Senior Vice President Retail

Taylor & Francis Group; Abingdon; Hybrid; GBP 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading academic publishing firm is looking for a Senior Vice President of Retail to develop and implement a comprehensive retail strategy. The ideal candidate will drive growth across multiple channels, enhance partnerships, and oversee financial management including revenue growth and cost optimization. This role requires a strategic mindset, proven retail experience, and excellent leadership skills. The company promotes a balanced working model, expecting a minimum of 3 days per week in person. Closing date for applications is 10th January 2026.

Benefits

Flexible working

Career development opportunities

Qualifications

• A strategic view of consumers in the Academic Publishing or content industry.
• Proven track record in developing successful retail strategies and driving growth.
• Comprehensive understanding of e-commerce platforms and digital technologies.
• Excellent communication skills for all levels.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a comprehensive retail strategy.
• Identify and capitalize on new retail growth opportunities.
• Enhance stakeholder relationships with retail suppliers.
• Oversee retail P&L responsibility.

Skills

Strategic view of consumers

Retail strategy development

E-commerce understanding

Excellent communication skills

Agile mentality

Influencing skills

Business acumen

Analytical thinking

Leadership capability

Job description

Informa is a leading academic publishing, business intelligence, knowledge, and events business, creating unique content and connectivity for customers all over the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.

Taylor & Francis is one of the world’s largest publishers of high‑quality, peer reviewed scholarly journals, books, e‑books and reference works. We empower learners, thinkers and doers with trusted knowledge that advances research and enriches lives.

Our purpose is to foster human progress through knowledge. We strongly believe that this requires us to encourage and examine different ideas and voices, so that any work that meets our exacting levels of quality deserves to be included in our publications.

What we offer in return

At Taylor & Francis we care about our colleagues, promoting work‑life balance, wellbeing and flexible working. You will be joining a thriving business, working alongside an exceptional group of people. We believe that the skills and experience you bring to Taylor & Francis are invaluable. We want you to have the opportunity to develop your abilities and innovate in areas which you are passionate about.

Job Description

The Senior Vice President of Retail will be responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive direct‑to‑consumer retail strategy that delivers results across multiple product lines. This senior‑level role will drive a new focus for our consumer segment, optimising revenue and customer attraction in the retail space. They will focus on building strategic partnerships to position the organisation as a market leader in the consumer sector.

The executive position represents a cornerstone role in driving the organisation’s retail strategy forward, ensuring sustainable growth and market leadership through innovative approaches, operational excellence and superior customer experience.

The Academic Publishing industry and T&F are on an exciting growth agenda; from a portfolio of separate products to an integrated platform with a focus on leveraging emerging technologies to ensure advanced, substantiated knowledge is accessible and can have a real‑world impact.

Key responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Act as the architect and implementer of a comprehensive retail strategy, spanning multiple channels, including sophisticated digital platforms, institutional sales networks and direct‑to‑consumer pathways.
• Identify and capitalise on new growth opportunities in retail markets.
• Drive regional retail expansion initiatives based on market analysis, working collaboratively with internal stakeholders in regions to target sectors and geographies to maximise returns.
• Position the organisation as a leader in retail innovation and customer experience.
• Enhance stakeholder relationships with retail suppliers and distributors, including Amazon, ensuring T&F has more beneficial terms of engagement. Where required, lead high‑level negotiations with major retail accounts, ensuring mutual value creation.

Operational Excellence

• Optimise the retail end‑to‑end customer journey – devising and implementing go‑to‑market readiness in a largely untapped space for T&F.
• Implement standardised processes to ensure consistent customer experience, including category management and keyword allocation – driving the discoverability of content for the consumer.
• Develop and monitor key performance indicators for retail.

Team Leadership

• Build, develop and lead high‑performing retail operations teams.
• Establish clear performance expectations and accountability measures.
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration and customer‑centricity.
• Provide mentorship and professional development opportunities for team members.

Financial Management

• Oversee retail P&L responsibility including revenue growth, cost management and profitability.
• Work closely with our Pricing Director to ensure pricing levels for the consumer channel maintain strong revenue and margin.
• Analyse promotional discount effects and make cases for where and when, globally, it can be an advantageous tool.
• Develop annual budgets and long‑term financial forecasts for retail.
• Identify opportunities for cost optimisation without compromising customer experience.
• Ensure capital investments in retail deliver expected returns.

Customer Experience

• Design and implement customer experience strategies that drive loyalty and repeat business.
• Utilise customer feedback and market research to continuously improve retail offerings.
• Ensure seamless integration between physical and digital retail experiences.
• Develop innovative approaches to enhance customer engagement and satisfaction.

Qualifications

• A strategic view of consumers in the value chain of content, experience‑based in an Academic Publishing or content business would be an advantage.
• Proven track record in developing successful retail strategies and driving growth.
• Comprehensive understanding of e‑commerce platforms and digital technologies.
• Demonstrable strategic long‑term planning, able to execute results from a standing start.
• Excellent communication skills – communicating clearly and with authenticity at all levels.
• A flexible and agile mentality capable of quickly adapting and responding to changing work pressures and priorities.
• Highly effective influencing skills, able to drive meaningful change.
• Innovative mindset and creativity, to problem‑solve effectively.
• Strong business acumen and commercial understanding; an analytical thinker with ability to work with a wide range of internal and external financial data.
• Decisive and able to work at pace.
• Demonstrated ability to drive operational excellence and financial performance.
• Proven leadership and mentorship capability, experience running high‑performing global teams. Fostering a culture of confidence and trust across departments.

Additional Information

Location: The successful candidate will be able to utilise our balanced working model. There is an expectation for a minimum of 3 days per week of in‑person time.

Closing date: 10th January 2026

Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa Business

Equal Opportunity Employer

Taylor & Francis is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe in and value diversity of people and thought, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where all colleagues can learn and succeed as their true selves. Taylor & Francis recruits, develops and retains colleagues without regard to any protected personal characteristics or other non‑merit‑based factor.

Contact & Application Support

We want all our candidates to shine in our recruitment process. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to ensure you can show us your best self – this could include having the application form in a different format or providing more time for questions. Contact [e-mail]

To find out more about our business and the great career opportunities please go to our Careers Site: http://www.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/careers