Sales Director

Description:

You’ll lead a dedicated and high performing team of 12 sales professionals, split across two verticals: textbooks and Learning Resources. This includes faculty-facing consultants and library-facing sales managers, each dedicated to delivering Sage’s innovative product suite including Sage Catalyst and Sage Explorer, to academic institutions across the UK and selected EMEA territories. The team thrives on collaboration, insight-sharing, and a shared commitment to excellence, supported by Sage’s ACCE sales values: Analytical, Connected, Commercial, and Entrepreneurial. Together, you’ll drive adoption, build lasting partnerships, and shape the future of learning.

Could you be our new Sales Director, UK? Are you?
 

• An experienced sales manager with a successful history leading top sales teams in academic publishing. Familiar with UK & EMEA higher education markets and various educational products.
• Someone who thrives on growth, with a history of delivering consistent, high-value revenue success and navigating sophisticated sales cycles with confidence and clarity?
• Enthusiastic about individuals, showcasing outstanding leadership and mentoring abilities to develop talent, guide through transitions, and empowers their people to excel?
• A strategic problem solver who can seamlessly balance big-picture vision with hands-on execution, driving impactful strategies from concept to delivery?
• A skilled communicator who builds trust with ease, communicates with warmth and clarity, and leads with emotional intelligence and thoughtful influence.
• Commercially savvy, with sharp analytical thinking, negotiation skills and adept at finding opportunities that drive business success.
   

Your New Role

This new position is central to Sage’s ambitious growth strategy in which you'll shape commercial strategy for textbooks and digital learning resources across sectors, translating goals into sales strategies. Your leadership will influence market share, revenue growth, and long-term institutional relationships, while advising product positioning and go-to-market strategies. As a key voice in the business, you’ll collaborate across departments and represent Sage externally ensuring the company remains a trusted, forward-thinking partner in an evolving educational landscape.
 

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing Sales team, encouraging a culture of inclusion, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Develop, implement and drive the sales strategy across Books and Learning Resources, translating strategic goals into actionable plans.
• Drive adoption and new business revenue growth across key UK institutions, overseeing pipeline management, territory planning, and sales forecasting.
• Stay ahead of the curve in the Higher Education market, using deep data insights to drive smarter performance
• Partner with Editorial, Marketing, Product, Engagement, and Customer Success teams to achieve harmonised execution of campaigns and launches.
• Build and develop new and existing relationships acting as an ambassador and representing Sage in industry fora.
• Champion the use of CRM and sales enablement tools to drive data-informed decision-making.