Drive brand advertising revenue via direct and agency relationships across web, mobile, audio, newsletters, and social. Manage a book of business, source and close new partners, support renewals, guide RFP/media strategy, mentor account teams, share partner insights, and represent The Athletic.
About Us
Powered by one of the largest global newsrooms in sports media, The Athletic brings sports fans the most comprehensive stories about the teams, sports and athletes they love. The Athletic’s newsroom of 500+ full-time staff delivers in-depth coverage of hundreds of professional and college teams across more than 47 North American markets and all 20 football clubs in the English Premier League, as well as many Championship clubs.
About The Role
The Athletic is seeking an experienced Sales Director to help expand its Advertising business to be an industry leader. You will be a key member of our growing Brand Partnerships sales team responsible for driving ad revenue via client direct and agency relationships. In this role you will own the end to end sales process for new sourcing, developing, and partnering with new ad partners who want to get their brand in front of The Athletic’s audience across all platforms including web, mobile, audio, newsletters, and social media. Additionally, you will be responsible for maintaining and nurturing relationships with existing ad partners in order to drive renewals and support ongoing business. This is a temporary role running from September 2026 - April 2027.
Responsibilities
- Serve as one of the Sales Directors, helping grow our overall brand advertiser sales revenue via client and agency relationship.
- Manage a book of business with ambitious individual and team quarterly and annual revenue targets.
- Identify new ad partners that have a brand/product that is a strong fit with our listener base, and manage the navigation to the appropriate decision maker for each partner.
- Drive advertising revenue across all of The Athletic’s key platforms and surfaces including web, mobile, audio, newsletters, and social media.
- Define strategies and guide the account management teams in replying to RFPs and client opportunities including program, content, and media plan guidance.
- Share partner insights and sales lessons across the team including new ad products and opportunities our clients are looking for.
- Represent The Athletic brand well.
Requirements
- 10+ years of digital ad sales experience, ideally with a blend of web/app, social media, and podcast sales experience.
- Established agency and client direct relationships that you can leverage on day one.
- Demonstrated experience building on a foundation that is already in place but enjoy having the freedom and flexibility to make things better: better sales tools, better communication, better processes, etc.
- Ability to work independently as an experienced individual contributor and as a team leader.
- A passion for the sales process and the advertising industry.
- A track record for being motivated by and meeting ambitious targets.
- A self starter who is good at getting work done without someone looking over your shoulder.
- You are an excellent communicator over email, on the phone, and in person.
- You are good at working independently but enjoy being part of a team.
The annual base salary range for this role is $155,000.00 - $180,000.00 USD. The total compensation offered for this position may vary based on factors such as education, experience, skills, and location.
For roles in the U.S., dependent on your role, you may be eligible for variable pay, such as an annual bonus and restricted stock. Benefits may include medical, dental and vision benefits, Flexible Spending Accounts (F.S.A.s), a company-matching 401(k) plan, paid vacation, paid sick days, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement and professional development programs.
For roles outside of the U.S., information on benefits will be provided during the interview process.
We are excited to learn more about you and your experience. To keep our hiring process as fair and authentic as possible, we ask that you submit your own work and not use GenAI tools to generate substantive content during the application and interview process. If you are a candidate for a technical role, we will let you know what specific tools you are permitted to use for your technical assessment.
The Athletic Media Company is an equal opportunity employer and enthusiastically encourages people from all backgrounds and experiences to apply. The Athletic will consider all applicants without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical and/or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.
Click here to review our Applicant Privacy Notice, which describes how and when The Athletic Media Company collects, uses, and shares certain personal information of job applicants and prospective employees.
Beware of fraudulent job recruiting schemes! Our recruiters use [email protected] exclusively, and our team members will use an email address with @theathletic.com domain. We do not conduct interviews via text or instant message and we do not ask candidates to download software, to purchase equipment through us, or to provide sensitive personally identifiable information, such as bank accounts or social security numbers. If you have been contacted by someone claiming to be a member of the recruiting/HR team at The Athletic but operating from a different email address about a job offer, please report it as potential job fraud to the law enforcement and to [email protected].
The Athletic New York, New York, USA Office
New York, NY, United States, 10017
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