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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Advertising Sales Director

💰 $140,000 - $220,000

AdvertisingSalesMediaLeadership

🎯 Role Definition

The Advertising Sales Director leads revenue generation for multi-platform advertising products by building and executing a strategic sales plan, managing large client relationships and agency partnerships, and guiding a high-performing sales team across digital, programmatic, CTV/OTT and linear channels. This role is accountable for meeting/exceeding sales targets, developing competitive cross-platform packaging, optimizing yield and pricing, and aligning sales efforts with product, operations and analytics teams to ensure scalable campaign delivery and measurable ROI for advertisers.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Account Executive – Linear and Digital Advertising
  • Regional Sales Manager / Head of Partnerships
  • Director of Business Development, Media or Technology

Advancement To:

  • Vice President of Advertising Sales
  • Head of Digital Revenue / Chief Revenue Officer
  • General Manager, Regional Media Operations

Lateral Moves:

  • Director of Programmatic Partnerships
  • Director of Audience & Monetization
  • Director of Branded Content / Sponsorships

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Own the end-to-end advertising sales strategy and execution for national and/or regional accounts, setting revenue targets, pricing strategies, quota allocation and pipeline metrics to consistently exceed quarterly and annual goals.
  • Build, lead and mentor a high-performing direct sales team (Account Executives, AE Managers, Sales Operations) including hiring, training, performance management and career development to scale multi-channel ad revenue.
  • Manage and grow strategic relationships with direct clients, agency partners and programmatic buyers, serving as the senior escalation point and trusted advisor for major advertisers.
  • Drive new business development by identifying target verticals, prospecting enterprise accounts, responding to RFPs, and converting prospects into long-term, high-value clients.
  • Create and sell integrated cross-platform advertising solutions (linear TV, digital display/video, programmatic, CTV/OTT, sponsorships and native) that align with client KPIs and maximize ARPU.
  • Collaborate with product, ad operations and ad tech teams to design monetization strategies, implement ad formats, ensure campaign trafficking accuracy and accelerate time-to-revenue for new offerings.
  • Lead pricing, rate card management and yield optimization, leveraging historical campaign data, competitive analysis and market benchmarks to improve CPMs and revenue per impression.
  • Forecast revenue, manage pipeline health and produce executive-level sales reporting and dashboards for senior leadership and finance to support budgeting and strategic planning.
  • Negotiate complex commercial agreements and contracts, including IOs and MSAs, ensuring profitable deal terms, compliant SLAs and clear delivery expectations.
  • Oversee creative and campaign planning processes to ensure advertiser requirements are translated into scalable technical specifications and measurable delivery plans.
  • Partner with analytics, measurement and audience insights teams to provide advertisers with compelling proof points, attribution models and performance reports that demonstrate campaign ROI.
  • Implement and optimize CRM (Salesforce or equivalent) workflows, sales playbooks and reporting standards to drive consistency, forecasting accuracy and repeatable sales motions.
  • Develop and execute territory and account plans that prioritize high-opportunity segments, audience-based targeting, and seasonal campaign timing to maximize fill and yield.
  • Coordinate with marketing and content teams to develop sales enablement materials, case studies, pitch decks and RFP responses that highlight audience reach, targeting capabilities and measurement strengths.
  • Drive expansion of programmatic and private marketplace (PMP) revenue by developing relationships with DSPs, SSPs, and exchange partners and defining audience-first strategies.
  • Maintain deep competitive market knowledge (audience measurement, platform capabilities, pricing) and translate insights into actionable go-to-market tactics and product feature requests.
  • Ensure alignment between sales, product and legal on policy, ad quality, brand safety and data privacy (GDPR/CCPA) requirements when structuring deals and targeting options.
  • Develop sponsorship and branded content packages with editorial and creative teams to deliver unique, high-margin advertising opportunities for clients seeking custom integrations.
  • Manage P&L responsibility for the advertising revenue line or regional sales portfolio, including expense controls, incentive compensation and ROI on sales investments.
  • Monitor campaign delivery and partner with ad operations to resolve discrepancies, optimize pacing, address under-delivery and ensure client satisfaction and renewals.
  • Lead cross-functional go-to-market launches for new ad products (e.g., CTV audiences, advanced targeting segments), coordinating sales training, pricing, and initial publisher/agency pilots.
  • Establish KPIs and OKRs for the sales organization (revenue, win rate, pipeline velocity, churn) and execute continuous improvement programs to hit stretch objectives.
  • Represent the company at industry conferences, agency forums and client events to raise brand profile, generate leads and stay current on advertising technologies and industry trends.
  • Drive a test-and-learn culture by piloting new sales tactics, creative ad formats and measurement methodologies, capturing learnings, and scaling successful programs.

