Job Description

We're looking for an enthusiastic and relationship-driven Waterstones Key Account Executive to join our Sales team and help bring Penguin Random House books to life in one of our most important retail partnerships. Working closely with the Waterstones Head of Sales and Bookseller Engagement Manager, you'll play a key role in driving sales across all Penguin Random House publishing divisions, building strong relationships with booksellers, and championing our titles both in stores and across digital communities. 

Role Summary 

As Waterstones Key Account Executive, you'll support the delivery of our sales strategy by working collaboratively with Waterstones to maximise opportunities and strengthen grassroots bookseller engagement. Alongside managing key relationships, you'll create engaging social media content for our growing online bookseller communities, helping to increase audience reach, foster engagement, and celebrate our books and authors. This is an exciting opportunity for someone with a passion for books, strong commercial awareness, and excellent communication skills who enjoys building relationships, thinking creatively, and making a real impact across both physical and digital channels. 

Key responsibilities: 

Social Media 

• Work across all eight publishing divisions to create a strategic plan for bookseller engagement balancing all priorities and needs across the different publishing houses alongside the BEM. 

• Interact directly with booksellers on Instagram and Twitter in an engaging, personal manner 

• Help create social media assets for the Penguin Huddle 

• Regularly offer prizes and exclusive gifts to booksellers 

• Liaise with the publishing divisions to organise cover and title reveals  

Bookseller outreach 

• Develop direct relationships with Waterstones booksellers both online and offline to optimise bookseller grass roots support in stores 

• Respond directly to booksellers via email and other social media platforms and collate daily bookseller requests  

• Manage weekly Publisher News submissions across the group (adding multi formats such as Netgalley and audio books as an alternative to physical proofs) 

• Effectively communicate marketing and publicity campaigns to Waterstones stakeholders in a weekly newsletter 

• Help organise sales support materials such as POS for creating and delivering visibility in stores, liaising with our divisional Marketing departments 

• Help organise proof mailouts and ad hoc reading copies mail outs for all publishing divisions 

Internal 

• Build up excellent relationships with all 8 divisional teams, understanding their USP in the market place and how best to capitalise on this (set up buddy- scheme with divisional Marketing) 

• Read widely and develop a deep understanding of our publishing across PRH 

• Regularly share ‘on the ground’ feedback to sales team and to the wider company  

• Attend and contribute to internal meetings as required 

• Create a list of ‘Bookseller Champions’ for different areas of the market and share intel with divisions 

• Continually review backlist opportunities as well as frontlist 

• Develop deep understanding of the overall book industry and TCM market 

What you’ll bring 

Essential criteria: 

• Bookselling experience and a genuine passion for books and reading.  

• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.  

• Strong organisational skills and the ability to juggle multiple priorities.  

• Confidence using social media to build communities and create engaging content. 

Preferred criteria: 

• Experience planning promotional campaigns. 

• A creative approach to engaging audiences, both in person and online. 

• A collaborative, proactive approach and the ability to work with a wide range of colleagues. 

Disability Confident 

As a Disability Confident Committed organisation, we offer interviews to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role, and opt-in on their application form. The essential criteria for this role are listed as part of the ‘What you’ll bring’ section. There may be times when the volume of applications means we cannot take all eligible candidates to interview. We encourage you to tell us about any reasonable adjustments you may need by emailing PRHCareersUK@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk. Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable with, for us to support your request. 

Application instructions 

Please apply with your CV and cover letter outlining why you are the right candidate for the role by 11:59pm on Sunday 26th July. 

Please ensure you include a cover letter, as it is a crucial part of our assessment process. The cover letter offers an opportunity to show how your experience and interests align with the role requirements. Typically, we expect the cover letter to be no more than one or two pages in length.  

Use of AI tools 

Here at Penguin, we believe in the power of authenticity and human creativity. When you apply for a position, we want to encourage you to showcase your unique voice. Throughout our recruitment process, please share your own thoughts, experiences, and skills. This helps us get a true sense of who you are and what you might bring to our team. 
 
We celebrate creativity and diverse perspectives, so please be yourself! While we recognise AI tools can be helpful, we recommend using them thoughtfully to ensure your responses reflect you. 

Salary 

Circa £30,000 dependent on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits.  

Hybrid working 

While our offices across the UK are places to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, we recognise that flexibility around where you work is just as important. Our Waterstones Sales team work flexibly and so hybrid working arrangements will be discussed further at the interview stage. 

Additional Information

Disclosure requirements pertaining to the collection of your personal data:

Responsible for processing the information provided in your application is the company specified in the job advertisement, with its registered office as indicated. The company processes your data for the purpose of establishing an employment relationship on the basis of Art. 6 (1) b GDPR / Section 26 (1) sentence 1 BDSG.

The retention period for your data is determined by the statutory time limits applicable in the respective country, beginning upon completion of the recruitment process. You can find these here.

You can contact the company’s Data Protection Officer at the above-mentioned postal address. 

Further information on data protection and your rights can be found here.
 

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