Publications Sales Manager

Publications Sales Manager

Who we are :

The American Physical Society is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance physics by fostering a vibrant, inclusive, and global community dedicated to science and society. APS represents more than 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and around the world.

Position Summary : The Publications Sales Manager (PSM) reports to the Global Sales Director (GSM) and holds primary responsibility for achieving revenue targets and customer satisfaction for institutional and consortia accounts globally, by managing a four-person team of Publications Account Executives (PAEs).

The role is focused on:

• Managing, tracking and reporting on renewals and new sales of journal subscriptions and related products and services, including the migration to Open Access and The Physics Archive.
• Providing data- and experience-driven guidance to the GSM and related departments to revise and update American Physical Society’s global Sales strategy.
• Efficient business practices through effective collaboration with APS colleagues across supporting departments as well as third-party agents and service vendors.
• Creating a nimble and supportive Sales culture of constant improvement in line with APS’ mission, vision and values.

The Global Sales team sits within the Publishing Department, and is responsible for achieving revenue targets, customer satisfaction, and other objectives through a number of activities, including: the sales and renewals of journal subscriptions and related products and bundles, to academic, government, and corporate institutions, globally; negotiation of consortium agreements and institutional open access agreements, including Read and Publish and other types of transformative arrangements; regular and accurate sales reporting and forecasting; developing relationships with and providing excellent service to existing and prospect customers, including librarians, consortium administrators, and procurement officers; sales operations, including the management and improvement of business processes, systems, and data; and managing relationships with sales agents, subscription agents, and other third-party vendors.

This position requires up to 30% business travel.

APS has a “remote first” concept that promotes equal treatment and equal access within the United States, independent of physical work location, with a majority of staff working primarily from remote work locations. APS values diversity and welcomes candidates from a variety of backgrounds. APS offers a dynamic work environment with an outstanding total compensation package, including salary, outstanding benefits, and excellent paid time off.

Responsibilities:

• Lead a team of four PAEs to manage a global list of accounts; maximize multisite and consortia renewals; develop existing accounts; prospect for new customer acquisitions and sales; and provide outstanding customer service and account support.
• Plan and build continued training and improvement exercises for their team with internal and external resources.
• Thoroughly understand relevant APS journals, products, services, and models, in order to effectively communicate compelling value propositions to customers; and motivate and train the PAEs to do the same.

Reporting and Forecasting:

• Deliver accurate and timely reports and forecasts to the GSD with occasional requests by Senior Leadership.

Sales Operations:

• Ensure that Salesforce and other business systems and data are accurately used by all members through all appropriate stages of the Sales cycle to support Sales Operations.

Continuous Improvement:

• Proactively contribute to the continuous improvement of business policies, processes, systems, and data; and motivate and train the PAEs to do the same.

Strategic Planning:

• Translate APS’ publications strategy into clear objectives and targets, and ensure effective plans are designed and executed towards fulfilling APS strategy and achieving organizational goals.
• Contribute to the development and evolution of APS publishing strategy, including by advising management on emerging trends and opportunities, as well as threats, risks, competing priorities, resourcing, and other concerns.

Collaboration and Outreach:

• Closely collaborate with Marketing on outreach activities designed to broaden awareness of our growing and expanding portfolio of products and services, and demonstrate their value to customers and the broader community.
• Support the creation of Open Access proposals and negotiations with your team.

Subject Matter Expertise:

• Contribute subject matter expertise and relevant skills and experience to plans and projects, as needed, towards the development of new business, products, services, and models.
• Demonstrate professional conduct, aligned with APS core values, to increase the visibility and strengthen the perception of the APS and Physical Review brands, both within the customer base and beyond, to the broader scientific and scholarly communications communities.

Education:

• Bachelor's degree preferred or ten years of equivalent work experience in licensing, sales, scholarly publications and products or customer new business acquisition service may be accepted.

Experience, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• A minimum of 10 years experience in institutional sales and licensing of scholarly publications and products, preferably in the physical sciences or other areas of STEM.
• Advanced experience with and knowledge of scholarly communication, academic library markets, trends in research communities, and the forces currently shaping the journals publishing industry with a deep appreciation for high-quality, society-owned journals and their value to the scholarly record and scientific enterprise.
• Proven leadership and people management experience.
• Self-motivated, with a strong drive for results.
• Ability to plan, manage and measure work.
• Ability to make timely and data-driven decisions.
• Salesforce experience.
• Demonstrated skills in relationship building, negotiations, and customer service.
• Business travel savvy and freedom to travel up to 30% of the time.
• Ability to work well both independently as well as collaboratively with interdepartmental teams and external colleagues.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, and ability to utilize digital technology to effectively collaborate with internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to adapt and remain flexible to changing priorities.

Travel: This position is remote-first, primarily working from home. The role requires up to 30% travel, including visits to APS offices in Long Island, NY; Washington, DC; and College Park, MD, as well as other off-site locations for client meetings, library and publishing events, sales meetings, training, and strategy sessions. Additional travel may be assigned by the supervisor as needed.

Salary:

The salary range for this position takes into account various factors influencing compensation decisions, such as skill sets, experience, training, and other business and organizational requirements. The salary listed within the specified ranges considers relevant experience. Our compensation philosophy at APS aims to maintain salaries at the midpoint of the market. As a result, we typically hire within the target starting range. Exceptional, rare cases may merit reviews above target starting range for specialized or niche skills aligned with strategic operational goals.

Hiring Range: $116,480/year - $158,704/year (USD)

Target Starting Range: $116,480/year - $129,584/year (USD)

Incentive Compensation:

Full-time employees in this position may earn incentives based on various factors. Incentives for hires in 2024 are prorated daily from the hire date. Incentive agreements are effective for 2024 and may be modified or revoked at any time by APS. Incentives and commissions will be determined according to the definitions provided in the offer and will be awarded by specified dates.