Who we are:

The American Physical Society (APS) is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals, scientific meetings, and education, outreach, advocacy, and international activities. APS represents more than 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and throughout the world.

Position Summary:

The American Physical Society (APS) publishes the trusted, renowned, and growing Physical Review family of peer-reviewed journals, covering physics and physics-related research and including world-leading, premier titles such as Physical Review Letters, Reviews of Modern Physics, and Physical Review X, as well as the essential and trusted core Physical Review titles.

The Publications Sales Team sits within the Publishing Department, and is responsible for achieving revenue targets, customer satisfaction, and other objectives through a number of activities, including: the sales and renewals of journals subscriptions and related products and bundles, to academic, government, and corporate institutions, globally; negotiation of consortium agreements and institutional open access arrangements, including Read and Publish and other types of transformative agreements; regular and accurate sales reporting and forecasting; developing relationships with and providing excellent service to existing and prospect customers, including librarians, consortium administrators, and procurement officers; sales operations, including the management and improvement of business processes, systems, and data; and managing relationships with sales agents, subscription agents, and other third-party vendors.

The Publications Account Executive (PAE), Americas, reports to the Publications Sales Manager and is responsible for achieving revenue targets, customer satisfaction, and other objectives by managing institutional and consortia customer accounts within a defined list or territory – the Americas – as well as handling a portfolio of products and services and supporting the defined base of customers across this region. The role is focused on: handling renewals and new sales of journals subscriptions, bespoke access licenses, and related products and services (e.g., print and back files offerings, open access publishing services, etc.); developing strong relationships with customers and providing excellent customer service; and ensuring efficient business practices through effective collaboration with APS colleagues in Sales Operations, Finance, Information Systems, Communications, and other departments, as well as with third-party agents and service vendors. The PAE will be remote-first, working primarily from home, and required to travel to client sites, library and publishing events, APS offices located in College Park MD and Washington DC, and other offsite locations for periodic sales meetings, trainings, and strategy sessions.

The APS has a “remote first” concept that promotes equal treatment and equal access, independent of physical work location, with a majority of staff working primarily from remote work locations. This position could require at times in office work, various geographic events and meeting attendance as instructed by your Supervisor. APS values diversity and welcomes candidates from a variety of backgrounds. APS offers a dynamic work environment with an outstanding total compensation package including salary, outstanding benefits, and excellent paid time off.
 

Responsibilities:
 

• Create and execute detailed plans to achieve revenue targets, customer satisfaction, and other objectives.
• Proactively plan and lead initiatives to maximize renewals, develop existing accounts, and prospect for new customer acquisitions and sales.
• Utilize both in-person and virtual interactions to establish, build, and nurture strong, mutually beneficial relationships with existing and prospect customers, including through regularly scheduled meetings and travel, including site visits and attendance of library and publishing industry events.
• Thoroughly understand relevant APS journals, products, services, and models, to effectively communicate compelling value propositions to customers.
• Use Salesforce and other business systems and data to identify opportunities, prepare quotes, complete licensing agreements, record details of sales visits and other customer information, and complete other fundamental tasks.
• Negotiate pricing and licensing terms (either directly or via an APS - contracted sales agent) that are aligned with APS policies, targets, and strategy, and ensure that license agreements are consistent with negotiated terms and conditions.
• Coordinate the timely acquisition of documents, certifications, and other procurement requirements required by customers and agents to close agreements.
• Coordinate timely responses to account queries, including questions about licenses, access and IP ranges, tier classification, usage, publications output, and other relevant information.
• Provide support to consortium administrators and sales agents throughout negotiation, procurement, and licensing processes.
• Regularly feed data and commentary into sales and financials reporting.
• Assist with analysis and reconciliation of sales reports, agency commissions, and other financial matters.
• Contribute to the development and evolution of APS publishing strategy, including by advising management on emerging trends and opportunities, as well as threats, risks, competing priorities and other concerns.
• Contribute subject matter expertise and relevant skills and experience to plans and projects, towards the development of new business, products, services, and models.
• Proactively contribute to the continuous improvement of business policies, processes, systems, and data.
• Demonstrate professional conduct, aligned with APS core values, to increase the visibility and strengthen the perception of the APS and Physical Review brands within the customer base, and beyond to the broader scientific and scholarly communications communities.

Scope and Relationships:
 

• No direct reports.
• Internal interactions with APS colleagues across departments, including Publishing, Finance, Information Systems, Communications, and others.
• External customer relationships with institutional librarians, government and corporate procurement officers, consortium administrators, and potentially funders and others.
• External interactions with third-party sales and subscription agents, fulfillment vendors, and other service vendors and consultants.
• Contribute to special projects, as requested.

 

Education: Bachelor’s degree required.
 

