Institutional Sales and Partnership Manager

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Closing date for applications is November 20, 2026
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As a key member of our Publishing Development team, you will lead the development, negotiation, and execution of institutional publishing agreements. You will play a crucial role in advancing eLife’s impact, expanding strategic partnerships, and shaping the future business models that underpin open science.

The ideal candidate should have:

• A strong background in sales or business development, ideally within scholarly publishing and institutional Open Access (OA) agreements.
• 2+ years of experience in managing negotiations and sales of publishing agreements with academic libraries, consortia, research institutions, and funders.
• Proven track record of independently managing the complete partnership lifecycle (prospecting, outreach, negotiation, execution, and renewal).
• Experience representing an organization at conferences, institutional visits, and external meetings.
• A passion for contributing to business development and evolving research culture within scholarly publishing.
• A university degree (in any discipline).
• Negotiation & Relationship Building: Excellent negotiation, sales, and stakeholder management skills across diverse professional backgrounds.
• Industry Knowledge: Deep understanding of the scholarly publishing ecosystem, peer review models, and institutional Open Access agreements.
• Communication: Outstanding written and verbal communication skills in fluent English.
• Self-Motivation & Independence: Proactive, results-oriented, and highly organized with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Adaptability &
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Collaborative mindset with a willingness to travel occasionally for institutional visits and industry events.
• Deal Negotiation & Sales Lifecycle: Lead negotiations and manage the full partnership process—from prospecting and outreach to data curation, contract execution, and renewals.
• Relationship Management: Build and nurture strong, long-term relationships with academic libraries, library consortia, research institutions, and funding agencies.
• Implementation & Uptake: Collaborate with internal teams to implement agreements, increase visibility and uptake, and refine underlying pricing and modeling structures.
• Market Insights & Strategy: Monitor market trends, policy developments, and changing dynamics within open access to contribute to future business models and strategic initiatives (including PRC uptake and research culture).
• External Representation: Present at external visits, academic conferences, and industry events to promote institutional agreements and gather stakeholder feedback.
• Pipeline Management: Maintain accurate activity records throughout the sales pipeline and deliver updates and strategic recommendations to internal teams.

The post is a remote (UK-based), permanent position, full time or part-time (minimum 30 hours/week) and offers a competitive basic salary range of £42,000-£50,000 per annum (depending on experience) plus commission and excellent benefits.

Location: Remote (UK-based)
Salary: £42,000-£50,000 per annum (depending on experience) + commission + excellent benefits
Reports to: Publishing Development team
Contract: Permanent, full time or part-time (minimum 30 hours/week)

Applicants must be able to demonstrate the right to live and work in the UK to be considered for the vacancy.

We care about your growth and well-being. Joining eLife means being part of a friendly, sociable, and forward-thinking team.

• Time Off: 25 days of annual leave, plus all UK public bank holidays.
• Financial Security: Company pension scheme and Life Assurance (4x basic salary).
• Family Support: Enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption…