Executive Director, Partnerships

The Atlantic’s Advertising Brand Partnerships team is responsible for cultivating opportunities and driving advertising revenue across The Atlantic’s platforms, including print, display, custom content, live events, audio, video, and programmatic.

The ideal candidate is smart, ambitious, naturally curious, with a conviction that high-quality journalism is fundamentally important. We are looking for someone deeply passionate about the entertainment & media industry and energized by the opportunity to grow The Atlantic’s advertising business and presence in Los Angeles, Hollywood, and across the broader cultural ecosystem. The ideal candidate lives and breathes the industry, understands the people, companies, trends, and cultural conversations shaping it, and brings both strong existing relationships and a genuine hunger for building new relationships and business and generating advertising revenue.

The Executive Director, Partnerships will focus on Entertainment & Media as an an integral part of the sales team and bring successful advertising partnerships to The Atlantic across the entertainment category across the broader Media & Entertainment ecosystem—including streaming platforms, studios, television and cable networks, film and television producers and distributors, publishers and digital media companies, audio and podcast networks, music and gaming companies.

This is an advertising sales role with direct responsibility for developing new business, growing existing accounts, and driving revenue across the category. The Executive Director will own senior client and agency relationships and lead the sales process from prospecting and initial conversations through proposal development, negotiation, and close. The ideal candidate will think expansively about what partnerships can look like and be able to translate The Atlantic’s journalism, audience, brand, events, and creative capabilities into ambitious commercial opportunities.  This role reports directly to the VP, Partnerships.

Responsibilities:

• Maintain and cultivate strong, senior-level relationships with clients, agencies, and partners across multiple divisions to develop and grow advertising revenue.

• Develop and deliver winning, cross-platform programs and proposals that lead to lasting and commercially successful advertising partnerships, with a focus on integrated selling and revenue growth.

• Own and actively develop a portfolio of Media & Entertainment accounts and prospects, with responsibility for generating new advertising business and expanding existing client relationships.

• Lead the advertising sales process across assigned accounts, from prospecting and client discovery through proposal development, negotiation, and close.

• Maintain deep knowledge and understanding of the market, categories, advertising business, and trends, particularly within the Media & Entertainment space.

• Serve as a representative of The Atlantic brand in a positive, convincing, and enthusiastic manner.

• Identify opportunities for breaking new business and renewing past client partnerships using data and insights from current or past campaigns.

• Lead account conversations with key internal partners to evaluate account performance, develop short- and long-term strategies, and discuss and act upon optimization opportunities and revenue growth.

• Think beyond traditional media plans and identify opportunities across custom content, video, events, screenings, sponsorships, print, digital, audio, and emerging formats.

• Bring a builder mentality to the role: identify whitespace, develop new ideas, and help expand The Atlantic’s footprint and relevance within the media and entertainment community while building a meaningful advertising business within the category.

• Proactively create new revenue opportunities and open doors with prospective partners through consistent prospecting, outreach, and relationship development.

• Serve as a visible representative of The Atlantic in Los Angeles and across the broader media and entertainment industry.

Qualifications:

• Minimum 7–10 years of experience in media sales, with a successful track record driving advertising revenue and selling smart creative that transcends traditional advertising.

• Strong relationships on both the agency and client sides within the Media & Entertainment space, ideally spanning studios, streaming platforms, networks, digital media companies, and related sectors.

• Demonstrated success owning and growing a book of advertising business, developing new accounts, and converting client relationships and ideas into revenue.

• Ability to be proactive, take ownership, and work independently.

• Impeccable communication and relationship-management skills across both internal and external constituencies.

• A natural ability to invent and deliver convincing arguments through the spoken and written word.

• A calm, cool, and collected mind—a constitution that affords “grace under fire”—coupled with a personality inclined toward perpetual positivity and a sense of possibility.

• Deep knowledge of and genuine passion for media, entertainment, and the cultural conversations shaping the industry.

• A demonstrated ability to develop new business, build relationships from the ground up, and create opportunities where none previously existed.

• A courageous, big-picture thinker who is willing to pursue ambitious ideas and see opportunities others may miss.

• Intellectually curious and energized by journalism, culture, media, and the ideas shaping the world.

• Based in Los Angeles, with an active interest in participating in and building relationships across the local media and entertainment community.

Salary Minimum: $180,000; Salary Maximum: $200,000, plus commission.
This position is remote, based in Los Angeles, CA.