WORK OPTION: The NBA currently provides eligible employees the option of working remotely one day per week.

Sales Operations & Production Lead, Local Media

Position Summary

The Sales Operations & Production Lead, Local Media is responsible for overseeing the operational execution, production workflow, and commercial delivery infrastructure supporting the NBA's Local Media business. Reporting to the General Manager, Local Media, this role oversees the end-to-end coordination of advertising operations, sales execution, trafficking, inventory management, format strategy, and production services across the league's local media ecosystem.

This leader manages a multidisciplinary organization consisting of full-time employees and contractor resources across three core verticals: Ad Traffic & Format Strategy, Sales Operations, and Sales Production. The role is accountable for building scalable operational processes, ensuring flawless commercial execution, optimizing production readiness, developing and adhering to broadcast standards and practices for inventory, and driving cross-functional coordination between programming, commercial, production, engineering, finance, and distribution teams.

The AVP will play a critical role in launching and scaling the Local Media operating model for the 2026-27 season and beyond, helping establish standards, workflows, systems, and governance that enable efficient monetization and high-quality delivery across linear, streaming, and emerging distribution platforms.

Major Responsibilities

• Lead the Sales Operations & Production organization supporting Local Media commercial execution, including advertising workflows, inventory operations, trafficking strategy, production coordination, and sales enablement.

• Manage and develop a team of full-time employees and contractor resources spanning Ad Traffic & Format Leadership, Sales Operations, and Sales Production functions.

• Oversee advertising formats, operations and trafficking workflows across local linear, digital, and streaming platforms, ensuring accurate inventory execution, format compliance, timely delivery, and campaign fulfillment.

• Develop and standardize operational procedures, workflow governance, and quality-control protocols across commercial production and sales execution activities.

• Partner closely with Commercial, Ad Sales, Finance, Programming, Production, Technology, Engineering, Distribution, and external media partners to ensure alignment between revenue objectives and operational capabilities.

• Lead commercial inventory planning and operational readiness for live game broadcasts, shoulder programming, sponsored content, and ancillary programming across all local media markets.

• Oversee sales production execution, including creative asset management, sponsorship integration workflows, production timelines, and delivery coordination with internal and external stakeholders.

• Collaborate with Programming and Production teams to ensure advertising formats, sponsorship integrations, and commercial breaks are operationally aligned with production standards and league guidelines.

• Drive operational efficiency initiatives through workflow automation, systems optimization, vendor coordination, and resource planning to improve scalability and reduce operational risk.

• Establish KPI frameworks, reporting cadences, and operational dashboards to measure delivery accuracy, production efficiency, campaign execution, inventory utilization, and revenue support performance.

• Support the launch and scaling of the Local Media organization for the 2026-27 season by helping implement operational infrastructure, staffing models, vendor strategies, and cross-functional processes.

• Serve as a senior operational escalation point for commercial delivery issues, production conflicts, trafficking exceptions, and time-sensitive broadcast execution matters.

• Partner with Engineering and Technical Operations teams to ensure operational readiness across ad insertion systems, trafficking platforms, delivery workflows, and content management systems.

• Ensure compliance with league standards, advertiser obligations, rights requirements, and operational policies related to commercial content delivery and production workflows.

• Foster a high-performance, collaborative culture focused on accountability, continuous improvement, operational excellence, and innovation.

Required Education/Professional Experience

• Bachelor's degree preferred; advanced degree a plus.

• 12+ years of progressive leadership experience within sports media, broadcast operations, advertising operations, live production environments, or media sales operations.

• Demonstrated experience managing advertising operations, trafficking workflows, sales production, and commercial execution across linear and/or streaming media platforms.

• Proven track record leading operational teams in fast-paced live-event or broadcast environments with high standards for execution accuracy and reliability.

• Experience managing cross-functional workflows between production, programming, ad sales, engineering, finance, and distribution organizations.

• Experience building and scaling operational processes, workflow governance, and team structures within evolving media organizations.

• Strong vendor management and resource planning experience, including oversight of external contractors and operational service providers.

• Experience implementing operational KPIs, reporting systems, and process optimization initiatives.

• Experience with vendor sourcing, evaluation and negotiation.

Required Skills/Knowledge Attributes

• Deep understanding of broadcast and streaming advertising operations, trafficking systems, commercial inventory management, and production workflows.

• Strong operational leadership skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities in high-pressure live media environments.

• Knowledge of sales operations processes, sponsorship execution, production logistics, and commercial delivery systems.

• Excellent organizational and project management capabilities with strong attention to detail and execution discipline.

• Analytical mindset with the ability to leverage operational data, workflow metrics, and performance reporting to drive decision-making and process improvement.

• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to align cross-functional teams and external partners.

• Experience leading distributed operational teams and balancing internal staff management with contractor/vendor oversight.

• Ability to navigate organizational transformation, ambiguity, and evolving operational requirements while maintaining delivery excellence.

• Established history of creating a culture of consistent feedback and coaching across all levels

• Collaborative leadership style with a focus on accountability, team development, and continuous operational improvement.

• Familiarity with sports media ecosystems, live game production operations, and local/regional media business models preferred.

Salary Range:

$180,000 - $225,000

Job Posting Title:
Associate Vice President

Employees currently are eligible to receive an annual discretionary performance bonus, awarded at the sole discretion of the Company and subject to any terms and conditions set by the Company. Employees and/or eligible dependents may be eligible to participate in the following Company-sponsored employee benefit programs: medical; dental; vision; life/AD&D insurance; short- and long-term disability; fertility and family-forming assistance; wellbeing allowance; educational assistance; mental health coaching/therapy; tax advantaged accounts such as HSA and healthcare/dependent care FSAs; a 401(k) retirement plan; and time off benefits that include vacation, sick time, and personal days.