Opportunity Snapshot

Our international sales program is growing so quickly that we are adding a dedicated Sales Manager to ensure we pursue all the opportunities out there. You will be able to make an impact -- and start ramping up your very competitive incentive plan -- in short order, leveraging existing contacts and leads, and there is significant untapped potential for the long term as well. It would be great if you already have international sales experience but, if not, you'll acquire it here, traveling and learning about diverse cultures in the process. While Teacher Created Materials (TCM) has a global reach (we currently do business in 92 countries), we remain a highly entrepreneurial and agile company. As a family owned company, we enjoy seeing opportunities and seizing them quickly without delay.  

Your mission will be to drive international sales through prospecting new customers, building new strategic partnerships and relationships across multiple channels, and strengthening existing relationships with current partners. To be a good fit for this opportunity you will have at least five years of proven success in sales and working with high level decision makers (B2B sales experience preferable). We're looking for a highly organized, driven and flexible professional with a "citizen of the world" spirit and the sophistication and sensitivity to navigate the nuances of many, many cultures.

Today a leading global publisher of educational materials, TCM was founded in 1977 by two classroom teachers looking to share their ideas and enthusiasm with their colleagues. We continue to outclass the competition in many parts of the world, publishing quality-research based educational books and materials in all curricular areas for teachers and students at all grade and skill levels. Privately and family owned since its conception, TCM is still run by teachers for teachers, and that will never change.

What Else You'll Bring to the Table

In addition to the qualifications detailed above, you'll need:

• A bachelor's degree or a significant and relevant combination of education and experience.
• The ability to uncover new opportunities via company leads and country research, and a willingness to uncover new, untapped markets.
• A demonstrated ability to dive into projects and find ways to get things done.
• Solid emotional intelligence, such as flexibility, the ability to see strengths in other cultures, and a willingness to try multiple paths to communicate effectively across cultural gaps.
• Research skills (including, but not limited to, the Internet): the ability to find, decipher, and build a database from Ministry of Education, International Schools, Publishing Partners and their websites throughout the world.
• Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint; Access is a plus).
• Familiarity with sales/contact management applications such as Salesforce.com.
• Excellent communication skills, including writing and proofreading.
• Solid interpersonal skills and a positive go-getter personality.
• A robust sense of accountability, responsibility and ownership.
• Strong multi-tasking and problem solving skills.
• Bi-lingual abilities would be a plus, but are not required.
• Team Player: Thrive under the individual success, as well as the overall success of the department and company.

You also will need to be willing and able to travel internationally about twice a quarter, for one to two weeks per trip.

What's in It for You

High impact -- we've been international for some 18 years, but in the past few years this area of the business has grown incredibly fast, and there is much more potential out there. We believe that we have $100,000 accounts that, with just a little more care and attention, can become million dollar customers.

Strong industry reputation -- Teacher Created Materials is a highly recognized and respected name in the industry. We have strong leads for you based on our extensive network, and you'll call on many contacts who are already familiar with our products.

Career development -- while we have several executives who contribute to international sales efforts, and a robust network of independent sales reps, you will be our first professional focusing solely on the global arena. As this area continues to grow, so may your responsibilities.

Great work environment -- you'll join a creative and growing company that takes a positive, upbeat, team-oriented approach. Our President is committed to doing the right thing for our customers and we foster a non-political, casual environment that is extremely responsive to the changing needs of teachers and students.

Excellent compensation -- we offer a competitive base salary, with incentive-based performance compensation, and a comprehensive benefits package.

More About Your Role

You will report to the Executive Vice President of Sales, and once you are up to speed on our products and business model, you will divide your time among three key areas: assuming ownership of a solid portfolio of existing accounts, probing to determine how we can expand these accounts, and prospecting new business. In the process you will partner with the independent sales reps as well as TCM senior executives, often joining them on sales calls.

We have customers in all parts of the world, although right now some of the biggest opportunities are in the Caribbean, Middle East, and Asia. In general you will work with five channels: business-to-business, business-to-school, business-to-retail, international schools, and Department of Defense Schools.

Pivotal to your success will be thorough research, not only to identify opportunities and contacts, but also to understand the unique values, business practices, and hot buttons in each different country. For example, while a business meeting in many Asian countries is direct and to the point, a Latin American contact probably would be offended if you didn't spend a few minutes updating one another on family and personal news. Similarly, what is foremost on the mind of a customer in Great Britain may be very different from the key concerns of a customer in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

More specifically, your activities will include:

• Taking action to improve your own knowledge and skills.
• Building an understanding of the customer/client needs and expectations within your area of accountability.
• Establishing relationships and working effectively with external individuals and parties in order to create opportunities for the Company to meet financial goals.
• Establishing relationships and working effectively with internal individuals and parties in order to meet your own commitments effectively and efficiently.
• Advising and consulting with customers/clients on options available to them in order to help them achieve their targets and goals.
• Building and developing relationships with peers and others to exchange feedback on product/service issues, identify and/or solve problems, assess needs, and/or achieve business results.
• Confirming your understanding of customers' business needs, issues faced, and opportunities with various customer buyers in order to develop viable solutions.
• Solving issues that arise during execution in order to eliminate barriers.
• Coordinating implementation of agreed upon activities (e.g. trade shows, product training, regional workshops) in order to execute plan.
• Remaining open to helping out in every department: customer service, operations, art, finance, editorial, and others.

Keys to Success

To excel in this role you will be more than just willing to travel; you will be enthusiastic about the prospect of learning about and visiting new cultures. You also will need a patient and flexible approach to ensuring clear communication across cultures; often success happens after trying a couple of different approaches. In addition, in order to be an outstanding International Sales Manager, you will:

• Remain open to working early in the morning or in the early evening in order to communicate with clients in all of the world's time zones. Typically this is done via email, and often can be done from home.
• Have the professional panache to interact effectively with executives and senior decision makers from key accounts.
• Demonstrate initiative and entrepreneurial drive, and also be willing to "roll up your sleeves" to achieve your goals.
• Leverage your interpersonal skills to work effectively across departments.
• Engage in the collaborative culture at TCM, asking questions, sharing your ideas, and pushing back on the ideas of others; at the same time, once a decision is made, we'll look to you to get on board and support it.
• Bring excellent organizational habits, including follow through and attention to detail.

If this sounds like the right mix of challenge and opportunity for you, and you meet the minimum qualifications, we want to hear from you!

Who We Are

Who knows education better than teachers? No one. Teacher Created Materials is a publishing company based in that idea. Everything we do comes from teachers and is created just for them. We know teachers -- because we are teachers, too.

At TCM our mission is to publish quality-research based, educational books and materials in all curricular areas for teachers and students at all grade and skill levels. We provide a broad spectrum of both quality resources and professional teacher training. While remaining grounded in sound educational practice, we maintain an educational vision and an open ear to educators and their changing needs.

For more information, please visit www.TCMpub.com. Clicking on this link will open a new browser window, but be sure to come back to submit your resume!