Key accountabilities

• Increase casual and committed sales volume and value of the full company's product portfolio across a Convenience partner account portfolio currently:
  • Managed Groups: MMRG, M&S, One Stop, WH Smith High St and Travel & Coop
  • Franchise: One Stop & WH Smith (National) plus Regional Groups.
  • Symbol: Nisa, Spar, Costcutter, Londis, Budgens, Premier plus others as relevant
  • Bulk Operators: Gold Key, Dawsons, Willis, Palmers, Retail Spark plus the management of other end customers e.g. BA, Marriot, National Train Operators.
  • Develop channel strategies to deliver maximum value/ volume sales across the all company's products, working closely with partners to drive sales for both parties.
  • Undertake weekly progress checks of actuals against targets by product and ensure course-correction where appropriate.
  • Know up to date sales figures for every company's product sold via partners and continually strive to find new and innovative ways to increase this number.
  • Drive frequency of purchase in store through building of permanent and temporary points of interruption and develop and negotiate sales-driving planograms.
  • Use innovative digital acquisition techniques in store/ online to drive sales where appropriate and commercially viable.
  • Where appropriate target partners’ online presence to maximise News UK exposure and drive sales of the company's products.
  • Execute agreed marketing calendar priorities in store through category-leading initiatives which create step-changes in the visibility and impact of the company.
• Win the support and commitment of partners through trading agreements, incentives, or preferential terms if applicable and appropriate to give the company's brands an advantage in store versus competition.
  • Agree joint business plans and partner plans with each partner to deliver sales volume and value targets across the company’s entire product portfolio.
  • Work with the Integrated Sales Planning Manager to deliver insight on consumers and shoppers, and deliver compelling selling stories to excite and motivate partners behind the company's products.
  • Build strong relationships with appropriate partner contacts; collect BI on what their in store and online strategies are; and, use to understand the company’s product portfolio could deliver their objectives.
• Pro-actively develop a strong comparative knowledge of all sales channels and the company's products, their impact on the P&L, the company's sales strategies and competitor knowledge and use to explore alternative business models for activity and ably identify valuable sales opportunities.
• Develop business cases for all significant partner activity, taking input from Finance and the Head of Integrated Sales Planning where required, and take ownership of activity P&Ls.
• Utilise customer, shopper, media and industry insight to develop compelling sales propositions and customer journeys to drive sales, increase commitment and increase LTV of customers.
• Integrate consumer insight into multi-channel, multi-platform and multi-product plans and feed these into the 13 week and annual sales plans.
• Manage costs to budget
  • Plan, execute and measure investment to within agreed Budget guidelines and to ensure continuous improvement in ROI through tactical or strategic changes
• Deliver KPIs, performance vs benchmark and other indices as per set criteria on a monthly basis, providing quantitative and qualitative data. These include sales, investment and execution compliance.
• Liaise with and engage support of Commercial and Marketing colleagues to support delivery of Customer Plans and other company's promotional initiatives in store/ online.
• Encourage collaboration and gain the trust and support of others, actively engaging with people in other teams and departments to solicit their input and ensure their awareness of key projects/initiatives.
• Improve performance of function / department through the analysis of existing business processes, identifying innovative alternatives and recommendations for more effective or efficient ‘ways of working’ / product / service
• Drive the efficient delivery of organisational change projects in support of News UK’s strategic agenda within a culture of empowerment through personal leadership.
• Manage selected new route, format, regional development & bulk sales opportunities in conjunction with the Director of Retail Sales, ensuring a commercial focus and delivering an acceptable financial return.
• Build the capability and capacity of individuals (1 direct report) and team within the function / department through insight, constructive feedback and challenge to enable team effectiveness, ensure consistency with the company / Marketing values and behaviours, and to drive business performance.

Key skills

• Proven negotiation, influencing, selling and planning skills as required in managing national multi-site retailers
• Excellent organisational selling skills (facilitating a multiple contact plan with key partners)
• Demonstrable knowledge of channel(s) and partners within portfolio – strategy, store profiles, organisational structures which vary by customer type (from owned/managed to franchise and fascias)
• Deep understanding of shoppers, especially news shoppers within partners in own portfolio
• Proven understanding of tools and techniques used in integrated sales marketing communications and analysis programmes
• Thorough understanding of the company's Marketing and Sales strategy and how the Sales team can support this strategy.
• Thorough understanding of the newspaper supply chain, and the role of Wholesalers/DTR
• Proven experience of managing complex stakeholder environments and revenue models
• Expertise in performance monitoring / tracking and budget management
• Excellent verbal and written presentation skills
• Ambition to understand partners business better than they do themselves in order to be best placed to create and deliver sales initiatives
• Line management (1 direct report)

Key behaviours

• I’m passionate about our brands and driving sales, including understanding customer needs and motivations
• I can inspire my team and others to go the extra mile, show a can do attitude, always leading by example
• I can set out a vision for success in my channel to motivate both internal and external stakeholders
• I show drive to deliver outstanding execution in market
• I can coach others brilliantly in how to be a better salesperson
• I work as a team player both in Retail and across Sales & Marketing
• Use partner and consumers insight & knowledge as a basis for all of my decisions
• Creative & open-minded
• I build great working relationships both inside and outside the business, demonstrating political savvy
• I aim high and am results orientated
• I am fearless in delivering groundbreaking Marketing and Sales activity