Sales Director: Southern Africa - Goodwood at Oxford University Press Southern Africa

Oxford University Press is recruiting for a dynamic and results-orientated Sales Director to lead our sales teams in OUP Southern Africa.

• The role provides strategic and tactical leadership to the sales team with the aim of setting and meeting strategic objectives, exceeding financial targets, ensuring maximum customer retention, drive revenue growth through new business opportunities.
• The successful candidate will be required to build rapport with partners, Ministries, and other business stakeholders, while embodying the organisation’s values and ethical principles.
• The Sales Director will report to the Managing Director, Africa.

This post is based in Goodwood, Cape Town.

Principal Accountabilities:

• Sales Strategy & Planning:Contribute to overall business strategy and ensure that southern Africa sales strategies and plans are aligned with market trends, business objectives, long-term revenue growth and market share targets. Provide leadership and strategic direction to all sales teams. Oversee the design and implementation of innovative sales strategies for all our products and services, including actively driving sales growth and customer retention for our digital platforms and products.
• Sales Plans: Identify, evaluate and prioritise opportunities in key market segments to formulate sales plans, set key performance indicators and monitor progress. Proactively manage priorities, budgets, forecasts, and timelines in conjunction with the Sales Managers.
• Market Trends and Education Policy Changes: Keep up to date with market trends, education policy changes, and plans made by Ministries of Education at National and Provincial Level in all the markets we operate in. Identify threats and/or opportunities and suggest appropriate strategic responses.
• Sales and Market Data: Analyse market data to identify market trends and opportunities, to benchmark market share and sales in each market segment and to drive sales strategy. Lead on the use of our Salesforce CRM system and broader data collection tools to drive data-driven decisions across the business, inform sales activity and adjust sales tactics to maximise results. 
• Customer focus: Assist the Sales Managers to build and update comprehensive customer profiles and personas and ensure that these are central to the overall business strategy. Synthesize and share customer feedback in the business and suggest appropriate responses. Be the voice of the customer in the business and advocate for products that solve customer pain points and for improved customer experience. Respond to customer complaints and suggestions appropriately and professionally.
• Competitor Landscape: Monitor the changing competitor landscape and analyse competitor sales and product strategies. Share these analyses and insights with the business and take learnings into account to design and refine sales and strategies and tactics.
• Business Development:Develop a strategy for proactive business development, taking market trends and opportunities into account. Seek and develop relationships with new partners, identify alternative channels, and/or donor funding opportunities. 
• Stakeholder and Relationship Management: Represent the Press at the highest levels and establish ethical working relationships with all key stakeholders and partners. Build a strong network of senior people and influencers in the education ecosystem across southern Africa and regularly share market intelligence gained. Proactively participate in lobbying relating to procurement systems, curriculum cycles, industry policies and legislation. Ensure that the sales team regularly interacts with all relevant stakeholders and officials.
• People: Create and develop a world-class, resilient, and future-focused sales team that can adapt and respond to dynamic market conditions and is driven by a culture of high performance. Plan, deploy and mobilise sales resources to achieve revenue targets in-year and over the 5-year planning cycle. Develop the team to successfully promote and sell education solutions, services, and digital products.
• Operational effectiveness and change management:Manage and monitor sales operational effectiveness to drive efficiencies and customer satisfaction. Review sales workflows, systems and processes and ensure that feedback leads to continuous improvement. Implement new processes, workflows, and systems in line with OUP change management methodologies. 
• Collaborate with Product and Marketing: Understand the needs of customers and provide data-led insights to the organisation to inform sales, marketing and product opportunities and strategies in existing and adjacent markets. Collaborate with and support the Product and Marketing teams to ensure a cohesive business strategy and implementation plan.
• Finance and Resources: Create and monitor the sales team budget, including the budget for staff resourcing to deliver the Press’ targets and maximize its profitability and reach.
• Wider Press: Participate in global and divisional initiatives and take lead on initiatives and process implementation in Africa.

Requirements

Qualifications and Experience

• Relevant qualification and at least 5 years’ experience of leading a high-performing, energetic sales team in a senior management role within a professionally managed organisation
• Proven track-record of setting and leading sales strategy, managing budgets, achieving sales growth and exceeding sales targets
• Strong analytical skills and experience of Salesforce implementation and data-led sales strategies and planning
• Proven track record of networking, relationship management and developing positive ethical working relationships with stakeholders
• Proven track-record of business development, including designing and implementing innovative business models and partnerships
• Successful track-record of selling digital products and solutions
• Ability to multi-task and handle a fast-paced work environment
• Strong business acumen along with knowledge of financial, commercial, and business processes
• Strong interpersonal skills, ability to communicate and manage well at all levels of the organisation and with staff in remote locations
• Strong problem-solving and creative skills and the ability to exercise sound judgment and make decisions based on accurate and timely analyses
• High level of integrity and dependability with a strong sense of urgency and results-orientation
• Knowledge of the education sector in southern Africa is desirable

Attributes:

• Strong action and results-driven leader
• Shows resilience and commitment
• Problem solver
• Strategic thinker
• Comfortable with ambiguity and resilient
• Ability to develop and build strong teams
• Highly organised multi-tasker
• Innovative and creative thinker
• Effective communicator with high emotional intelligence
• Excellent negotiator and networker
• Demonstrates a passion for education
• Curiosity about the role of new technologies in supporting learning