Our Organisation

Learning is the most powerful force for change in the world. More than 20,000 Pearson employees deliver our products and services in nearly 200 countries, all working towards a common purpose – to help everyone achieve their potential through learning. We do that by providing high quality, digital content and learning experiences, as well as assessments and qualifications that help people build their skills and grow with the world around them. We are the world’s leading learning company.

At Pearson (FTSE 100) we believe in the power of difference; harnessing the unique skills, perspectives, and backgrounds of every employee helps us foster innovation and create the most effective solutions for learners around the world. That’s why we’re committed to ensuring that diversity and inclusion are embedded into everything we do. We foster a work environment that’s inclusive and diverse — and where our people can be themselves — so we can reflect the customers and learners we serve. You can learn more about our commitment to a diverse and inclusive culture here:

https://plc.pearson.com/careers/diversity-equity-inclusion/

We are delighted to be awarded Gold against the Investors in People standard in the UK; we are confirmed by Stonewall in the Top 100 Employers LGBTQ+ UK employers; we are a Disability Confident committed employer, and committed to the Race Charter; we were recognised in the Best Employers for Diversity 2019 awards; we were featured on The Forbes List of Best D&I Employers; we are a Working Mums Top Employer and Age Positive employer. Pearson is a truly global family, and listed on the London and New York Stock Exchanges. We are proud to offer an exceptional and supportive environment to develop your professional career!

Your Career Opportunity

• Head of Sales, Student Recruitment (Online Learning).

• Can be based in Central London or Harlow Essex office, flexible options for work from home days.

• Permanent & full-time working 37.5 hours per week.

• Reporting to Director of Commercial Operations, this role has 7 direct reports/total of 70 in team and growing rapidly.

• Excellent salary + OTE sales incentive bonus.

This is an outstanding opportunity to be part of an innovative online learning service that Pearson runs supporting students all over the world. Working in partnership with universities across the UK, France and India the division provides online learning services including marketing, student recruitment, course content development, training and ongoing student support and retention. The team are currently going through a period of unprecedented growth due to a surge in demand for online learning.

The purpose of the role is to take a large, high-performing sales team to the next level, exceeding ambitious enrolment targets month after month, year after year. This includes overseeing the direction of an international team of Recruitment Managers, Team Leaders, Enrolment Advisors and Admissions Officers plus an international team of Regional Development Managers (B2B sales) and a dedicated Training team.

Our Inside Sales Advisors provide world-class consultative sales to prospective online learners around the world, combining detailed programme information and competitive insight to support their prospects through programme evaluation, admissions and registration process. The successful candidate will lead on driving a high-performance culture and growth mindset through the team, taking salespeople to levels they didn’t think they could achieve via dedicated training and coaching. This role is part of the senior leadership team in POLS International providing strategic direction to the overall division as well as leadership for the Student Recruitment function.

Your Key Responsibilities

• To meet and exceed enrolment targets for each programme intake in the university partnerships portfolio.

• To take a high-performance sales team to the next level of what they can achieve, individually and collectively.

• To establish individual and team enrolment targets and track and forecast performance against these including the implementation of corrective or improved actions where appropriate.

• To review sales incentives plans for team regularly, to ensure compensation incentives are aligned to deliver appropriate sales results in each programme intake.

• To collaborate with the Vice President, Director of Commercial Operations and other departmental heads in the strategic development of the division.

• To collaborate with Marketing team to develop clear student acquisition strategy and a customer journey with omni-channel sales messaging and online engagement activities to cater for different products and customer decision-making process.

• To lead the roll out of recruitment services with new partners.

• To develop tools, processes and workflows to maximise efficiency and provide an excellent customer experience.

• To develop team structure, capacity, capabilities, monitoring and development routines to maximise efficiency.

• To work with the Market Research team and Heads of Partnership to identify, assess and approve new programmes.

• To work with the Operations and Business Systems team on the continuous development of all processes and tools, including SalesForce, Telephony, Live Chat & Automated Emailing systems.

• To develop strategies for the monitoring of activity levels, quality and quantity of consultation calls, contact plans, funnel progression and time management, CRM usage and achievement of enrolment targets.

Our Successful Candidate

We welcome applicants with extensive B2C sales/funnel management experience including inside/telephony and consultative sales. We are ideally looking for experience working within the higher education/learning or similar sector type, including B2C models (service or content-based offering) and/or with B2B sales targeting international employers. You’ll lead by example in everything you do, bring excellent communication skills and extensive experience in stakeholder management, internally and externally.

Key to success in this role is the ability to inspire a group of managers and sales advisors to challenge their preconceptions of what’s possible. You’ll demonstrate strong networking and influencing skills, externally and internally - including working effectively with colleagues in Pearson across different locations and within a matrix structure. We are looking for you to demonstrate the following:

• Proven track record in driving a team to deliver exceptional results Inside Sales.

• Strong analytical skills – ability to manipulate data and conduct analysis to provide meaningful, actionable insights.

• Inquisitive nature; pro-active approach to thinking through and solving problems.

• An inspirational leader with a positive and growth mindset.

• Naturally collaborative. Proven ability to influence and collaborate with other senior leaders to develop and deliver an acquisition strategy.

• Exceptional communication skills: the ability to convey information and ideas through a variety of media to individuals or groups in a manner that engages the audience and helps them understand and retain the message.

Your Benefits & Reward

We’ll expect a lot and we know you’ll do great work, so we give a lot back with some of the best benefits in the business! Along with learning, development and mentoring opportunities, our range of benefits can support the different needs of our diverse colleagues, and their families too. Joining our Pearson family can provide you with unlimited and truly global career progression options, and you can also look forward to exploring our impressive benefits, such as:

• Flexible options for work from home days.

• A starting holiday of 25 days plus UK public holidays, and you’ll earn 1 additional day’s holiday per year you work with us.

• Generous pension scheme where we match and double what you contribute.

• Maternity, paternity, and family care leave as well as flexible work policies.

• Shares and stock purchase options.

• Healthcare and dental plans, and an employee wellbeing assistance programme for you and your family to help balance work, family and personal life.

• Cycle to work program, gym membership concessions in selected office locations, along with retail and leisure discounts.

Our Recruitment Process

Please complete and submit your application before 21 October 2021 and ensure that you apply directly on our Pearson Careers website only. We are reviewing applications regularly and interviews are being scheduled now, therefore we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.

Transform your expertise to a new level - we have many interesting and dynamic projects to look forward to in 2022, therefore now is the ideal time to join our global Pearson family. Apply now for a highly rewarding and truly global career!