Specialist Manager, HSS

At Macmillan Learning, we're committed to driving innovation that transforms education. We seek team members who thrive on pushing boundaries, envisioning future possibilities, and building solutions that make a lasting impact. Whether you're a Pioneer shaping bold new ideas, a Builder turning possibilities into reality, or a Stabilizer optimizing for success, you'll play a vital role in advancing our mission. If you're excited by the prospect of testing new technologies, implementing transformative strategies, and thriving in a fast-paced, innovative environment, we’d love to hear from you!    

The Specialist Manager leads a team of Sales Specialists responsible for driving growth across assigned disciplines, products, and higher education markets. This role focuses on developing a high-performing team that partners closely with sales representatives and regional leaders to identify opportunities, execute strategic sales initiatives, and win complex, high-value business. 

The Specialist Manager provides coaching, guidance, and field support throughout the sales process, including customer presentations, opportunity strategy, and closing plans. The role also serves as the primary liaison between the Sales Specialist team and Marketing and Editorial, ensuring market insights from the field inform product strategy while equipping specialists with the resources and messaging needed to achieve sales objectives and sales initiatives. 

Success in this role requires strong cross-functional collaboration, strategic planning, talent development, and sales forecasting. The Specialist Manager is expected to travel as needed to support customer meetings, coach and evaluate team members, and participate in regional and national conferences, sales meetings, training events, and other business activities, particularly during peak selling seasons. This role manages other employees.  

We know that talented candidates sometimes hesitate to apply when they don't meet every single qualification listed. We encourage you to apply if you're excited about this role and believe you can contribute meaningfully to our team, even if your background doesn't align perfectly with every requirement. We're looking for people who are passionate about our mission and can bring valuable perspectives to our work. Different experiences, skills, and approaches all have the potential to strengthen what we do. If this opportunity interests you, we'd love to hear how your unique background and abilities could contribute to our team's success. We're committed to building a workplace where everyone can do their best work and where diverse viewpoints are valued. We encourage all qualified candidates to apply - we're excited to learn about the different ways you might add value to our organization.     

Major responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Sales Management

• Hire, train and manage all direct reports.
• Assist management colleagues with training and recruitment, as needed
  Travel with and work effectively with each Sales Specialist to identify, develop, and close priority sales targets.
• Consistently communicate, coordinate, and collaborate with Sales Specialists, Marketing Managers, and Editors in relation to product strategies and sales targets.
• Identify priorities and execute plan to increase sales in assigned disciplines.
• Develop team culture and maintain individual and team morale.
• Work directly with the Directors of Sales and Specialist Teams to support sales strategy and continuously develop field sales reps.

Sales & Product Knowledge

• Serve as a resource for sales presentations.
• Collaborate with Sales Specialists, Sales Representatives, Sales Managers, Custom Specialists, Enterprise Solutions Specialists and Marketing/Editorial to develop and close key sales targets.
• Facilitate business plan development and execution.
• Work with sales teams to prioritize, consult and close top sales targets.
• Develop in-depth knowledge of competitors’ products.

Market Development, Planning and Growth

• Work with Publishers, Editors, Marketing Managers, and field sales groups to develop successful strategies designed to gain market share.
• Communicate and reinforce sales strategies with Sales Specialists, at regional and national meetings, and during work trips in the field with sales representatives.
• Provide ongoing research and feedback on products, trends, and other developments in the field to Executive Leadership, Sales Management, Marketing and Editorial via Trip Reports and consistent usage of the CRM.
• Assist with the planning and support of national, regional, and local meetings and impact events.
• Partner with Product to assist in development of new product.

Training and Development

• Facilitate ongoing customer training and support for key technology products post-adoption.
• Collaborate with support teams throughout the organization.
• Provide feedback to continuously improve training tools for internal and external customers.
• Provide leadership, training and support for field sales groups.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree.
• Minimum of 3 years of Sales Specialist/Sales Management experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of successful college sales experience.
• Ability to work well independently and collaboratively with field sales team and Marketing/Editorial.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to travel extensively and flexibly.

Preferred Qualifications:

•  Demonstrated success in covered disciplines preferred.
• Skilled at working/communicating cross-functionally to deliver results.
• Successful experiencing coaching sales reps and building relationships.
• Ability to develop and execute sales strategies that drive growth and achieve business objectives.
• Ability to develop accurate sales forecasts and manage pipeline performance to achieve business objectives.
• Ability to leverage AI tools and sales technologies to improve team productivity and sales effectiveness.

Salary Range: $100,000 - $110,000/ year.   

Exemption Status: Exempt      

Physical Requirements:        

Requires periods of close concentration; must be able to multi-task; must be able to travel 50%; work overtime - more than 40 hours a week, as needed. 

The position is eligible for remote employment, excluding the following locations: Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Mississippi, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming.        

Benefits    

Regular full-time and qualifying part-time employees and their dependents are eligible for Macmillan benefits, effective on the employee’s date of hire. Macmillan also offers health benefits coverage to qualifying same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners (may require additional documentation) of active employees.     

• Company Car Allowance
• Competitive pay and bonus plan
• Generous Health Benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision)
• Contributions to your 401k retirement account through Fidelity 
• Generous paid time off, sick time, floating holidays, and paid holidays (Spring Reset Day , Juneteenth, Indigenous People's Day, Election Day, and more!)
• Employee Assistance Program, Education Assistance Program
• 100% employer-paid life and AD&D insurance
• And much more!

Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or see us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or join our Macmillan Community.  Macmillan Learning is a division of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, a family-owned global media company headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.       

At Macmillan Learning, we believe diverse perspectives and backgrounds enrich our mission to improve lives through learning. We actively seek candidates who reflect a wide range of identities, experiences, and communities. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, disability status, physical ability, neurodiversity, genetic information, protected veteran status, family and economic status and background, geographical status and background, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. You can read more about our Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion initiatives here.  

The successful candidate for this position will be an employee of Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishing Group, LLC d/b/a Macmillan Learning. Bedford Freeman & Worth Publishing Group, LLC has developed an equal opportunity compliance program in compliance with the NY Department of Education’s guidance.  Portions of the equal opportunity compliance program are available for review by applicants and employees by contacting Human Resources at Macmillan Learning.