Experience, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: A minimum of 7 years experience in institutional sales and licensing of scholarly publications and products, preferably in the physical sciences or other areas of STEM; extensive experience with and knowledge of scholarly communication, academic library markets, trends in research communities, and the forces currently shaping the journals publishing industry; a deep appreciation for high-quality, society-owned journals and their value to the scholarly record and scientific enterprise.
 

• Customer focused
• Self-motivated, with a strong drive for results
• Ability to plan, manage and measure your own work
• Ability to make timely, quality decisions
• Strong organizational and CRM (preferably Salesforce) skills, and ability to use data to drive decision-making, identify opportunities, and support customer needs
• Demonstrated skills in relationship building, negotiations, and customer service
• Business travel savvy and freedom to travel up to 30-40% of the time
• Ideally located within the defined territory, for proximity to customers
• Ability to work well both independently as well as collaboratively with interdepartmental teams and external colleagues
• Ability to work effectively and efficiently from a remote location, or while traveling, with minimal day-to-day supervision
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to adapt and remain flexible to changing priorities
• Attention to detail

Travel: The position requires significant travel to conduct site visits and to attend meetings and events as part of its core responsibilities, as well as additional travel as assigned.

Work Environment:

Our physical offices are located in Long Island, NY, Washington, D.C and College Park, MD. We are operational in most US states. While most duties can be conducted remotely, all positions require periodic in-person work at the assigned physical location and periodic travel to other APS locations, meetings and events as assigned by your Supervisor. The American Physical Society allows flexible work hours, responsiveness is required however during the core 9 am to 5 pm Eastern Standard Time workday. The successful candidate will join a collaborative international organization.

This is Us:

Help us achieve our mission of advancing and diffusing the knowledge of physics for the benefit of humanity, promote physics, and serve the broader physics community.

At APS, we:

• Provide a welcoming and supportive professional home for an active, engaged, and diverse membership
• Advance scientific discovery and research dissemination
• Advocate for physics and physicists, and amplify the voice for science
• Share the excitement of physics and communicate the essential role physics plays in the modern world
• Promote effective physics education for all

Core Values:

Core values are essential to shaping the culture of an organization. They provide the structure and guidance for how we conduct ourselves in our day-to-day interactions. Every employee has a responsibility for upholding these values. The behaviors and actions associated with demonstrating competency in these Core Values are described in a separate document.
 

Our Core Values:

• The Scientific Method
• Truth and Integrity
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Respect
• Partnering, Cooperation, and Open Collaboration
• Speaking Out
• Education and Learning

Amazing 2022 Benefit Offerings:

• Flexible schedules and ability to work remotely
• 8% employer-paid retirement contribution
• Investment advisement services: 100% employer paid
• Medical benefits: PPO or HDHP option
• Employer contribution to FSA or HSA account, eligibility based on medical plan enrollment
• Dental benefits:  individual coverage 100% employer paid
• Vision benefits: individual and dependent coverage 100% employer paid
• Basic Life & Accident insurance: employee coverage 100% employer paid
• Supplemental Life & Accident insurance, including spouse & dependent child(ren) coverage
• Disability insurance:  employee coverage 100% employer paid
• Healthcare, Commuter & Dependent care flexible spending accounts
• Vacation: 15 days annually
• Generous holiday leave: 14 paid days of significance; includes one week closure at the end of December
• Personal leave: 4 days annually
• Volunteer leave: 1 day annually
• Sick leave: 10 days annually
• 10 weeks employer-paid family leave
• College tuition reimbursement plan
• Job related seminar & continuing education
• Training and professional development; access to LinkedIn Learning on-demand courses
• Employee Assistance Program
• Mindfulness Meditation: live and on-demand classes

 

The American Physical Society is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of American Physical Society not to discriminate or allow the harassment of employees or applicants on the basis of race, religious creed, alienage or citizenship, religion, color, ethnicity, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, familial status, protected veteran status, protected military status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, predisposing genetic characteristics, ancestry, domestic violence victim status or any other characteristic protected by law with regard to any employment practices, including recruitment, advertising, job application procedures, hiring, upgrading, training, promotion, transfer, compensation, job assignments, benefits and/or other terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, provided the individual is qualified, with or without reasonable accommodations, to perform the essential functions of the job. This policy applies to all jobs at APS. The American Physical Society is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request a reasonable accommodation, please contact APS Human Resources at hr@aps.org.

All APS Employees must be vaccinated and provide proof of vaccination via our secured vaccination portal Safeter upon hire, unless they have an HR approved medical or religious exemption. The APS has a “remote first” concept that promotes equal treatment and equal access, independent of physical work location, with a majority of staff working primarily from remote work locations. We welcome you to apply today!