General Sales Manager - Athens Radio

Cox Media Group•Watkinsville, GA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Cox Media Group (CMG) Athens Radio is seeking a General Manager, Sales to lead the market’s advertising sales organization and own revenue growth across broadcast and digital platforms. This strategic sales leadership role requires significant digital advertising expertise, disciplined revenue management, and the ability to build accountable sales teams that deliver integrated marketing solutions for clients. Candidates without a strong foundation in digital advertising strategy, products, analytics, and sales leadership will not be successful in this role. The successful candidate will be an accomplished sales leader with extensive knowledge of digital marketing solutions, including search, social media, streaming audio, OTT/CTV, digital video, display advertising, audience targeting, and campaign analytics. The GSM will be responsible for coaching and developing the sales team to confidently identify client challenges, recommend integrated solutions, and communicate measurable business outcomes across both traditional and digital platforms. This leader owns total market sales performance, including local and digital revenue, new business development, forecasting discipline, pipeline health, and account growth. The General Manager, Sales, will serve as the market’s primary sales leader on integrated marketing strategy, helping sellers connect client objectives with effective multi-platform solutions while ensuring campaigns are measured, analyzed, and optimized to deliver results. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of leading successful sales teams, growing digital revenue, building integrated marketing strategies, holding teams accountable to performance standards, and developing high-performing sales professionals in a digitally focused media environment.

Requirements

Demonstrated expertise in digital advertising strategy, campaign analytics, and performance measurement, with the ability to coach sellers and clients on solutions that support measurable business outcomes.
Minimum of three years of leadership experience in media sales, digital media, marketing, advertising, or a related field.
Proven success developing sales strategy, coaching and managing sales professionals, driving revenue growth, and achieving business objectives.
Strong understanding of search, social media, streaming audio, OTT/CTV, digital video, display, and audience-targeting strategies, with the ability to connect these solutions to client goals.
Demonstrated ability to create and present integrated marketing strategies that combine broadcast, digital, and promotional assets to solve client business challenges.
Experience using campaign analytics, consumer insights, market research, and performance metrics to guide decision-making and optimize advertising strategies.
Strong communication, presentation, relationship-building, coaching, problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Demonstrated success in new-business development, pipeline management, forecasting accuracy, revenue accountability, and sales performance management.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, CRM platforms, sales reporting tools, and digital campaign performance reporting.
Valid driver’s license with a clean driving record.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
Experience leading digital revenue growth within a local media, advertising, or agency environment, including coaching sellers on integrated solutions and campaign performance conversations.
Successful background recruiting, developing, and retaining high-performing sales professionals.

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and inspire the sales organization to achieve and surpass total local revenue, digital revenue, new-business, and account-growth goals.
Establish and execute a market revenue strategy that maximizes radio, digital, event, promotional, and other available assets.
Drive new-business development and maintain accountability for prospecting, discovery, pipeline development, forecasting accuracy, and closing activity.
Develop the sales team’s ability to lead effective client needs assessments and create insight-driven, integrated advertising recommendations.
Provide hands-on leadership in digital sales strategy, helping sellers connect products and tactics to client objectives, audiences, budgets, and measurable outcomes.
Maintain strong working knowledge of priority digital advertising solutions and ensure sellers understand how to position them within integrated client strategies.
Guide customized campaigns across multiple platforms and use reporting, analytics, key performance indicators, and client feedback to evaluate results and recommend optimization.
Coach sellers to communicate campaign performance clearly, set realistic expectations, and strengthen client retention and growth.
Lead sales meetings, one-on-one coaching, account strategy sessions, client presentations, and market sales initiatives.
Collaborate with digital strategy, account management, operations, programming, and other internal partners to support accurate execution and a positive client experience.
Develop advertising events, promotions, seminars, and B2B marketing strategies that support revenue and community relationships.
Use consumer insights, market research, competitive information, and performance data to strengthen sales strategy and client recommendations.
Recruit, onboard, develop, and retain talented sales professionals while setting clear performance expectations and building a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous learning, and customer focus.
Maintain accurate revenue forecasts, pipeline visibility, and sales activity through company-approved CRM and reporting processes.