Director of Commercial

Company: Royal Statistical Society
Salary: Up to £65k (dependent on experience), plus generous pension scheme, flexible working culture
Location: RSS office (Central London)

Term: Permanent
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Line management responsibilities: Head of Partnerships, Head of conference and events, Training and commercial manager
 
Background
Our vision is a world where data is at the heart of understanding and decision-making
Founded in 1834, the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is one of the world’s leading organisations advocating for the importance of statistics and data. We’re a professional body for all statisticians and data scientists – wherever they may live.

We have more than 12,000 individual members in the UK and across the world. As a charity, we advocate for the key role of statistics and data in society, and work to ensure that policy formulation and decision making are informed by evidence for the public good.

The membership of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) constitutes a preeminent source of statistical expertise. Members work with RSS staff to support areas such as policy development, education, training, statistical communication, and statistical literacy.

Some of our activities are revenue-generating, including our training programme, conference and events, jobs board and advertising, and venue hire. We also attract sponsorship for some of our high profile activities. The Director of Commercial has responsibilities for setting the strategic direction of our commercial activities, developing new products and services to enable growth, and ensuring that our plans and activities are aligned with our charitable purpose and strategic objectives. They work across the society to ensure that opportunities are effectively marketed and support colleagues to generate the budgeted revenue.
 
Job purpose
To lead the RSS’s commercial activities and develop new products and services that meet the needs of our growing membership and wider community.
 
Key responsibilities
Understanding needs and the changing external environment

• Develop understanding of the preferences and needs of statisticians and data professionals, and others interested in data and statistics, at an individual and organisational level, to evolve our products and services and align our commercial activities to those preferences and needs
• Undertake research to identify new target markets for commercial products and services
• Undertake research to understand competitors and benchmark RSS products and services
• Monitor and respond to developments and emerging trends in charities, membership organisations and other learned societies, and in statistics/data science/AI to ensure that our commercial offerings remain timely and relevant
• Provide robust analysis of client behaviours and feedback to inform future planning

 
Development of strategies and plans

• Drawing input from across the organisation, develop strategies for sales and marketing across commercial products and services that support the organisation’s objectives, including training and conferences and events
• Oversee staff responsible for business development to capitalise on opportunities
• Lead the creation and delivery of fully-costed and resourced business plans for commercial products and services that align with key strategic goals
• Devise partnership models for different sectors
• Support development of wider strategies and plans across the organisation

 
Programme management and delivery

• Deliver programmes of commercial products and services which meet the needs of target markets including training, advertising, sponsorship and venue hire
• Monitor and report on progress and performance against targets and plans
• Manage projects, including establishment of new products and services, ensuring that work is delivered to time and quality
• Work with colleagues to identify and develop sponsorship opportunities, and support colleagues in sales meetings with potential sponsors
• Continually assess and improve processes and oversee the development and maintenance of standard operating procedures
• Deliver the revenue budgets for advertising and venue hire and ensure their effective promotion

 
Regulatory and compliance

• Act as a Director of RSS (Services) Limited overseeing its governance and ensuring compliance with relevant rules and legislation

 
Training

• Develop the portfolio of training courses, creating and launching new courses in response to user needs
• Expand the training programme by targeting both statisticians and data professionals and non-professionals and widening our geographic reach
• Establish and manage effective systems and processes to develop and deliver all training products, including identifying new training topics and trainers (with input from our statistical membership community)
• Ensure high standards of quality and customer service by evaluating feedback and managing the quality assurance process
• Ensure the effective promotion and marketing of training courses

 
Conferences and events

• Oversee the development and operation of the RSS conferences and events programme
• Lead the conference and events team in the delivery of RSS conferences and events

 
Interfaces with other teams and groups

• Convene and lead cross-RSS groups to develop, share and review plans and activities and identify opportunities for synergy and collaboration
• Work with heads-of and other teams across the organisation to support related objectives
• Ensure effective working relationships are maintained and contractual requirements are met with our trainers, partners, assessors etc. including developing and agreeing terms & conditions (including intellectual property agreements and contracts) with clients
• Identify relevant experts within the RSS membership and engage them in programmes, formalising a network of volunteers and providing support and advice
• Collaborate with RSS volunteers, staff and external providers to ensure the delivery of projects and outputs to agreed deadlines
• Select, lead and manage contractors and third party organisations to support programme deliverables

