings, Staff Networks (BAME, Disability, Mental Health, LGBTQ+ and Parents, Guardians and Carers), 15 Mental Health First Aiders trained across the UK offices, Publishing Events and access to free Publishing Resources

For additional benefits see below

Bloomsbury is 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.

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.