Director of Commercial

Royal Statistical Society

Hours
Full-time 35 hours per week

About the Organisation

Founded in 1834, the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is one of the world’s leading organizations 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 program, conference and events, jobs board and advertising, and venue hire. We also attract sponsorship for some of our high-profile activities. The Director of Commercials 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 society to ensure that opportunities are effectively marketed and support colleagues to generate the budgeted revenue.

About the role

Director of Commercial RSS (Research Support Services) is a leadership role responsible for driving the commercial strategy and business development of research support services within an organization. This position typically involves overseeing partnerships, revenue generation, and the overall commercial performance of RSS.

Responsibilities

Understand & External Environment:

• Develop an understanding of the preferences and needs of statisticians data professionals, and others interested in data and statistics, at an individual and organizational 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
• Research to understand competitors and benchmark RSS products and services
• Monitor and respond to developments and emerging trends in charities, membership organizations, 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 behaviors and feedback to inform future planning.

Development of Strategies & Plans:

• Drawing input from across the organization, develop strategies for sales and marketing across commercial products and services that support the organization’s objectives, including training conferences and events
• Oversee staff responsible for business development to capitalize 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 the development of wider strategies and plans across the organization.

Programme Management & Delivery:

• Deliver programs 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 the establishment of new products and services, ensuring that work is delivered on 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 & 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 program by targeting both statisticians 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 & Events:

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

Interfaces & 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 organization 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 on terms & conditions (including intellectual property agreements and contracts) with clients
• Identify relevant experts within the RSS membership and engage them in programs, formalizing 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 organizations to support program deliverables.

Leadership & 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 organization 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 programs
• 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.

Skills, Competencies & Experience

Essential:

• 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 organization
• 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 in building, developing, and maintaining relationships and networks and generating sponsorship
• Significant experience in program and project management and operational delivery
• Excellent organizational skills and an ability to identify and respond to changing priorities
• Ability to accurately assess project needs or problems, make sound decisions, and develop effective solutions
• Ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and delegate work to ensure completion of time and budget
• Experience in negotiation and influencing
• Ability to communicate with a wide range of people structure information and present ideas and concepts clearly and concisely, particularly in written form
• Strong interpersonal skills; ability to persuade, inspire, influence, and 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 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 (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, and 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 organizations and learned societies, and their role in the current climate
• Experience in the not-for-profit sector and working with volunteers.

Required Qualifications

• Undergraduate Degree in level and Equivalent

Compensation & Benefits

• 25 days Annual Leave, plus Bank Holidays
• Shut Down Between Christmas and New Year.
• Six-month Probation Period
• Contribution Pension Scheme 
• Salary Contributions 8% 
• Double Contribution Society 16%
• Training Budget
• Season Ticket Loan
• Cycle to work Scheme
• Generous Pension Scheme

Working locations

• London office with occasional travel required

How to apply

• Send an email to Holly O'Brien at [email protected] with a CV and a cover letter by 27th February 2025 at 5 PM

Interviews

• Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview

Return to listing