Sales Director, Buyer Development - Midwest (Chicago)

About Media.net

Media.net is a leading global ad-tech company building innovative advertising technology for the world's most premium publishers and advertisers. With one of the most comprehensive portfolios in the industry, spanning search, native, display, mobile, local, and video, Media.net is a top-5 ad-tech company by market cap and the second-largest contextual advertising business in the world by revenue. The company has 1,800+ employees across North America, Europe, and Asia, with its US HQ in New York and Global HQ in Dubai.

Founded in 2010, Media.net spent its first several years building one of the most comprehensive ad-tech platforms in the industry, powering contextual advertising for major partners including Yahoo and Bing. In 2016, that work led to a $900 million acquisition, one of the largest deals in ad-tech history at the time. In 2023, founder Divyank Turakhia reacquired the company, and Media.net entered a new chapter: reinvigorated, independent, and sharply focused on privacy-centric innovation for a post-cookie world. Over the past few years, we've been reintroducing that new Media.net to the market, and now we're bringing that momentum to the Midwest.

The Opportunity

Media.net is expanding its Midwest Buyer Development team, and we're looking for a Sales Director to help build and define what that growth looks like. This is a rare opportunity to get in early on a high-priority region, working directly with the Head of Midwest Demand to shape strategy, open new accounts, and establish Media.net as the go-to programmatic partner for the region's holding companies, agencies, and brands.

You'll own relationships across Media.net Exchange, our marketplace featuring proprietary contextual enrichment and industry-leading efficiency across premium programmatic supply, and be a driving force behind revenue growth in a region with significant untapped potential.

With access to premium inventory across native, display, mobile, and video, Media.net pairs differentiated first-party search-intent signals with curated, performance-focused supply through SELECT and provides exclusive ad experiences such as Bytes—helping advertisers reach high-value audiences and drive measurable outcomes.

If you thrive on building something, not just maintaining it, this is your seat.

What You'll Do

• Build and grow relationships with advertising agencies, holding companies, independents, and client-direct brand partners across the Midwest market
• Drive new business by prospecting aggressively while growing spend within your existing book of business
• Identify and close incremental revenue opportunities within current client accounts
• Partner daily with advertiser clients to deliver excellent service, including proactive media packaging that drives higher publisher and client revenue
• Develop deep expertise in Media.net's technology and media solutions, and translate that expertise into a compelling value proposition for buyers
• Collaborate cross-functionally with internal teams (ad ops, publisher development, finance, and leadership) to deliver a seamless client experience
• Represent Media.net at industry events and conferences to build your network and sharpen your market knowledge
• Travel as needed to nurture and grow client relationships across the region
• Help shape Midwest go-to-market strategy as one of the region's earliest sales hires; your input will directly influence how this territory is built

What You Bring

• 4+ years of experience in Programmatic Ad Sales, Business Development, Account Management, or Relationship Management, with a track record of success selling programmatic solutions to agency programmatic buying divisions and/or brands running programmatic in-house
• Existing relationships with Midwest-based agencies, holding companies, and/or brand programmatic teams strongly preferred
• Solid understanding of programmatic buying and selling: pricing models, optimization tactics, audience trends, and buying technologies
• Comfort using data to tell a story, including proficiency in Excel and the ability to translate analysis into a business case
• Strong presentation and negotiation skills (PowerPoint fluency a plus)
• A self-starter mentality; you're energized by building a territory, not just running an existing playbook
• Based in or willing to be based in the Chicago area, with regional travel as needed

Why Media.net

• Ground-floor impact: Join a growing Midwest team where your work directly shapes the region's trajectory
• A company on a comeback: Be part of a reinvigorated, founder-led Media.net that's actively re-establishing itself in the market after a 2023 return to independence
• Best-in-class technology: Sell into a marketplace built on proprietary contextual enrichment and top-tier programmatic efficiency
• Global scale, local focus: Access the resources and stability of a top-5 global ad-tech company while owning a defined regional territory
• Direct mentorship: Report to and work closely with the Head of Midwest Demand, with a clear line of sight to leadership and career growth as the region scales
• Collaborative culture: Work cross-functionally with teams who are invested in your success and client outcomes

Media.net is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We don't just value diversity, we promote and celebrate it. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. All information is kept confidential in accordance with EEO guidelines.