Head of sales, adult consumer fiction - UK sales

Closing date for applications: 22 August 2025

Salary: £50,000 to £58,000 depending on skills and experience

Location: The role is based at our London office 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP on a hybrid-working pattern of 2 days office based (or fully office based if preferred). Allocated office days for this role are: Monday and Tuesday.

Contract: The role is a full-time permanent position

Are you an experienced sales leader ready to step up? Join a high performing sales team and lead the growth of adult fiction titles at a major UK publisher.

Bloomsbury Publishing is looking for a head of sales, adult consumer fiction to join our UK sales team and lead the growth plans of our stellar line up of Bloomsbury adult consumer fiction authors including Isabel Allende, Susanna Clarke, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Khaled Hosseini, Celia Imrie, Patricia Lockwood, Sarah J. Maas, Madeline Miller, Ann Patchett and Samantha Shannon.

Further to an internal promotion, this vacancy offers an exciting opportunity for an experienced, enthusiastic and sales/profit hungry professional, with a real passion for launching and growing fiction titles from new and established authors, to join the fast-moving and high-performing sales team of a top 5 UK publisher at a senior sales level.

The head of sales role will report in to the UK sales director, adult consumer and head of Zeus and will lead the adult sales team’s growth strategy for all adult consumer fiction titles. Working closely alongside the head of sales, head of Zeus, the head of sales, non-fiction and the head of sales, cookery & lifestyle, the head of sales, adult consumer fiction will jointly lead our best in class broader adult sales team in delivering ambitious and sustainable sales, profit and market growth. The head of sales, adult consumer fiction will sell all Bloomsbury consumer fiction titles to one key high street account and, as a key member of the overall adult team, will also be a contributing voice in UK sales discussions for all adult title acquisitions as well as being the adult consumer fiction lead. The role will have direct reports tbc.

The successful candidate will have a deep knowledge of the UK fiction market, have a recent track record of sales growth in their retail accounts to date and people management experience. They will be a confident communicator keen to work collaboratively with internal and external contacts to further grow our sales and market share in line with Bloomsbury’s exciting overall future growth plans.


Responsibilities

• UK lead on the adult consumer fiction strategy and lead contributor to the budgeting/reforecasting process under the guidance of the UK sales director, adult consumer and head of Zeus
• Key voice in the Bloomsbury adult consumer fiction acquisitions process, providing market analysis and context to UK acquisition figures. Contributor to all adult team acquisition discussions
• Contribute to annual strategic reviews of key accounts’ business with Bloomsbury and make tailored recommendations to drive sales and inform strategic customer plans
• Support the UK sales director, adult consumer and HOZ in setting/monitoring sales targets at title and customer level
• Management of retail key account spend/overheads ensuring best Return on Investment whilst protecting profit margins
• Account management – KAM responsibilities for one key account tbc
• Direct reports tbc

Knowledge, skills and experience

• Strong negotiation and presentation skills
• Highly numerate and comfortable with forecasting, budgeting and data analysis
• Experienced in selling multi publishing formats to all channels including Trade, Non-Trade and Online
• The interpersonal skills necessary to develop and sustain effective relationships internally, and on behalf of the company with external bodies and with its suppliers
• Leads by example and possesses a high degree of integrity
• Possesses a high level of resilience and drive, able to be flexible and prioritise a busy work-load with competing demands on your time
• Excellent time-management and organisational skills, with a keen awareness of deadlines
• Strong IT skills, particularly Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Teams

Bloomsbury Benefits

As well as a fantastic opportunity to join a global award-winning organisation, Bloomsbury offers the following competitive benefits package:

• Hybrid working pattern of: 2 days office based / 3 days home based (or fully office based if preferred)
• 25 days holiday and 3.5 days Christmas company holiday
• Two paid personal wellness days
• Flexible Fridays – take Friday afternoon off by working an additional 3 hours and 30 minutes earlier in the week
• Work anywhere fortnight - For two weeks of any calendar year. The minimum period for working anywhere is one week, the maximum period is two weeks.
• Season ticket loan
• Share save scheme
• AXA Healthcare Plan (Private Medical Insurance)
• Peppy Health App
• In-house doctor
• Eye care voucher scheme

Company culture – Employee Voice Meetings, Staff Networks (Bloom, Accessibility, Mental Health, Pride, and Parents, Guardians and Carers, Multi-Faith) and Mental Health First Aiders trained across the UK offices, Publishing Events and access to free Publishing Resources.


Additional information

Please apply with a CV and covering letter addressed to Human Resources (Word or PDF format only) via the ‘APPLY’ button detailing how you meet the requirements outlined above for this role by Friday 22nd August 2025. For best results, please use a desktop to apply as some mobile browsers may not fully support the application portal.

Bloomsbury reserves the right to close the role early if we exceed the required number of applications. Applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK.

Bloomsbury is a place where anyone of any background, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender identity, age, ability, or socio-economic status can thrive, feel comfortable, and be heard and accepted. We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community.We are willing to make any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, please flag to the recruitment team if required

Please state in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.