Cambridge University Press

Job Title: Head - University and Skills

Department / Business Unit: English

Location: Delhi or other metros

Reports to (job title): Regional Director - English

JOB PURPOSE:

- As a national sales head, individual will lead sales function and ensure capability building across levels for the vertical in South Asia.

- Develop and groom the sales team into a high-performance unit and promote cross-selling culture across team.

- Effectively manage the overall sales objectives, goals, and revenue of the vertical.

- Accountability of overall top-line, bottom-line, revenue generation and cost of sales for the University and Skills - English vertical in South Asia.

- Lead the growth of the combined Learning and Assessment solutions for the Higher Education Segment of the market for South Asia and build growth plans for all the products and solutions.

- To establish a strong presence in University and affiliated colleges, Autonomous Institutions as well as Skill Development Missions with special emphasis on increasing engagement and build a sustainable funnel and account management practices.

- Plan and put in action steps to meet and exceed budgets

- Play active role in new product introductions, product rationalizations and pricing review

- Review with sales team and distributors monthly sales (vs.

yearly target, by product)

- On the job training and coaching of the sales team and ensure up to date knowledge levels on our own products as well as competitive information

- Forecast planning.

- Creation and tracking of sales and collections: budget & achievement (variance if any to be tracked with valid reasons/justifications)

- Creation and execution of Sales Plan and strategy (Including promotions and reach agenda) in alignment with CUPA India

- Lead by example and champion diversity / organization values in everyday actions and decisions.

- Encourage colleagues / team to take on stretched challenges and new responsibilities.

- Leading sales function effectively and ensuring sales capability building for the vertical.

- Hiring high performing individuals in the sales team.

- Coaching and motivating team members to ensure delivery and growth.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES

- Develop and execute a commercial growth strategy for online learning product / solution in India market and increase market share in competitive landscape.

- Build relationships with HVOs and expand rapidly the large accounts for combined learning and assessment adoptions.

- Develop and grow the Partnership programmes and build a model for sustainable growth

- Drive customer engagement using digital sales and marketing channels.

- Prepare the annual sales budget category wise for Print, Digital, Learning and Assessment solutions and special projects etc.

and achieve those targets with the team.

- Sales top line, bottom line and collection for Higher Education and Adult - English vertical in South Asia.

- Monitor and control travel, marketing, and frees (free sample) expenses

- Create and design sales strategy to achieve the desired numbers and organisations vision.

- Track and analyse current and past sales trends to analyse the sales numbers and cost of sales to ensure achievement.

- Competition benchmarking and agile mapping to market to enable execution of organisations plan through innovation and innovative sales tactics.

- Understand market dynamics, competitive positioning and how our value proposition serves customers and stakeholders.

- Monitor the market and share the intelligence with senior management to adjust the strategy and tactics in response.

- Proactively understand customers' need and deliver solutions keeping the customer first approach.

- Operational strategy formulation and communication design for alignment of the sales team of the vertical.

- Regular flow of information within sales team to keep them abreast of the current policies and procedures to be followed and adhered to in sync with the organization's management.

- Supporting the sales team to identify and explore new opportunities and help in closure.

- Develop/Retain and increase the current set of existing business and expand reach in specific regions in alignment with organisation strategy.

- Ensure that the sales team designs and devises effective sales plans for upcoming sales season and help them execute those efficiently for maximum traction.

- Support to sales team in efficient planning through optimal inventory levels for timely order fulfilment by working closely with operations and customer service teams

- Monitor performance indicators, highlight trends and analyse causes of unexpected variance.

- Coach sales teams to design and deliver sales plans and to develop professional skills.

- Ensure Training & Development for the sales team in coordination with HR to improve productivity, lower attrition and for retention of key members.

- Work with Finance & operations for execution of orders and ensuring collections.

- Working closely with Finance and credit management to ensure the required authentic data of the customer base and the team understanding the importance of implementation of finance policies and Master's degree in sales / business management or related field is preferred.

- 12 - 15 years of experience with sound knowledge of Higher education / online learning market.

- Should have sales management experience in higher education business / online learning at a senior level with any Ed-tech organization

- Experience in managing annual sales budgets and collections of 75 crores or more will be an added advantage.

- Proven track record of fuelling business growth.

- Experience of working in a matrix organization will be an advantage.

- Demonstrate leadership skills to motivate teams to achieve goals and sales

- Influencing and negotiation skills

- Aptitude to communicate and deliver on multiple projects simultaneously, strong prioritization and organization skills

- Planning, strategic initiatives and strong execution skills.

- Creative initiatives & multitasking capabilities in overseeing multiple threads of success, will be a key success factor.

SKILLS

- Team / Stakeholder management & interpersonal skills to lead, to inspire collaboration and to empower the team.

- Ability to influence stakeholders across the end-to-end value chain.

- Strategic thinker who can envisage new solutions, address work challenges and resolve conflicts.

- Sound Business Acumen and problem-solving abilities.

- Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) to convey strategy, knowledge and requirements.

- Positive Thinker, Organised and able to work to timelines and roadmaps