Associate Director, Global Sales Support

Taylor & Francis is seeking an experienced operations leader to take ownership of global sales support services across all regions. As Associate Director, Global Sales Support, you will be accountable for building a consistent, efficient, and well-controlled quote-to-invoice process, driving data accuracy across regional commercial records, and preparing our support function for readiness under the new Unified Commercial (UC) model. You will lead the four Regional Sales Operations Managers and, through them, the regional support teams who keep our commercial engine running smoothly every day. 

This is a pivotal leadership role sitting within Commercial Strategy & Operations, working as a peer to the Global Sales Operations Lead and the Global Systems & Data Lead to ensure our sales support infrastructure scales with the business. 

What You'll Be Doing:

Global Service Delivery & People Leadership 

• Lead and develop the four Regional Sales Support Managers, setting shared objectives, capacity priorities, performance standards, and development plans. 
• Define service levels and establish a regular operating cadence covering backlog management, turnaround times, quality, escalations, and process adherence. 
• Harmonize processes globally while accommodating documented local requirements, and scale best practices across regions. 
• Manage cross-regional escalations and provide strong support to Sales and Inside Sales teams, without assuming ownership of the Inside Sales function itself. 
Quote-to-Invoice & Commercial Transaction Execution 

• Own the sales-support operating process from quote preparation and approval through to accurate order and invoicing handoffs, working closely with Finance and order-management owners to agree clear boundaries. 
• Ensure commercial terms, customer details, and approved pricing/discount conditions are captured correctly, applying rules set by the Global Pricing Director and escalating exceptions as needed. 
• Reduce rework and errors at transaction handoffs by defining clear controls, ownership, and resolution paths for common issues. 
• Translate changes arising from the UC model into standardized workflows, training needs, and operational acceptance criteria. 
Data Capture & Operational Controls 

• Own the timeliness, completeness, and accuracy of information entered by regional teams into account, opportunity, and other commercial records. 
• Implement front-line validation, exception handling, and remediation routines, aligned with data definitions and standards owned by Systems & Data. 
• Ensure data captured at source properly supports forecasting, invoicing, reporting, and incentive calculations, resolving regional input issues promptly. 
Partnership & Continuous Improvement 

• Partner with Sales Operations on forecast inputs, deal status, territory changes, and recurring data defects. 
• Work with Systems & Data to specify usability needs, test process changes, and manage adoption (while Technology retains technical build ownership). 
• Collaborate with Global Enablement to maintain practical instructions, playbooks, and training materials for regional support users. 
Decision Rights & Role Boundaries 

• Sales Support owns frontline data entry and transaction execution; Systems & Data owns data structures, standards, and CRM business governance. 
• Sales Operations owns forecasts, performance metrics, and incentive reporting; Sales Support supplies correct and timely regional inputs. 
• Pricing owns price and discount policy; Finance and billing functions retain their designated accounting, invoicing, and cash-control responsibilities. 
• Inside Sales remains a separate commercial sales capability unless an explicit reporting-line decision changes this. 
What Success Looks Like:

• Consistent quote-to-invoice workflows with documented exceptions across all regions. 
• Agreed service levels consistently met, with visible improvement in turnaround time, backlog reduction, and first-time-right processing. 
• Measurable improvement in the completeness and accuracy of commercial data at the point of entry. 
• The four Regional Sales Operations Managers operating with clear accountabilities, resource plans, and performance routines. 
• UC process changes implemented smoothly, with a stable support service and minimal disruption.

Function: Sales
Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level