VP Sales - Brands Direct
Genius Sports is seeking a Vice President of Sales to build and lead its Brands Direct business. This role involves managing relationships with two primary advertiser groups: brands that manage media in-house and the top 100 brand advertisers in the country. The successful candidate will drive revenue growth, lead strategic deals, and oversee a high-performing team of Brand Account Representatives.
The position requires close collaboration with agency sales teams to ensure a seamless client experience and integrated commercial proposals. The Vice President of Sales will act as the brand-side voice within the company, influencing pricing, packaging, and creative strategies to align with marketer needs.
- Own and exceed the Brands Direct revenue number, net-new and expansion across brands that buy media in-house and across our share of the largest 100 brand advertisers.
- Personally lead the most strategic brand-direct deals, discovery, ideation, pitch, negotiation, and contracting at the CMO / Head of Media level.
- Build the segmentation: which brands are pure in-house, which are agency-led, which are hybrid, and how Genius shows up for each.
- Translate our Moments framework; Pre-Game anticipation, Real-Time In-Game, Post-Game sentiment, into brand-side narratives anchored on audience, outcomes, brand lift, and creative effectiveness.
- Partner with the holding-company and agency sales VPs to drive a coordinated motion against the largest 100 brand advertisers.
- Co-own joint account plans for the top 100 brands: clear ownership of brand-side relationships, will collaborating on joint pitches and joint commercial proposals.
- Serve as the brand-side voice in pricing, packaging, and creative discussions, making sure our offer lands with marketers, not just media buyers.
- Run a tight cross-team operating cadence with the agency VPs so handoffs are clean, credit is shared, and the customer experience is seamless.
- Hire, coach, and retain a high-performing team of, Brand Account Reps, each owning a category cut or a defined named-brand book.
- Set the standard for prospecting rigor, pitch quality, account planning, and forecast discipline.
- Run a tight weekly operating cadence: pipeline reviews, account reviews, deal inspection, forecast calls, and 1:1 coaching grounded in deal data.
- Operate the CRM and forecast as a discipline, not a chore; deliver a forecast leadership can trust within ±10%.
- Partner cross-functionally with Marketing on brand-side demand generation, Product on brand and creative feedback, Insights on case studies, and Ad Ops on flawless campaign execution.
- Represent Genius Sports at brand-attended industry events; Cannes Lions, Possible, ANA Masters of Marketing, Advertising Week, IAB ALM and at brand-side innovation and upfront moments.
- 10+ years selling advertising, ad-tech, or media to brand advertisers (required).
- At least 3 years in a sales leadership role carrying a team number (required).
- Demonstrable success selling directly into brand-side marketing organizations - CMOs, Heads of Media, Heads of In-House Media, Heads of Programmatic, Brand Investment Leads (required).
- Track record of personally closing seven-figure annual brand-direct deals and of developing reps who do the same (required).
- Strong, current relationships across the top 100 brand advertisers in key categories (CPG, QSR, auto, financial services, telco, retail, travel, entertainment) (required).
- Proven ability to coordinate with agency sales teams on joint pursuits - clear ownership, shared credit, no client friction (required).
- Deep fluency in the modern media stack: CTV, programmatic, social, addressable, attention/measurement, and the brand-side P&L (required).
- Comfort selling complex, data-driven products - you can make signal-based, moment-based advertising feel simple to a CMO with 11 other meetings that day (required).
- Operating discipline: forecast accuracy, CRM hygiene (HubSpot or Salesforce), pipeline management, and a real point of view on brand-side sales process (required).
- Experience selling sports media, sports data, or fan-engagement products directly to brand advertisers (nice-to-have).
- Background in CTV, programmatic, or attention/outcomes-based media sales to brand-side buyers (nice-to-have).
- Experience running a coordinated brand-and-agency sales motion alongside a holdco or agency sales organization (nice-to-have).
- The annualized base salary for this role ranges from $220,000 to $240,000 USD.
- Eligibility for additional variable compensation.
- Eligibility to take part in Genius Sports Group's benefits plan.
- Commitment to supporting employee wellbeing and helping you grow your skills, experience and career.
Genius Sports is a sports data and technology company that supplies official data, streaming, integrity and advertising services to sports leagues, sportsbooks and media companies. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in London, with a major office in New York and others worldwide, it is the official data partner of organisations including the NFL, English Premier League and FIBA. The company provides the technology that connects sports, betting and media businesses. Genius Sports is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.