Group Commercial Manager, Sport & Outdoor

Role Purpose

The Group Commercial Manager works across Bauer’s Specialist markets, with responsibility for the delivery and growth of commercial revenue streams across the Key Accounts team and customer base, with a particular focus on Golf and Outdoor , including Country Walking, LFTO and Birdwatching.

Alongside personally managing some of the most important customers and highest-value accounts across these markets, the Group Commercial Manager will lead and develop a multi-platform Key Accounts team, creating a high-performing, commercially focused sales culture.

The role works closely with Editorial, Publishing, Telesales, Production, Digital and other support functions to maximise revenue across the relevant brand segments, while ensuring the smooth weekly and monthly running of products, campaigns and commercial schedules.

While continuing to maximise returns from print, the Group Commercial Manager will play a key role in accelerating the transition towards digital and integrated commercial solutions. Working closely with the Group Commercial Director, Digital Commercial Director and Publishers, they will help develop new products, propositions and revenue opportunities that respond to changing customer and market demand.

Ultimately, the role will be a driving force behind the commercial performance of Bauer’s Specialist markets – shaping and developing the Key Accounts function into a market-leading, cross-media sales team that delivers sustainable year-on-year revenue growth and outperforms competitors.

Primary Responsibilities

The Group Commercial Manager will take a holistic view of commercial performance, focusing on the opportunities and challenges that make the greatest difference to the bottom line. They will manage the transition towards digital commercial solutions while continuing to maximise print revenues, creating an increasingly integrated, cross-media and solutions-led commercial offering.

They will bring pace, focus and decisive action to the sales operation, instilling clear accountability and ownership across the Key Accounts team. This includes ensuring robust commercial plans are in place to maximise opportunities, that priorities remain focused on the areas capable of generating the strongest returns, and that plans are regularly reviewed and kept on course.

A key part of the role will be creating a strong sales ethos and winning mentality across the team. The Group Commercial Manager will lead from the front, creating the positivity, belief and commercial discipline required for every member of the team to strive for market-leading results.

Key Knowledge, Skills and Capabilities

The successful candidate will demonstrate strong capability across:

- Influencing and selling – operating as a brilliant, consultative, multi-platform salesperson capable of managing and influencing the most important accounts and highest spenders within the market.

- Leadership and people development – supporting, motivating and developing high-quality Key Account salespeople, ensuring the right skills and people are positioned in the right roles.

- Commercial planning – developing strong commercial plans, propositions and integrated creative pitches, with clear timelines, ownership and measurable outcomes.

- Commercial focus – maintaining a relentless focus on activity that generates the greatest return for the business and identifying opportunities to grow revenues across print, digital and cross-media solutions.

- Analysis and problem solving – using insight, market knowledge and commercial data to identify opportunities, address challenges and provide effective solutions.

- Supporting change – accelerating the commercialisation of the digital business and helping teams and stakeholders successfully navigate the transition towards a more integrated commercial model.

The role will maintain a particular focus on Bauer’s most strategically important Key Accounts, recognising their disproportionate impact on overall commercial performance. The Group Commercial Manager will enhance the use of integrated and creative pitches to maximise revenues while ensuring Bauer continues to produce market-leading plans and propositions for customers.

They will also ensure the commercial operation has a strong support network across research, administration and trade support, while effectively managing non-revenue metrics including flat plans, credit provision and bad debt.

The Group Commercial Manager will help evolve pricing models to strengthen Bauer’s integrated commercial offering and ensure the business is positioned to capitalise on new and emerging digital revenue opportunities.

Core Competencies

The successful candidate will be an accomplished sales professional who can lead by example – someone the wider team respects, believes in and wants to follow.

They will bring a proven track record of successfully working within and across media sales teams , combined with strong knowledge of digital media commercialisation and the ability to demonstrate strategic thinking within the consumer media landscape.

The role requires someone highly skilled at managing through influence . With a broad range of stakeholders across Bauer, the ability to build relationships, gain buy-in and effect change without always having a direct mandate will be essential.

They will have a strong understanding of the commercial dynamics shaping key UK specialist markets, particularly Golf, Rambling, Mountaineering, Trail Running, Birdwatching and Travel , and be able to translate this knowledge into meaningful commercial opportunities.

Above all, they will bring a hands-on leadership style – comfortable setting the strategy while also rolling up their sleeves and demonstrating its practical application. They will be able to prioritise effectively, maintain focus in themselves and others, and bring together a varied sales operation around clear commercial objectives.

The successful candidate will combine commercial instinct, strategic thinking, digital understanding and strong people leadership , creating an empowered, ambitious and sales-focused culture capable of delivering sustained growth across Bauer’s Specialist markets.

About Bauer Media Group

We are a media business focused on creating content that matters to millions of people across Europe. Our offering extends from print and online publishing to audio broadcasting and entertainment, alongside investments in other media related sectors. With more than 500 million copies sold each year, we are one of Europe’s largest Publishers. From women’s and celebrities’ magazines to TV listings to food and special interest, we own some of the most popular publishing brands in Germany, UK, Poland and France – both digital and print. But not only that. Reaching over 61 million listeners weekly, we operate over 150 radio and podcast brands in nine countries, spanning the UK, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Portugal. Family-owned in the 5th generation, Bauer Media focuses on the long-term, with a consumer-first mindset that guides us across our diverse portfolio. Our workforce of 12,000 shares a common purpose: to deliver content and services that enrich people‘s everyday lives.

What’s in it for you

- You’ll have 28 days holiday, bank holidays & 2 volunteer days to use.

- Your development matters, so access to our internal training provider – Bauer Academy, is a huge win.

- We have enhanced Maternity/Adoption, Paternity and Shared Parental Leave Pay.

- You’ll have the opportunity for flexible working.

- And much more! Find the full details of our benefits here (https://www.bauermedia.co.uk/join/careers/)

We are an international employer and equal opportunities are important to us. That's why we welcome everyone in their uniqueness, regardless of e.g. religion, gender, skin color, disability in our house.

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. If you have a disability or a long term health condition, and need us to make any reasonable adjustments or do anything differently during any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know by emailing [email protected]

We are actively recruiting for this position, however, the job advert may close earlier than expected.

If you have any feedback regarding our UK recruitment process, please email [email protected] we would love to hear from you.