Ad Sales Manager

About the Role & Team

This role sits within the London-based Disney Advertising Sales team, with responsibility for driving revenue growth across Disney+, ESPN and the wider Disney Media portfolio. 

The Ad Sales Manager will own and grow senior agency and advertiser relationships, combining strong knowledge of TV, digital and CTV with Disney's content, audience, data and partnership capabilities to deliver sustainable commercial growth. 

This position carries accountability for strategic account leadership, senior stakeholder relationships, and complex commercial negotiations.

The role will help shape agency and advertiser strategy for assigned accounts, identifying where Disney is under-represented and creating multi-quarter plans to grow share of investment across direct, programmatic, sponsorship and partnership routes. 

The Ad Sales Manager is expected to act as a visible leader within the UK Sales team, influencing senior internal stakeholders and contributing to how Disney Advertising evolves its proposition and ways of working. 

This role is part of an agency pod structure reporting to the Senior Sales Manager and is an individual contributor role with no direct reports.  

This role will be based in our London Hammersmith office, 4 days a week, with either a Monday or Friday working from home. 

You'll join a team grounded in our Disney values: acting with Integrity, welcoming everyone through Inclusion, embracing boundless Creativity, working together through Collaboration, and caring deeply for our Community. These values shape how we work and how we support one another every day. 

What You Will Do

• Own and deliver ambitious revenue targets across Disney+, ESPN and Disney Media through standard advertising, digital/CTV, sponsorships and custom content partnerships. 

• Lead a portfolio of priority agency and advertiser relationships, building senior-level partnerships and creating strategic account plans that translate relationships, client priorities and market intelligence into revenue growth. 

• Take greater ownership of the pod's commercial performance: maintain a robust forward pipeline, challenge gaps early, provide accurate forecasting and help coordinate actions required to deliver team targets. 

• Manage key trading-partner relationships and support the delivery of commercial agreements, balancing revenue, margin and value for clients. 

• Lead more complex commercial conversations and negotiations, including pricing, value, trading commitments, programmatic routes and bespoke partnership solutions, escalating appropriately where required. 

• Create and lead senior agency and client pitches, using Disney audience insight, data, content and IP to build persuasive commercial stories. 

• Grow programmatic and addressable revenue by ensuring the team can confidently sell evolving buying routes including PMP/PG, audience/data capabilities and relevant DSP integrations. 

• Develop client-direct relationships alongside agency partnerships, opening new conversations with senior marketers and identifying incremental budgets and new-to-Disney advertisers. 

• Work across Client Services, Revenue & Yield, Insights, Brand Partnerships, B2B Marketing and wider Disney lines of business to deliver excellent campaigns and repeatable business. 

• Act as a subject-matter lead for an agreed area of the commercial proposition - for example programmatic, measurement, partnerships, an agency group or advertiser vertical - and share learning across the wider UK team. 

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Significant experience in media sales, partnerships or a closely related commercial role, including successful experience at Senior Executive level or equivalent. 

• A proven track record of delivering revenue growth across TV, digital video, CTV, programmatic campaigns and/or commercial partnerships. 

• Demonstrable experience owning important agency or advertiser accounts and building relationships with senior investment, planning, programmatic, partnership and/or client stakeholders. 

• Experience developing account strategy and converting it into a measurable pipeline, accurate forecast and commercial outcomes - not simply responding to incoming briefs. 

• Strong commercial judgement and confidence leading complex negotiations around price, value, margin, trading agreements and bespoke solutions. 

• Strong knowledge of the UK media marketplace and how agencies and advertisers plan, buy and measure premium video across linear TV, BVOD, CTV and digital platforms. 

• Strong working knowledge of programmatic advertising, including DSPs, PMPs/PGs, audience targeting, identity/data and the role of automation within CTV buying. 

• A strong understanding of modern measurement approaches including attention, attribution, incremental reach and outcomes, with the ability to translate evidence into a compelling commercial story. 

• Excellent presentation, communication and analytical skills, with confidence presenting to both small groups and senior audiences. 

• Strong, relevant media sales/partnership experience, or equivalent depth of experience demonstrating the senior commercial judgement and leadership expected at Sales Manager level.

The Perks

• 25 days annual leave

• Private medical insurance & dental care

• Complimentary admission to eligible Disney Theme Parks, giving you the opportunity to experience the magic we create and make memories of your own. Admission is subject to availability, capacity restrictions, applicable rules, block-out dates, and eligibility requirements.

• Access to a wide range of Disney discounts on Disney merchandise, Disney Food & Beverage, Disney Resort Hotels, Disney Cruise Line, Adventures by Disney, National Geographic Expeditions, and more. Offerings are subject to availability and may be seasonal, and subject to applicable rules, restrictions, and eligibility requirements.

• Excellent parental and guardian leave

• Employee Resource Groups – WOMEN @ Disney, Disney Mosaic, Disney PRIDE, our disability & neurodiversity focused group - ENABLED, and our Mental Health & Wellbeing Group, TRUST.

The Walt Disney Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We strive to be a diverse workforce that is representative of our audiences, and where all can thrive and belong. Disney is committed to forming a team that includes and respects a variety of voices, identities, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. 

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.