Director of New Business & AI Search Partnerships

The Director of New Business & AI Search Partnerships is responsible for identifying, developing, and securing relationships with net-new advertisers and enterprise partners. This role is focused exclusively on new business development, creating opportunities with brands that are not currently partnering with the company.

Working closely with cross-functional teams, this leader develops strategic partnership opportunities across the company’s portfolio of advertising, media, content, and marketing solutions. They build and manage a high-value pipeline, lead consultative sales engagements, and develop customized solutions that align with client objectives while driving sustainable revenue growth.

The ideal candidate is an experienced business development professional with a strong consultative sales approach, executive presence, and a proven ability to navigate complex buying organizations. They understand today’s evolving digital landscape—including AI-driven discovery, search, content, and performance marketing—and can translate those trends into meaningful business opportunities for enterprise clients.

Success in this role is measured by the acquisition of new strategic advertisers, the development of long-term partnerships, and meaningful revenue contribution from new business.

Responsibilities:

• Own the full sales cycle for net new advertiser acquisition, from prospecting and qualification through proposal development, negotiation, and contract execution.
• Build, manage, and grow a high-value pipeline of prospective enterprise advertisers while consistently achieving revenue and profitability goals.
• Develop strategic relationships with senior brand, agency, and enterprise decision-makers, serving as a trusted advisor throughout the sales process.
• Lead consultative sales engagements by understanding client objectives and developing customized advertising, content, media, and marketing solutions that deliver measurable business outcomes.
• Prepare and deliver compelling presentations, proposals, and commercial agreements, successfully closing complex, high-value partnerships.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Editorial, Product, Marketing, Finance, Legal, and other internal teams to ensure solutions are commercially sound and operationally feasible.
• Maintain accurate sales forecasts, pipeline reporting, and opportunity tracking within CRM and other business systems.
• Monitor market trends, competitive activity, and emerging digital marketing technologies to identify new business opportunities and provide strategic market insights.
• Represent the company at client meetings, industry conferences, networking events, and other business development opportunities.
• Exercise sound business judgment to evaluate opportunities, prioritize efforts, and manage multiple complex sales initiatives simultaneously.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of sales processes, business development strategies, and partnership best practices.
• Leverage internal technology and AI-enabled tools to enhance prospect research, proposal development, and overall sales effectiveness.
• Regular traveling is required to attend conferences, trade shows, seminars, client meetings, and prospective customer visits.
• Perform other duties related to the position as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, or a related field.
• 8–12+ years in digital advertising, branded content, media sales, performance/affiliate marketing, or SEO-driven marketing.
• 6+ years of quota-carrying sales or business development experience, with a track record of opening net-new enterprise logos.
• Demonstrated experience closing six-figure+ deals and owning complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise sales cycles.
• Ability to sell across multiple products — comfortable pitching content/AI visibility AND performance-marketing / lead-gen outcomes.
• Working knowledge of SEO, AI-powered search visibility, publisher networks, and performance-marketing economics (CPL/CPA, ROAS, margin/GP&L).
• Strong communication and presentation skills; experience influencing C-suite and VP-level decision-makers.
• High comfort operating independently, solving ambiguous problems, and managing multiple priorities.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience selling content programs across news publishers, editorial networks, or performance-driven media companies.
• Fluency in E-E-A-T, AI/generative search, and multichannel conte…