 
Leadership and management

• Lead the Society’s training, business development and events functions, creating high-performing, motivated teams
• Bring relevant staff together within small teams working across the organization on defined goals that support our objectives
• Play an active role in the RSS Senior Management Team, providing leadership, and strategic insight for the organisational as a whole, and work together effectively in setting and achieving the Society’s goals
• Operate as a Director of RSS Services Limited
• Contribute to decision making regarding the strategic direction and financial management of the Society
• Oversee budgets and meet income targets for individual programmes
• Negotiate with suppliers to deliver value for money
• Line manage staff

 
Other

• Represent and promote the Society to relevant external bodies and groups
• Other project work or tasks as reasonably required by the Chief Executive or Executive Committee

 
Person specification
Essential

• Educated to degree level or equivalent
• Senior leadership experience
• Experience leading a commercial function and achieving results, preferably within a professional body
• Significant experience developing strategies and plans, preferably within a membership organisation
• Experience using data and evidence to develop value propositions and align services with needs
• Ability to make sound commercial decisions and identify commercially viable / profitable projects
• Strong market awareness, able to monitor training trends and develop them into opportunities
• Experience of building, developing and maintaining relationships and networks and generating sponsorship
• Significant experience of programme and project management and operational delivery
• Excellent organisational skills and an ability to identify and respond to changing priorities
• Ability to accurately assesses project needs or problems, make sound decisions and develop effective solutions
• Ability to plan, organise, prioritise and delegate work to ensure completion to time and budget
• Experience of negotiation and influencing
• Ability to communicate with a wide range of people and structure information and present ideas and concepts clearly and concisely, particularly in written form
• Strong interpersonal skills; ability to persuade, inspire, influence, achieve results through others
• Strong numeracy skills, and the ability to produce, monitor and assess estimates/costs and work within budget
• Experience leading and managing staff in a small team and employing flexibility and imagination to achieve short-term and long-term business objectives
• Experiencing of tendering for work and managing external contractors
• Collaborative team worker – works with colleagues to achieve strategic and operational objectives
• Ability to work on own initiative within RSS guidelines/directives
• Demonstrable commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion

 
Desirable

• Track record of devising and delivering (or managing the development and delivery of) training and educational products including content-based, face to face and online
• Interest in or experience of statistics, research, or other aspects of the Society’s work
• Experience in education development and innovation
• Familiarity with developments within data science, statistics, machine learning, AI and related subject areas
• Understanding of professional membership organisations and learned societies, and their role in the current climate
• Experience of the not-for-profit sector and working with volunteers

 
Working for the RSS
Pension and benefits
Our defined contribution pension scheme can be joined after three months in post. Your contributions of up to 8% of salary will be double matched by the Society (making a maximum contribution by the Society of 16%). A training budget, season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and employee assistance programme are also available.

Location
The RSS office is in central London. We offer flexible working arrangements, and this is a hybrid role with on average two days a week working in the office. In person attendance for certain meetings is required (including all staff/team meetings and governance/committee meetings that take place in person). Limited travel within the UK and internationally may be required.

Working hours
35 per week full-time. Applications for job shares, part-time and flexible working will also be considered.

Holidays
25 days per annum, plus bank holidays and an additional shut down between Christmas and New Year.

Probation
This post is subject to a six-month probation period.
 
How to apply: 
Please submit your CV to h.obrien@rss.org.uk with a supporting statement/letter telling us: 

• Why you should be considered for the role and how it fits with your career plan
• How your skills and experience align with the responsibilities and person specification

 
The deadline for applications is the 27th of February. We may arrange interviews before the deadline has passed. Any questions about the role should also be directed to Holly at the above email. If you are interested in applying but cannot do so until nearer the deadline, please email Holly to register your interest.