Director, Audience Activation

NielsenIQ • New York, NY

1d • $117,250 - $150,000

About The Position

About this job The Director, Audience Activation will be a key player in leading the sales initiatives for MRI-Simmons to grow our Advanced Advertising business, with solutions including data enrichment and audience activation. The ideal candidate will work collaboratively with the Media, Brand and Agency verticals to develop new sales opportunities, lead or participate in Advanced Advertising presentations, assist in developing new Advanced Advertising product initiatives, and finalize negotiations and contracts in relation to closing new business. This position will lead our engagement and penetration of Agency holding companies, specifically with Investment, Programmatic, Video and Activation teams, while supporting our relationships with their Client teams.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required
• 5–10+ years of experience in sales or business development within advanced advertising, programmatic, addressable, data enablement, audience data, or ad tech
• Proven success selling audience data solutions to agencies and brands.
• Strong industry network across agency and brand stakeholders, including programmatic, activation, investment, and digital teams
• Deep understanding of the advanced advertising and audience data ecosystem, including measurement and attribution solutions for digital media
• Demonstrated ability to communicate the value of audience and data‑driven solutions in a clear, compelling way
• Exceptional relationship management and executive‑level communication skills
• Strong negotiation skills with experience navigating complex commercial agreements
• Highly collaborative, proactive, and self‑directed
• Consultative, self-directed seller with a “hunter” mindset and the ability to create opportunity where none previously existed
• Comfortable leading complex, multi‑stakeholder sales cycles
• Strategic thinker who proactively identifies new use cases and growth opportunities
• Strong agency presence with hands-on experience operating within ad agencies, leading educational programming, thought leadership initiatives, and events for agency planning and buying teams

Nice To Haves

• Experience applying syndicated audience data to activation, planning, and partnership opportunities preferred.
• Familiarity with Challenger sales methodology and MEDDICC frameworks preferred

Responsibilities

• Revenue Growth & Deal Leadership Identify, develop, close new business and upsell opportunities focused on audience data enablement and activation
• Lead end‑to‑end sales cycles, including pre‑sales strategy, proposal development, negotiation, and contract execution
• Own commercial discussions and set pricing and deal terms in partnership with internal stakeholders
• Client & Partner Engagement Leverage strong industry relationships primarily across advertising and media agencies, and at times brands, and ad tech partners, with a strong focus on stakeholders in programmatic, digital, video, investment, and account teams
• Lead advanced advertising, audience activation, and other data‑driven presentations that clearly articulate the value of MRI‑Simmons audience intelligence
• Act as a trusted advisor to clients by aligning MRI‑Simmons audience solutions to their business, media, and activation objectives
• Requires approximately 25% travel.
• Product & Go‑to‑Market Collaboration Partner closely with Product, Commercial, and Operations teams to provide client input that informs product development and prioritization
• Support the development and launch of new data enablement and activation initiatives, partnerships, and go‑to‑market strategies
• Serve as a subject matter expert for advanced advertising and audience‑based use cases, guiding sales colleagues on complex opportunities
• Coordinate outreach and engagement with sales colleagues across all verticals
• Operational Excellence Manage internal sales processes to ensure CRM accuracy, timely sales order execution, and revenue collection
• Collaborate with Operations, Development, and Client Service teams to define data, technical, and delivery requirements
• Ensure client reporting requirements and contractual obligations are met

Benefits

• Comprehensive healthcare plan (medical, Rx, dental, and vision).
• Flexible spending accounts and a Health Savings Account (including company contributions).
• Life and AD&D insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan including company matching contributions.
• Disability insurance.
• Tuition Reimbursement.
• Discretionary paid time off program and 11 paid holidays.
• Flexible working environment
• Volunteer time off
• LinkedIn Learning
• Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees