Job Description

The Company
Usborne is an independent, family business, creating books which spark curiosity in children of all ages. These range from books for babies such as the bestselling That's not my... series of touchy-feely books, to YA fiction from acclaimed authors such as Holly Bourne and Faridah Abike-Iyimide - with everything from Magic Painting to Politics for Beginners in between. You can see our books here at
Whilst the company is now a market-leader in children's publishing and one of the best-known brands in children's books, the company retains a friendly and family feel. If you want to work somewhere close-knit enough for people to know your name, which has a first-class reputation around the world, Usborne is the place for you.
The Role
Are you a proactive, commercially minded account manager who loves seeing brilliant children's books reach new audiences? We're looking for a Special Sales Account Manager to join our friendly UK Sales team.
In this exciting and varied role, you'll take ownership of a range of national and wholesale accounts. You'll have the opportunity to develop creative custom projects, from special editions to tailored book bundles working closely with our publishing, production, and design teams.
Key Requirements
Drive growth with existing business and accounts building strong, long-term relationships.
Proactively seek and create new business opportunities across non-traditional channels.
Negotiate and deliver profitable deals that align with company and personal targets and margins.
Develop and manage bespoke publishing projects from concept through to delivery, liaising across internal publishing, editorial, design, production, and inventory teams.
Develop and maintain effective communication internally with your colleagues and externally with your customers.
Analyse and report on sales data to inform strategy and identify further opportunities for growth.
About you
We're looking for someone with proven experience in account management, whether that's from a special sales role, key account management, or an aligned position within book retail. Whatever your route, you'll bring strong commercial acumen, the drive to achieve results, and genuine enthusiasm for growing the business.
Proven account management experience within publishing preferred, however experience in an aligned retail / publishing environment also considered.
Demonstrable negotiating and relationship development skills
Confident and collaborative communicator with excellent presentation skills.
Numerate and analytical, with strong Excel and MS Office skills
Ability to work with systems and databases in support of your accounts.
Highly organised and adaptable, able to manage multiple projects at once.
Comfortable owning and managing orders from conception to delivery.
A self-starter who can work autonomously with the support of the wider team.
A passion and understanding for the children's book market.
Location and Benefits
This role is based in our London, Farringdon office and we work a 35-hour working week, we operate a hybrid working model of 3 days in the office and 2 days working from home (outside of time spent visiting customers), which optimises our opportunities for collaboration and contact with our colleagues.
Please note: We cannot consider applications from staff who are unable to work from our London office as we have outlined.
In addition to our transparent salary grading structure, for this role we also offer a range of benefits including:
25 days paid holiday entitlement increasing with service to 30 days after 5 years.
Industry-leading Pension Scheme and Life Assurance.
Employee Assistance Programme and Mental Health First Aiders.
Healthcare Cashback scheme.
Virtual GP service.
Enhanced Family Friendly benefits.
Paid Volunteer Day.
Rewards and Discount services and shopping.
Cycle to Work Scheme.
75% discount on Usborne books.
Recruitment Process
We are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role and therefore applicants must have the right to permanently live and work in the UK at the point of application.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to first interviews to be held in person at our offices through December and early January. A final interview will take place with finalists shortly after that in late January .
Please let us know if you require reasonable adjustments at any point during the application and/or recruitment process.
Usborne is dedicated to building a diverse taskforce that reflects the wide range of communities that read our books globally. Decisions are made based on the individual's skills and experiences and we particularly encourage applications from underrepresented demographics in Publishing.
AI notice
The use of AI has become more prevalent in recruitment application answers and content and whilst AI is undoubtedly a useful tool, we'd like to hear your original voice in the answers, not work that has been generated by an AI tool.

Skills Required