Sales assistant

Salary: £25,000 per annum

Location: Edinburgh office (with option for days from home)

Contract: Full‑time, open‑ended

Holiday: 40 days a year (including bank holidays)

Support sales activity for an academic publisher, creating sales materials, managing customer enquiries and helping connect books and journals with readers worldwide.

Edinburgh University Press produces over 330 new books and 60 new journals each year with an emphasis on the Humanities and Social Sciences. We are looking for a proactive Sales Assistant to join our dynamic sales team in Edinburgh.

Reporting to the Senior Key Account Manager – The Americas, the candidate will oversee customer services, create sales materials, and provide general administrative support to the sales team. They should be highly organised, work effectively under pressure, and prioritise daily tasks.

This role requires excellent communication skills, coordination with a remote manager and online collaboration with team members primarily located outside Edinburgh. The successful candidate will conduct online team meetings, represent the sales team professionally in the office, and maintain a supportive and professional demeanour at all times.

Key Accountabilities

• Administration, research and reporting
• Asset and catalogue creation
• Strong customer service and representative support
• Title management
• Support adoption activity
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Service excellence and continuous improvement

Person Specification

Knowledge and Skills – Essential

• Demonstrable administrative skills
• Clear, concise and articulate communication skills, both in person and online
• Close attention to detail
• Organised, flexible and digitally literate
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office and Excel
• Creative, solutions‑driven thinker

Desirable

• Familiarity with desktop publishing software (e.g. InDesign, Canva)

Experience – Essential

• Ability to work efficiently in a hybrid environment
• Proven ability to work well in a team
• Understanding of customer needs, problem‑solving and handling multiple enquiries
• Ability to build trusting relationships with internal and external stakeholders
• Proactive and self‑motivated
• Ability to juggle multiple commitments, work under pressure and meet tight deadlines