Director, Ad Sales Marketing & Partnerships (Distribution)

At Disney, we’re storytellers, making the impossible possible. We deliver unparalleled creative content to audiences around the world. We do this through cutting-edge technology and by pushing the envelope to bring stories to life through our movies, products, interactive games, parks and resorts, and media networks. Disney Advertising drives the advertising revenue across platforms for the entire media portfolio – including Disney +, ABC, ESPN, Hulu, FX, and National Geographic.

The Ad Sales Marketing & Partnerships team at Disney Advertising is responsible for driving addressable revenue through storytelling and solutions by focusing on Audience, Automation, Measurement, Innovation and Partnerships and to enable the sales organization with resources and tools to more effectively sell and succeed.

We are a group of creative problem-solvers and collaborators who aren’t afraid of the unknown. We love to learn, embrace change, and we ask smart questions to devise viable, revenue-driving solutions in this fast-paced, dynamic environment.

The Director will report to the VP of Ad Sales Marketing and Partnerships, and is the strategic lead for Distribution Ad Partnerships responsible for setting and leading strategy across strategic platform partnerships, establishing team goals and priorities. Prioritizes solutions that maximize revenue across the portfolio and align with broader strategy.

Oversight of deal term negotiations. Develops, directs, and defends the path to unlock Disney Ad Sales needs, priorities, and opportunities to drive growth. Guide development of performance benchmarking, marketplace intelligence, and social data and analytics Provides leadership and direction using experience and knowledge to lead through ambiguity Responsible for growing and supporting individual team members - driving career conversations, elevating issues and securing leadership buy-in on key initiatives.

Collaborates with, and acts as key liaison between, multiple internal departments including: Platform Distribution, Business Development, Content/Product, Marketing, Ad Sales, Automated Operations, Ad Platforms, Revenue Analytics, Legal and other teams, in the development and launch of new and enhanced revenue-driving addressable initiatives.

Requires broad and comprehensive understanding of addressable marketplace, advanced advertising, data, automation and programmatic, streaming and social video, ad products, and measurement solutions. Applies in-depth knowledge of own function, business and expertise to differentiate Disney Advertising from the competition; pulls upon accumulated knowledge of marketer perspective and laser focused on value proposition.

The Director approaches projects with a wide scope and big picture view, understanding not just the task at hand but how that will impact our business. The Director is able to successfully foster productive and respectful relationships with key stakeholders, positively representing the Ad Sales Marketing team.

The Director successfully influences and negotiates with great latitude on outcomes; presents and defends complicated or delicate issues; exercises sensitivity to the audience. Leads a function typically through multiple levels of Managers of diverse activities; develops and executes functional strategy or business plans to achieve key business objectives.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Contractual negotiations

• Cross functional collaboration on deal positions

• Statistical evaluation of deal economics

Experience:

• 8–10+ years at a media company, agency, or sales organization in advertising, sales marketing/communications, or ad solutions; digital experience required

• Strong understanding of the media distribution ecosystem, including experience working with or alongside distribution partners (e.g., MVPDs, vMVPDs, streaming platforms, OEMs, etc.)

• Knowledge of measurement (e.g., attribution, reach/frequency, dashboard analytics, linear/addressable measurement partners)

• Proven ability to collaborate and manage projects across cross-functional teams

• Demonstrated success in managing multiple work streams and prioritizing initiatives based on urgency and business impact

• Analytical skills to assess and quantify the business implications of deal terms

Skills:

• Excellent interpersonal skills

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

• Self-starter with curiosity, creativity and resourcefulness

• Good presentation building and storytelling abilities, with solid design skills (graphics/visualization)

• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills

• Solution-oriented and can recommendation based on analysis and input from stakeholders

• Adept at developing data-driven insights and strategies

• Ability to lead meetings, listen and communicate effectively across functions / levels

• Adept at simultaneously managing multiple work streams and prioritizing

• Proficiency in Word, Excel, Outlook and Power Point or Keynote

Education:

Bachelor’s degree

The hiring range for this position in New York, NY and Seattle, WA is $173,800 to $233,000 per year and in Los Angeles, CA; Chicago, IL and Bristol, CT is $165,900 to $222,400 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.