Director of New Business, Advertising & Sponsorship (Remote)

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Director of New Business, Advertising, and Sponsorship will work to help nonprofits, foundations and businesses with an interest in philanthropy and the social good better achieve their goals -- whether it is spreading the word about new products or new missions or recruiting great talent. The director will develop innovative approaches in the areas of traditional advertising, job ads, content underwriting, and event sponsorship. The role’s purpose is to increase the Chronicle’s reach, and improve its ability to inform, engage, and educate nonprofit professionals, philanthropists, grant makers, thought leaders, and policy makers.

A NEW ERA OF GROWTH

The Chronicle of Philanthropy, the premier journalistic newsroom covering the $6 trillion nonprofit world, seeks an experienced, ambitious, and innovative director of new business in advertising and sponsorship to fuel a significant expansion of its editorial operations. The Chronicle plans to double the size of its staff over the next five years, extend its storytelling capabilities on more platforms, build a commons that enables rigorous debate of important issues in the nonprofit world, and expand its collaboration with a range of other journalism organizations around the country and the globe.

As part of our mission to strengthen the organizations and people who work to advance the common good, the Chronicle of Philanthropy seeks to significantly expand its advertisers, sponsors and audience reach and serve a broader swath of nonprofit professionals who are diverse in race, class, geographic location, age, ideology, and more. It is especially investing in digital capabilities to allow it to tailor information to the ways people most want to consume information.

We offer numerous information products, including a monthly magazine, newsletters, webinars, briefings. and more that are ripe for expansion as we seek to equip nonprofit professionals to do their jobs better.

Our plan for growth is part of a significant transformation of our organization. After raising more than $6 million to become an independent nonprofit organization, we received official charity status from the IRS this winter. In April, the Chronicle of Philanthropy will spin off from its parent organization, the Chronicle of Higher Education, to operate independently. Our new structure allows us to focus more keenly on social impact and audience needs, making this an ideal moment to join our team. In this role, you will help us do more to achieve our mission as a nonprofit journalism and information organization and to fuel the revenue growth that enables the Chronicle to continue its 35-year tradition of delivering outstanding editorial products and services.

This role will report to and work closely with the Chief Revenue Officer. It will collaborate with the Editor-in-Chief and technology team.

LOCATION: REMOTE WORK OPPORTUNITY

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead development of new product business strategies.
  • In collaboration with editorial, business, and organizational leaders, create and execute high-growth revenue opportunities in traditional advertising, job ads, and sponsorships.
  • Actively engage in high-level sales, business development efforts with the sales team, seeking input as needed from digital, marketing, product, and editorial teams.
  • Support advertising team peers in maintaining senior-level business relationships with current and prospective advertising decision-makers, industry influencers, and strategic partners, domestically and globally, by building out The Chronicle’s product line and position in the marketplace.
  • Identify significant trends in corporate and image products and services and develop solutions to address product and service gaps in The Chronicle’s offerings.
  • Work with CRO to identify and prioritize the Chronicle’s overall market opportunities, serving as a trusted partner who understands internal and external stakeholder needs; and provide actionable recommendations to improve results.
  • Identify and shape new ways to monetize brand, newsroom and distribution assets in the advertising, and sponsorship space and work with others to build business cases, analyze competition, and differentiate products.
  • Participate in special projects and initiatives, including helping to evaluate partnerships and acquisitions, cross-unit collaboration, and best practice sharing
• Launch new products with the sales team and deliver on key results:
  • Build and develop sales plans for new products with quarterly reviews.
  • Own acquiring and building revenue partners for new-to-Chronicle events and business lines.
  • Coach and support sales teammates toward seizing market opportunity via new product and product line extension sales into existing accounts and new ones.
  • Work with CRO to strengthen sales management, pipeline, performance metrics, and prospecting efforts/process and analysis for new and renewed products and ad categories.
  • Keep abreast of major account, industry, and competitive trends in nonprofits and philanthropy that affect marketing and ad spending. Work with CRO to revise strategies and estimates to maximize revenue opportunity or manage through downturns.
  • Develop and communicate goals and results surrounding new and extended products effectively to staff. Motivate and actively support sales teammates through the selling cycle.
• Generate leads and track progress for personal sales portfolio:
  • Own a portion of budgeted top-line revenue and profitability for the department, per the annual budget.
  • Perform research on competitor websites, through conferences and various other means to prospect clients.
  • Lead sales calls with clients and generate proposals for clients on new-to-Chronicle products, services and events.
  • Utilize customer relationship management software program to continually update pipeline activity
  • Provide useful metrics to clients and connect clients with marketing and advertising operations teams.
    
    

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS:

Bachelor’s degree required, MBA preferred, and at least 8 years of relevant sales experience in media publishing in print, online, sponsorships, and events.

• Proven success leading, motivating, and managing new products’ development and launch.
• Proven best-practice customer experience and customer service management.
• Sales experience with leading national advertisers and agencies in the education, environmental, health care, advocacy, foundation, wealth management, technology and/or related categories is desirable.
• Prior experience with the buying and selling cycles in weekly or bi-weekly subscription products preferred.
• Experience in identifying and implementing new digital multimedia revenue products.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

• Broad knowledge of sales-related technology and tools for optimizing staff resources.
• Strong knowledge of sales reporting and data analysis.
• Deep knowledge of digital media and advertising operations.
• Exceptional organizational, analytical, and project management skills.
• Effective presentation and negotiation skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills.
• Proficiency in the uses of technology tools, sales reporting tools, and databases is required to track, monitor, and report on sales trends, forecasts, and performance against budget.
• Strong systems orientation, including Salesforce, Google DFP or similar systems and technologies.
• Proven ability to solve complex and diverse business problems.
• An ability to quickly analyze situations, envision alternative scenarios, and recommend solid strategic and tactical solutions in ambiguous market conditions.
• An ability to listen and respond to customer needs.
• Ability to effectively present and make meaningful contributions in meetings and events with senior decision-makers.