Senior Officer, Bookstore Purchasing, AUC Press Sales and Bookstores

Reports to: Assistant Director, Sales and Bookstores

Purpose: This role is a senior creative and financial position within the AUC Press and Bookstores, who provide essential services to the AUC community and to a global network of customers. This position drives sales through creative buying (for EGP 4.5m from local suppliers and around $600,000 from international suppliers), keen financial planning and budgeting and the skilled management of promotion for books, gifts, stationery and other items across all AUC Bookstore outlets, museum stores and across Egypt. The promotion and selling of the AUC Press books is central to this role as AUC Bookstores are the universities most important customer worldwide. This senior position will be targeted through both sales and purchase focused annual budgets.

Principal Accountabilities:

• Oversee the whole offering of goods available through AUC Press outlets in Egypt and manage their presentation, pricing and purchasing, in cooperation with and under the supervision of the Assistant Director for Sales and Bookstores (ADSB). This includes AUC Press books, Gifts, imported English language books, books not in English, stationery and locally sourced branded goods and AUC goods
• Identifying AUC Press potential co-editions and presenting them to the publishing group
• Work with the General Bookstore Manager (GBM) to maximize sales by implementing the agreed monthly/annual budget for sales and make sure that the AUC Bookstores deliver the annual agreed marketing plans month by month
• Working with ADSB and GBM to find potential new outlets and to establish new opportunities outside the AUC premises, in order to enhance the AUC’s name and brand
• Create and manage model stock programs for all stores, in order to increase sales and reduce wastage
• Work closely with GBM to ensure store displays, sections, counter areas are correctly maintained to ensure maximum sales of relevant products
• Meet, negotiate and buy books and other goods for sale through all AUC Bookstore outlets from local and international suppliers, within agreed purchase budgets and against set sales budgets as set in coordination with the director and the sales and marketing director
• In consultation with GBM manage all stock control and work with store managers and supervisors on all aspects of presentation and stock reordering
• Monitor trends and report same to senior managers
• Oversee returns and removal of dead and damaged stock
• Manage the AUC Bookstores marketing specialist and work with the AUC Press marketing department to decide and deliver all aspects of the development of the AUC Bookstores brand and promotions. Build a sales and promotion program year on year
• Oversee the buying for book fairs and the Cairo International Book fair
• Be a key member of the AUC Press publishing committee by reporting on sales trends and bookstore needs from the future AUC Press publishing program
• Work with Bookstores on special sales, events and school and educational ranges
• Provide market predictions for AUC Press sales, contribute to pricing decisions of AUC Press within Egypt
• Widen the distribution of AUC Bookstores’ books across Egypt
• Develop wider AUC Press Bookstores distribution to other bookstore customers across the Egyptian market
• Perform any other related tasks as assigned by the direct manager

Requirements:

Minimum Education Requirement:

• Graduate with fluent English and Arabic
• Management diploma preferred in addition

Experience:

• Knowledge of international publishing and bookselling in English
• 6 years of supervisory and management experience
• Importation and sales to the Egyptian market over minimum 8 years preferred in a retail, multi-branch environment
• Certified experience of book and gift importation
• Detailed experience of all financial aspects of purchasing and sales

Skills:

• Wide interest in reading and culture
• Other languages
• Excellent computer knowledge
• Great communications and presentation skills
• Flexibility
• Analytical skills

This position is open until November 3, 2021

Placement is based on the candidate’s experience and skills. Only candidates who make it to the short list will be contacted.

“We thank all individuals who have expressed interest in working at The American University in Cairo.”