Summary

Our advertising business is grounded on the belief that a new type of ad exchange is needed, one that uses AI to understand the full content of any digital screen. Leading brands in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific trust us to deliver contextually relevant ads in and around brand-safe content where user attention is focused.

GumGum’s growth team is obsessed with helping our clients win. As part of this team of marketers, sellers and media planners, the VP of Sales Strategy will bring a proactive planning and strategic approach to setting up our U.S. and Canadian clients for success. The ideal candidate has a media buying agency background, senior management experience and is comfortable with advertising technologies. S/he has proven expertise in leveraging the latest tools and techniques to help CPG, Auto, Retail or Media clients navigate a complex ad landscape. The candidate will oversee a team of 15 media wizards and will be responsible for continuing to develop a first-class pre-sales team. S/he will be based in the Santa Monica or New York offices. Occasional travel nationally will be necessary. This position reports to the Chief Growth Officer.

Responsibilities 
 

STRATEGIC MARKETING

• Keep up-to-date on key industry trends and occasionally speak at industry events (e.g. Digiday)
• Lead collaboration with content development team on thought leadership programs by providing strategic insights on overall sales program
• Help refine the GumGum value proposition/unique selling points to our clients and partners
• Create industry memos on relevant themes (e.g. CCPA) for our pre-sales and sales teams
• Oversee internal sales hub "Gumstore" functionality and collateral development such as presentations, online experiences, one-sheets and more
• Lead branded case study process and production and other third-party validation documents (Forrester TEI)
• Liaise with the product team for consumer research (e.g. GumGum ad perceptions) and new product introductions
• Work with our client success team to enhance sales and marketing touch-points
• Partner with RVPs to craft sales engagement and re-engagement in order to expand our footprint within top 50 U.S. accounts
• Attend industry conferences and committees (IAB, ANA, 4As, etc.)
• Own client primary and secondary market research, including competitive intelligence
• Work to create strategic partnership programs with key agencies in an effort to increase deal sizes and generate revenue
• Streamline reporting and success measurement programs across all “pre-sales” teams
• Lead collaboration with Product team to create educational collateral and training materials for the entire Growth team

TEAM LEADERSHIP

• Articulate vision and values for the pre-sales team
• Ensure that our strategic marketers and planners are comfortable with the latest industry trends (e.g. programmatic)
• Develop formal industry and functional training programs
• Assess current team incentives and make sure that they are effective and competitive
• Create career path, manage two to three team leads and lead sales strategy calls with the entire team
• Represent sales strategy team during internal calls, summits and more
• Work closely with RVPs of sales, ad operations and products team
• Provide ongoing, regular formal and informal feedback
• Communicate with team members regularly, as a team and one-on-one

PROPOSAL  MANAGEMENT (Direct & Programmatic)

• Oversee our RFP/proposal team (10 individuals or so)
• Work with leads to refine our process for responding to RFPs (high volume)
• Ensure that we can meet high quality standards and that proposals are timely
• Develop strategies to respond to strategic accounts versus standard accounts
• Partner with creative team to create templates and custom proposals
• Oversee research and insights tools to ensure that proposals are data-led
• Own success metrics such as proposal quality and close rates

Minimum Qualifications

• 7 to 10+ years senior management experience preferably at a holding media agency or adtech provider
• Robust expertise in working with brands directly
• Demonstrated leadership skills
• Impeccable verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent project management skills
• Able to manage a small budget
• Experience managing teams
• Comfortable and confident in a fast-paced, agile, ever-changing work environment
• Experience mentoring/guiding team members
• Strong stage presence
• Experienced, confident and clear in public speaking engagements
• Possess, and continue to develop, a strong network across the ad tech industry
• Ability to travel globally as needed (appx 20 - 40% )
• Bachelor's degree

Preferred Qualifications

• Programmatic advertising
• MBA

Benefits & Perks

• Competitive health, vision and dental benefits
• Healthcare and dependent care FSA
• Employer-matched 401(k) plan
• Stock incentive program
• Paid parental leave
• Fitness reimbursement and wellness workshops
• Discounted Pet Health Program
• Flexible time off and work schedule
• Commuter perks
• Stocked kitchen & Everytable Smartfridge
• Dog-friendly HQ office - we love our fur babies! 
• Incredible work/life balance with a collaborative and friendly work space
• GumGum Gives Back volunteering opportunities
• Team building lunches and events, and monthly company celebrations
• Located in hotbed of tech startups, just blocks from the beach

Career & Personal Development Focus

• Ongoing learning and development for education opportunities such as webinars, books, classes, relevant conferences and events
• Opportunities to pursue business related side projects and yearly Hackathon
• Highly encouraged to contribute to open source software, including our own open source software
• Environment of learning from peers, including meetups, presentations and blog posts
• Opportunity to work with cutting edge technology
• Life Skills sessions - geared towards the whole life/health/person
• Leadership Bites Dinner Series - connecting current and future GumGum leaders over great food and meaningful conversation