Director of Client Partnerships

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The Banner is looking for a Director of Client Partnerships to lead our advertising sales organization and help shape the next stage of its growth.

About the Role

The Director of Client Partnerships leads The Banner’s Client Partnership team and is responsible for delivering against advertising revenue goals across Baltimore, Prince George’s County, Montgomery County, and the broader Maryland market.

Our Client Partnership model is centered on building strong, long-term relationships with clients by understanding their businesses, identifying their marketing objectives, and developing solutions across The Banner’s advertising, sponsorship, event, content, and audience offerings.

This is a hands-on sales leadership role. You will lead and coach Client Partners, manage pipeline and revenue forecasts, help develop strategic accounts, participate in major client opportunities, and establish consistent expectations for how we prospect, sell, retain, and grow client relationships.

You will work closely with the SVP of Client Partnerships and partner across Business Development, Advertising Operations, Events, Marketing, Product, Finance, and Analytics.

What You'll Do

Lead, coach, and develop The Banner’s Client Partnership team.

Own execution against monthly, quarterly, and annual advertising revenue goals.

Establish clear individual revenue goals, account priorities, activity expectations, and performance standards.

Manage client portfolios across Baltimore, Prince George’s County, Montgomery County, and other Maryland markets.

Conduct regular pipeline reviews, account reviews, forecast discussions, and individual coaching sessions.

Coach Client Partners on discovery, consultative selling, account strategy, presentations, negotiations, closing, retention, and account expansion.

Help the team develop deeper, longer-term client relationships by understanding business needs and identifying relevant solutions.

Manage the quality and accuracy of the sales pipeline and revenue forecast.

Identify revenue risks, pipeline gaps, and opportunities for new business or account expansion.

Participate directly in major client meetings, presentations, negotiations, and strategic sales opportunities.

Develop relationships with key advertisers, agencies, businesses, community organizations, and strategic partners.

Guide account planning for high-value and high-potential client relationships.

Establish priorities for prospecting and new-client acquisition.

Partner with Business Development to build a strong pipeline of qualified prospects.

Ensure Client Partners have the support needed to spend more time developing relationships, selling, and growing accounts.

Work with Advertising Operations to create effective handoffs from sale through campaign execution.

Collaborate with Events, Product, Marketing, and Analytics to develop integrated solutions for clients.

Provide market feedback regarding client needs, competitive offerings, pricing, products, and emerging opportunities.

Help introduce new advertising products and ensure the Client Partnership team is prepared to position and sell them effectively.

Partner with Finance and the SVP of Client Partnerships on revenue forecasting and planning.

What You'll Bring

7+ years of professional sales experience, including significant experience in digital advertising, media, marketing services, integrated marketing, or a related field.

At least 3 years of experience directly managing and coaching sales professionals.

A demonstrated history of leading teams that meet or exceed revenue goals.

Experience managing sales pipelines, revenue forecasts, client portfolios, and CRM-based sales processes.

Strong understanding of consultative and relationship-based selling.

Experience selling digital advertising or integrated marketing solutions.

Experience developing and growing significant client relationships.

Demonstrated ability to coach sellers through prospecting, discovery, account strategy, proposal development, negotiation, closing, retention, and expansion.

Strong business judgment and the ability to use revenue, pipeline, client, and market data to make decisions.

Strong presentation, negotiation, communication, and relationship-management skills.

Comfort providing direct feedback, establishing clear expectations, and holding a sales team accountable for results.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in digital media, local media, publishing, advertising, or a related industry.

Knowledge of the Baltimore, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Washington, D.C., or broader Maryland advertising markets.

Experience working with both direct advertisers and advertising agencies.

Experience selling display advertising, newsletters, sponsored content, audience targeting, social advertising, programmatic advertising, events, sponsorships, or integrated media programs.

Experience leading consultative, relationship-driven sales teams.

Experience balancing new-business development with long-term account growth.

Salary Range: $240,000–$270,000 (This amount represents on target earnings for this role. It includes a combination of base salary and targeted annual commissions.) Individual pay may vary based on experience, internal equity, and business considerations. We regularly review compensation to ensure it remains competitive, fair, and equitable. This position is eligible for a commissions plan.

Why The Banner

The Banner is building a sustainable model for local journalism. Advertising revenue plays a critical role in supporting our public-service mission while helping local organizations connect with engaged audiences across the region. We take pride in our core values that outline how we work. If you meet the qualifications above and see yourself in the cultural elements below, we’d love to talk.

Our Core Values:

Do what’s right. Honesty, morality, respect and the mission guide our actions and decisions. By doing the right thing, we inspire others to believe.

Work together. We collaborate to create something special. Together we challenge assumptions, trust each other, take risks, and foster transparent and direct communication.

Listen to be heard. Our stories are trustworthy. They are inspired by and created for our readers. Their story is our story. Communities are at the center of our journalism, and everything we do.

Deliver impactful results. Acting as one accountable team and driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, we deliver bold and innovative results. We act fast, execute and learn. We celebrate great outcomes.

Be inclusive. We celebrate the uniqueness of each individual and act by curating a culture that leverages diverse perspectives as the key to fulfilling our mission. The Banner is for all of us.

The Venetoulis Institute embraces diversity and inclusion, and we are wholeheartedly committed to being proactive in inspiring a culture of inclusion across our organization. We are dedicated to establishing an organization that reflects the fundamental respect for different ways of working and living, and we assure every employee the opportunity to reach their full potential.

We are dedicated to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities throughout the recruitment process. If you require accommodation due to a disability to participate in the application process, please contact [email protected] to request accommodation. Reasonable accommodations may include, but are not limited to, adjustments in the application process, modifications or assistance regarding job interviews, and accommodations to enable access to our facilities. We appreciate the value that individuals with disabilities bring to our workforce and encourage applicants with disabilities to disclose their needs for accommodation to facilitate a smooth