Sales Planning & Analysis Manager

Incisive Media, part of the Arc network, is an entrepreneurial and creative, digital-facing organisation on the cutting edge of media. Working in the sustainability and financial services markets, we provide analyst-grade insight, business intelligence, and content to specialist networks of business professionals around the globe.

We are passionate about our people, products and customers and our values are at the heart of our business; they define us, and they are how we conduct ourselves both as a company and as individuals.

Our values are summed up as; integrity, teamwork, innovation, trust, good judgement, passion for our work, curiosity and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Visit our website www.incisivemedia.com for more information about us.

Type of employment: Full-Time/Permanent

Working Pattern: Hybrid

Overview of role:

The Senior Sales Planning & Analysis Manager will play a critical leadership role in shaping commercial strategy, driving operational excellence, and enabling data‑driven decision‑making across the organisation. In addition to people leadership responsibilities, this role will act as a trusted business partner to senior stakeholders across Sales, Finance, Marketing, and Operations.

This role is central to improving sales productivity, forecasting accuracy, and overall revenue performance.

Dual reporting line to Director of Events, Agriconnect and Chief Revenue Officer, Arc Financial and will work closely with the Farmers Guardian Director, as well as colleagues in sales, marketing, operations, and IT.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Executive Partnership

• Serve as a strategic advisor to ARC leadership, delivering high‑impact analysis, insights, and executive‑level presentations to support commercial strategy, growth initiatives, and investment decisions.

• Proactively identify risks and opportunities within sales performance, market trends, and customer behaviour, translating complex data into clear strategic recommendations.

• Contribute to long‑range planning, annual operating plans, and sales strategy development, ensuring alignment with broader business objectives.

Sales Planning, Reporting & Advanced Analytics

• Own the end‑to‑end sales planning and performance management framework, including forecasting, pipeline health, revenue tracking, and KPI governance.

• Lead the design, development, and continuous enhancement of dashboards and reporting solutions that provide timely, actionable insights to senior sales leadership.

• Establish best‑in‑class analytical standards, ensuring consistency, accuracy, and transparency in sales performance reporting.

Sales Process Optimisation & Transformation

• Lead the design, documentation, and implementation of efficient, scalable sales processes across the full customer lifecycle.

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to simplify workflows, reduce friction, and improve sales cycle velocity and conversion rates.

• Identify, evaluate, and implement automation and enablement tools to enhance productivity and operational efficiency across the sales organisation.

Data Governance & Cross‑Functional Alignment

• Act as the accountable owner for sales data quality, governance, and integrity, partnering closely with Finance, Marketing, Operations, and Systems teams.

• Establish clear data ownership models, controls, and standards to ensure reliable customer, pipeline, and revenue data across systems.

• Enable strong cross‑functional collaboration by aligning stakeholders on reporting definitions, metrics, and shared performance objectives.

Salesforce & Other Commercial Systems

• Oversee data accuracy, system governance, workflow optimisation, and integrations with adjacent platforms/systems.

• Champion continuous improvement of Salesforce capabilities to drive adoption, enhance user experience, and improve sales effectiveness.

Order Management & Commercial Execution

• Provide senior oversight of order management processes, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant order processing through Salesforce.

• Partner with Sales Operations and Commercial teams to resolve systemic issues, improve customer experience, and reduce operational risk.

People Leadership & Capability Building

• Line manage and develop team members, fostering a high‑performance, insight‑driven culture.

• Build analytical capability across the wider sales organisation through coaching, standardisation, and best‑practice sharing.

• Set clear objectives, provide regular feedback, and support career development to ensure long‑term team effectiveness and succession.

Skills & Experience

• Extensive commercial analytics experience, typically 8–12+ years in Sales Planning & Analysis, Sales Operations, Commercial Finance, Revenue Operations, or a closely related discipline within a complex, growth‑oriented organisation.

• Proven people leadership experience, including direct line management, performance development, and capability building within analytical or commercial operations teams.

• Demonstrated track record of acting as a strategic business partner to senior leaders, with experience delivering executive‑level insights, recommendations, and decision support.

• Experience using Einstein Analytics or AI-driven Salesforce features.

• Salesforce certification is advantageous.

• Proficient in Excel, business intelligence tools (e.g. Power BI, Tableau), and sales analytics platforms.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.

• Experience in leading process improvement initiatives and enhancing operational effectiveness.

• Highly organised with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.

What you can expect from us

As well as working with the most interesting, talented and fun people, we operate a culture where success is recognised. You will be supported throughout your career, tailoring your development through management support, internal & external training courses and on the job training.

Our benefits include:

• Excellent training and development programmes

• Hybrid/remote working

• Pension scheme with 5% employer contributions

• Life assurance scheme

• Voluntary Private Medical Insurance

• 25 days annual leave, increasing to 30 days

• Health Cash Plan for those everyday healthcare costs

• Savings on items from Currys via our SmartTech Scheme

• Cycle to Work scheme

• Discounted Gym rates

• Retail discounts saving you money on essential & everyday purchases

• Employee Recognition Scheme to recognise your colleagues with rewards

• Employee Referral Scheme

• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for extra support if things get tough

• IMFoundation - making a difference by supporting our 4 charities

Plus a number of flexible salary sacrifice benefits.

All souls are welcome at Incisive Media

As an equal opportunity employer we hire, develop and retain the best people regardless of their social background, age, sex, ethnicity, religion/belief or disability, and to make use of their talents. We are proud members of Inclusive Employers and the Living Wage Foundation.

At Incisive Media we value everyone as an individual. We recognise that everyone is different and have created a work environment where we treat everyone fairly and in a consistent way and promote a culture of respect and dignity, to create a company that’s the right fit for every person inside of it. To ensure our values are fully embedded in our culture we are proud to support our working groups – All Souls Network, the Incisive Media Foundation, the Working Parents Group and our Sustainability and Social Committees.

We are excited by the incredible potential of AI and the innovative ways it can enhance the way we work. However, in our hiring process, we aim to get to know you. To stand out to our hiring managers, we encourage you to let your personality shine through, rather than relying on an AI-generated application.

You are welcome to use AI as a writing assistant to help structure and articulate your thoughts. Please do not use it to generate fictional skills or experiences. Using AI responsibly can support your application, but your application must ultimately represent you.