Business Development Manager, Music

We are the world's largest university press. That means we serve the academic community as no other publisher can. We work in partnership with institutions and learned societies to bring a world of knowledge to the fingertips of students and researchers worldwide.

The goal is impact. Together with our academic communities, we curate and connect the ideas that push their fields forward, enabling a virtuous cycle of learning, discovery, and scholarship.

And because we are part of the academic community and guided in everything we do by our mission, we reinvest in our people, our publishing, and the world-leading research institution of which we are part.

For more than 100 years, OUP Music has also played a distinctive role in musical life, publishing works that have shaped concert halls, churches, schools, universities, and communities around the world. Our catalogue includes many of the most influential composers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Walton, William Mathias, John Rutter, Bob Chilcott, Cecilia McDowall, Sarah Quartel, Reena Esmail, and many others. Today, we combine that rich heritage with a commitment to championing composers, reaching new audiences, and ensuring great music continues to inspire performers and listeners worldwide.

About the Role

We are seeking a commercially minded and strategically focused Business Development Manager to help shape the future growth of our Music business. As the market continues to evolve from traditional print publishing towards a more digital and customer-led model, this role will play a key part in developing a deep understanding of customer needs, customer journeys, audience behaviours, and market trends.

Working with customers, partners, and industry stakeholders, you will identify new routes to market, build strategic partnerships, and secure commercial opportunities that increase the discoverability of our music and drive sustainable revenue growth. Through customer insight and market analysis, you will develop evidence-based recommendations that inform business decisions, shape future priorities, and help ensure we remain well positioned to respond to evolving market needs.

You'll be responsible for building and managing a strong pipeline of opportunities, cultivating long-term customer relationships, and uncovering new revenue streams across our portfolio. Success in the role will come from understanding how customers discover, evaluate, and engage with our music products and services, translating those insights into commercial action and sustainable growth.

Working closely with colleagues across the business, including Marketing, you'll contribute to initiatives that strengthen customer acquisition, engagement, and retention, while ensuring our commercial activity remains informed by audience needs, customer behaviour, and wider industry trends.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who enjoys combining strategic thinking with hands-on business development. Whilst knowledge of the choral sector would be advantageous, we are looking for someone with the curiosity and commercial acumen to recognise opportunities across a broad range of music markets, including instrumental education, digital products, and emerging audience segments. You'll be confident developing business cases, making evidence-based recommendations, and influencing stakeholders to support growth initiatives. Most importantly, you'll be adaptable and forward-thinking, able to evolve with the market and help position our Music business for long-term success.

We operate a hybrid working policy that requires a minimum of two days per week in the Oxford office.

About You

The ideal candidate will bring strong commercial acumen, business development expertise, and the ability to translate customer insight into strategic recommendations that deliver measurable results. You'll be naturally curious about customer behaviour and motivated by understanding how audiences discover, engage with, and purchase music, using those insights to uncover new opportunities for growth.

Whilst familiarity with the choral music sector would be advantageous, we're equally interested in individuals who bring expertise from other parts of the industry and can offer fresh perspectives that help expand our reach and identify new possibilities across our portfolio.

You'll have a proven ability to build and grow customer relationships, convert opportunities into results, and negotiate successful outcomes, supported by strong planning, prioritisation, and pipeline management skills. Comfortable working in a fast-paced and evolving commercial environment, you'll be an excellent listener and influencer who can build consensus, secure stakeholder buy-in, and turn market intelligence into practical action.

A passion for music, combined with a strong understanding of the wider music industry landscape, will help you contribute to the continued growth of one of the world's most respected music publishing portfolios.

Benefits

We care about work/life balance here at OUP. With this in mind we offer 25 days’ holiday that rises with service, plus bank holidays and Christmas closure (3-days) and a 35-hour working week. We are open to discussing flexibility in respect to working patterns, dependent on role. We also have a great variety of active employee networks and societies.

We help make your money go further by contributing to your pension up to 12%, offering loans and savings schemes through our partnership with Salary Finance, in addition to travel to work schemes and access to a wide range of local discounts.

This role comes with the added benefit of a discretionary annual payment.

Please see our Rewards and Recognition page for more information.

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