At Hearst UK, there’s always more to the story. Join us as a Growth Manager to start the next chapter in your career. 

Country Living has championed small businesses for decades, through inspiring editorial content as well as the Country Living Shows, Christmas Fairs and most recently the introduction of the online Country Living Marketplace. Now, Country Living is introducing a membership programme to bring these small businesses together in one dedicated community, providing opportunities to sell their products, promote their business, learn new skills and establish connections.

 

ABOUT THE ROLE

As the Growth Manager, you will have direct line management of a Sales Executive and have two key responsibilities:

You will take responsibility for selling the B2B Memberships and Events to small businesses, growing the number of small businesses who engage with the Country Living brand and upselling new opportunities. Your role will involve identifying new businesses, building relationships, securing sales and limiting churn. You will be supported by a Sales Executive.

You will also take responsibility for ensuring these small businesses are represented across the Country Living brand touchpoints, including the online marketplace, marketing and editorial content wherever possible. You will ensure the Country Living Marketplace runs smoothly for sellers and customers on a day-to-day basis.

Key Responsibilities:

Pipeline: Carry out market and competitor research online and at live events to identify new small business sellers. Request and process applications from small businesses to join the memberships and events. Sales: Take the lead on selling and upselling membership plans and events space, building strong relationships with small businesses over time to drive long-term recurring revenues and upsell new opportunities where possible. Monitor and report on sales KPIs, keeping an accurate record of sales versus targets. Oversee the Sales Executive to process sales invoices and contracts. Retention: Monitor seller satisfaction through conversations, gathering feedback and making suggestions for improvements across the memberships programme, online marketplace and events. Work closely with the E-Commerce Executive and editorial and marketing teams to ensure small businesses are fairly represented across the Country Living brand touchpoints. Onboarding: Support small businesses to onboard onto the memberships programme, online marketplace and events, ensuring a good experience and customer satisfaction. Marketplace: Support the E-Commerce Executive to ensure a smooth onsite experience for customers and artisans, with support from external developers and e-commerce partners. Trade Marketing: Work with the Memberships Director to create a multi-channel B2B acquisition strategy to attract new sellers, e.g. via email and social media. Work with the editorial and marketing teams to include B2B marketing across Country Living channels where possible. Events: Attend each Country Living event for 1-2 days to meet the small businesses, build rapport and support their experience.  Be an ambassador of Hearst UK and its values.  You may be required to undertake such further duties as your skills, qualifications and experience allow and/or as may be assigned to you from time to time.

 

ABOUT YOU

Experience in B2B sales, with a track record of selling to small, independent retailers. Excellent interpersonal skills. This role is all about building relationships, so the right candidate will be a true people person who loves talking to small business owners and making sure they have a great experience with Country Living. Strong understanding of the Country Living brand and a good knowledge of the consumer goods space including homewares, gifts, fashion, pets, food and drink, with the ability to identify high-quality, on-brand small businesses. Excellent people management skills. Excellent analytical skills, with experience monitoring and reporting on sales KPIs. Ability to work at pace and adapt to changing priorities, and the desire to get involved in a wide range of business areas and functions. Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple responsibilities and meet deadlines.  IT proficiency with an excellent grasp of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. A good ability to analyse data in Microsoft Excel and create presentations in PowerPoint is critical.

 

WHAT WE OFFER

At Hearst UK, you can choose from a huge range of perks and benefits that can help you learn well, work well and live well including:

25 days’ holiday (with the option to buy up to 5 additional holiday days) - pro rated for part-time or fixed-term employees Hybrid working – Three days per week in the office Discounted gym membership Healthcare cash plan Spend a charity day with your favourite good cause Life assurance and pension scheme Regular socials and more!

There’s more to your story than you imagine. And the next chapter begins right here. 

Hearst UK is deeply committed to using our influential brands to reflect the world we want to live in – one that respects, protects, represents and uplifts the voices and opinions of all people. As a business, we recognise the significant benefits of creativity, collaboration and innovation that comes with diverse teams. Not only is diversifying the voices in our organization the right thing to do, but it also helps us to make powerful and exciting content that can be enjoyed by many more people. This is why we’re working to build a sense of true belonging within our business and foster a culture in which everyone feels heard.