Secondary Functions

  • Provide strategic input into product roadmaps, ad-tech integrations and measurement partnerships to improve monetization and advertiser value.
  • Support the marketing team in demand generation campaigns targeted at agencies, advertisers and verticals with high lifetime value.
  • Collaborate with finance on forecasting, revenue recognition, deal structuring and incentive plan design for the sales organization.
  • Work with legal and compliance teams to standardize contract templates, negotiating playbooks and privacy-safe targeting practices.
  • Coordinate with ad operations and technical teams during onboarding to ensure seamless trafficking, QA, and SLA adherence for major campaigns.
  • Mentor junior sales staff through formal coaching, ride-alongs, deal reviews and quota planning to accelerate ramp times and close rates.
  • Lead quarterly business reviews (QBRs) with top clients to analyze performance, identify upsell opportunities and align on strategic priorities.
  • Maintain up-to-date documentation of competitor offers, market positioning and buyer personas to inform pitch strategy and sales collateral.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Deep expertise in cross-platform advertising sales including linear TV, digital video, programmatic (PMPs/RTB), and CTV/OTT monetization.
  • Proficiency with CRM platforms (Salesforce or similar) for pipeline management, forecasting and sales analytics.
  • Familiarity with ad servers and ad ops tools (Google Ad Manager, FreeWheel, SpotX or similar) and an understanding of trafficking workflows and tags.
  • Understanding of programmatic ecosystems (DSPs, SSPs, header bidding) and ability to negotiate PMP deals and data partnerships.
  • Experience with audience measurement and attribution systems (Nielsen, Comscore, Moat, IAS, Adsafe) and translating metrics into advertiser value propositions.
  • Strong financial literacy including P&L management, deal structuring, margin analysis and revenue forecasting.
  • Ability to analyze campaign performance using Excel, BI tools (Tableau, Looker, Power BI) and basic SQL to extract insights for sales optimization.
  • Knowledge of advertising privacy and compliance standards (GDPR, CCPA) and ability to structure privacy-safe targeting solutions.
  • Contract negotiation skills, including building IOs, MSAs and commercial terms to protect revenue and reduce legal exposure.
  • Hands-on experience launching new ad products and go-to-market plans across sales, product and operations.

Soft Skills

  • Strategic leadership with the ability to set vision, prioritize initiatives and drive cross-functional alignment.
  • Exceptional client-facing communication and presentation skills for senior executive-level engagements and agency partnerships.
  • Strong negotiation and persuasion skills to close large-scale, complex deals and renewals.
  • Relationship-building mindset with the ability to cultivate long-term partnerships and generate repeatable revenue streams.
  • Data-driven decision making with a focus on KPIs, experimentation and continuous improvement.
  • Coaching and people development skills to scale team capability and sustain high-performance culture.
  • Resilience under pressure with ability to manage competing priorities and tight deadlines.
  • Creative problem-solving to design custom advertising solutions that meet client objectives.
  • Collaborative mindset and ability to partner across product, marketing, finance and operations to execute deals.
  • Time management and organizational skills to oversee multiple large accounts and strategic initiatives concurrently.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Advertising, Media Studies, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

  • MBA or relevant advanced degree preferred for leadership scope and P&L responsibilities.
  • Certifications or training in digital advertising, programmatic, or media measurement are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Marketing
  • Advertising
  • Business Administration
  • Communications
  • Media Studies
  • Data Analytics / Business Intelligence

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 8–15 years in media sales, advertising sales or digital advertising, with progressive responsibility.

Preferred:

  • 10+ years of experience selling cross-platform advertising with at least 3–5 years in a director-level leadership role.
  • Demonstrated track record of consistently exceeding revenue targets, managing large agency relationships, and scaling teams.
  • Experience with national/regional advertisers, programmatic platforms, CTV/OTT sales and sponsorships is highly desirable.
  • Proven experience managing P&L, forecasting, and complex contract negotiations in a media or ad tech environment.
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