Publications Account Specialist Who we are:
The American Physical Society is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance physics by fostering a vibrant, inclusive, and global community dedicated to science and society. APS represents more than 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and around the world. Position Summary: The American Physical Society (APS) publishes the trusted, renowned, and growing Physical Review family of peer-reviewed journals, covering physics and physics-related research and including world-leading, premier titles such as Physical Review Letters, Reviews of Modern Physics, and Physical Review X, as well as the essential and trusted core Physical Review titles. The Publications Sales team sits within the Publishing Department, and is responsible for achieving revenue targets, customer satisfaction, and other objectives through a number of activities, including: -
Sales and renewals of journals subscriptions and related products and bundles, to academic, government, and corporate institutions, globally -
Negotiation of consortium agreements and institutional open access agreements, including Read and Publish and other types of transformative arrangement -
Regular and accurate sales reporting and forecasting -
Developing relationships with and providing excellent service to existing and prospect customers, including librarians, consortium administrators, and procurement officers -
Sales operations, including the management and improvement of business processes, systems, and data -
Managing relationships with sales agents, subscription agents, and other third-party vendors The Publications Account Specialist (PAS), reports to the Publications Sales Manager and is responsible for achieving revenue targets, customer satisfaction, and other objectives by managing institutional accounts within a defined list or territory, as well as handling a portfolio of products and services and supporting the defined base of customers across their region. The role is focused on: Locating growth opportunities for renewing and new subscribers, and new sales of related products and services including Open Access contracts and The Physics Archive with a focus on growth and at-risk accounts. This role develops strong relationships with customers, provides excellent customer service and ensures efficient business practices through effective collaboration with APS colleagues in Sales Operations, Finance, Information Systems, Communications, and other departments, as well as third-party agents and service vendors. We expect this role to assist by scheduling and managing periodic campaigns, such as the annual win-back effort, and sales trial follow up. This role will liaise with Marketing and assist with sales meetings plans and preparation.
The PAS will be remote-first, working primarily from home, and required to travel to client sites, library and publishing events, APS offices located in College Park MD and Washington DC, and other offsite locations for periodic sales meetings, training, and strategy sessions. This position requires up to 40% business travel. APS has a “remote first” concept that promotes equal treatment and equal access within the United States, independent of physical work location, with a majority of staff working primarily from remote work locations. APS values diversity and welcomes candidates from a variety of backgrounds. APS offers a dynamic work environment with an outstanding total compensation package, including salary, outstanding benefits, and excellent paid time off. Responsibilities: -
Proactively renew, win-back, and investigate Open Access migration discussions with existing and new accounts. -
Perform gap analyses with the support of a data analyst to target growth opportunities. Planning & Reporting -
Create and execute detailed plans to achieve revenue targets. -
Deliver accurate, timely reporting via Salesforce and other platforms. Customer Satisfaction -
Support and improve customer satisfaction through swift and accurate responses. -
Develop a meaningful understanding of APS products, business models, and customer needs. Negotiation & Improvement -
Negotiate favorable pricing and terms. -
Proactively contribute to the continuous improvement of business policies, processes, systems, and data. Strategy & Collaboration -
Contribute to the evolution of APS product strategy by advising line management on emerging trends, opportunities, threats, risks, competing priorities, and other concerns. -
Collaborate on projects that assist with daily sales activities and improve the APS publishing strategy on an ad hoc basis. -
Assist by scheduling and managing periodic campaigns, such as the annual win-back effort and sales trial follow-up. -
Liaise with Marketing and assist with sales meetings plans and preparation. -
Additional duties as assigned. Education: - Bachelor's degree preferred or three years of equivalent work experience in licensing, sales, scholarly publications and products or customer new business acquisition service may be accepted.
Experience, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: - A minimum of 3 years experience in institutional sales or licensing of scholarly publications and products or account management and new business acquisition experience.
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Proven track record within a structured sales environment -
Proficient knowledge of scholarly communication, academic library markets, trends in research communities in the journals publishing industry -
Excellent customer service & communication skills. -
Experience at a publishing firm or association is preferred. -
Proficient knowledge of Open Access knowledge & publishing trends. -
Self-motivated, with a strong drive for results -
Advanced data analysis & software proficiency (CRM, Salesforce, MS Office Suite, Google Suite). -
Strong ability to use data to drive decision-making, identify opportunities, and support customer needs -
Ability to plan, manage and measure your own work -
Ability to make timely, quality decisions -
Demonstrated skills in relationship building and customer service -
Business travel savvy and availability to travel up to 30-40% of the time -
Ideally located within the defined territory, for proximity to customers -
Ability to work well both independently as well as collaboratively with interdepartmental teams and external colleagues -
Ability to work effectively and efficiently from a remote location, or while traveling, with minimal day-to-day supervision -
Strong written and verbal communication skills -
Ability to adapt and remain flexible to changing priorities -
Attention to detail
Travel: This position requires up to 40% travel to attend events and meetings, including travel to APS offices in Long Island, NY; Washington DC; and College Park, MD, as well as other off-site locations for periodic meetings and training sessions. Additional travel may be required as assigned by the supervisor. Salary: The salary range for this position takes into account various factors influencing compensation decisions, such as skill sets, experience, training, and other business and organizational requirements. The salary listed within the specified ranges considers relevant experience. Our compensation philosophy at APS aims to maintain salaries at the midpoint of the market. As a result, we typically hire within the target starting range. Exceptional, rare cases may merit reviews above target starting range for specialized or niche skills aligned with strategic operational goals. Hiring Range: $82,640/year - $112,597/year (USD) Target Starting Range: $82,640/year - $91,937/year (USD) Incentive Compensation: Full-time employees in this position may earn incentives based on various factors. Incentives for hires in 2024 are prorated daily from the hire date. Incentive agreements are effective for 2024 and may be modified or revoked at any time by APS. Incentives and commissions will be determined according to the definitions provided in the offer and will be awarded by specified dates. |