Please note that this position is no longer available.
If you would like to be considered for similar opportunities now or in the future, feel free to apply and/or set up a notifier for yourself.

National Sales Director, Midwest

IL - Chicago - OR - CO, Denver

Apply with

Opportunity Snapshot

This position offers you the opportunity to join a company that is changing the newspaper game, including the sales role itself. You will enjoy the flexibility and independence of working out of your home office and sell multiple markets -- national, regional, and local -- across three newspapers and a national network of local websites that includes 60 metro areas and is growing. If you are in the media industry you've probably heard us characterized as a leading edge upstart whose unique business model is making an impact among readers and advertisers.

Your mission will be to take an aggressive approach to winning market share for The Examiner brand in the Midwest, with a focus on new business (although you will assume ownership of an established book of business including major name advertisers). To be a good fit for this opportunity you will have at least 5 years of demonstrated success in B2B sales. The ideal candidate will come from media sales and have established relationships with key Midwest contacts. Just as important will be your drive, self-motivation, and your organized approach to keeping many sales, involving multiple decision makers, moving forward at any given time.

While our roots reach back to the 1860s, The Examiner business model has been completely reinvented following the company's purchase by Philip Anschutz in 2004. Clarity Media Group is one of the country's fastest growing media conglomerates, offering news and local information in some 60 major metropolitan areas as the Washington D.C. Examiner, The San Francisco Examiner, The Baltimore Examiner, and Examiner.com.

What Else You'll Bring to the Table

In addition to the qualifications detailed above, you'll need:

A track record of success in sales that displays progressively increasing responsibilities.
Proven business development skills across consultative solutions, multiple points of decision-making, and long sales cycles (although the cycle will vary in this role).
Solid analytical skills and a demonstrated ability to develop and deliver detailed proposals.
Strong PowerPoint and stand up presentation and proposal skills.
The ability to develop and maintain effective relationships both internally and externally.
Persistence, resilience, and a strong sense of urgency.
The self-motivation and self-discipline to achieve goals with minimal supervision.

You also will need to be willing and able to travel overnight eight to ten days a month, although it will vary from month to month. For the most part you will have control over your schedule and travel, though there will be the occasional short-notice trip. Our first preference is that you be based in Chicago, but you might also be based out of our corporate headquarters in Denver.

What's in It for You

Entrepreneurial energy and autonomy -- if you're ready to get out from under the smothering structure of the big corporate scene, you'll find The Examiner a breath of fresh air. You'll set your own hours (no checking in every day) and use the approach that works best for you. Assuming you channel your drive and urgency to deliver results, we'll give you the elbow room you need to succeed.

Unique, flexible portfolio -- we've pioneered a new model that's reinventing the newspaper industry:

Some industry observers call our print products "un-newspapers." With the right price (it's delivered free to select households), relevant local content, and a format designed to be read in about 20 minutes, this approach has enabled us to gain readership.
We are re-creating online news, information and community venues from the ground up, in terms of both technology and content delivery, to establish a national brand that is the destination of choice for local information.

As you can see, you can create diverse product mixes to help advertisers target their audiences with precision and impact.

The upstart edge -- no question about it, you'll be challenged in every one of your markets to capture share from established competitors. You'll work with major name advertisers (like Sears, Target, Kohl's, and Home Depot) and ad agencies, but you'll represent the upstart. If you're the person we're looking for, you'll recognize the opportunity to make a name for yourself by leveraging that upstart edge in a highly dynamic industry.

Great culture -- you'll join a creative and growing company that takes a fast paced team-oriented approach. We are extremely responsive to our readers' and advertisers' changing needs and you'll have the opportunity to unleash your creativity as you help develop advertising strategies that work for your clients.

Excellent compensation -- our goal is to set you up for success, and we offer a generous base salary as well as an uncapped commission plan and bonus incentives. We'll help you set up your home office and provide the tools you need, and we offer a comprehensive benefits program.

More About Your Role

If you're a good fit for this position, you already know most of what this job entails. However, to be sure we're providing a complete picture, here are some details.

You will report to our Chief Marketing Officer and join a National Sales team that includes two other Directors for the Western and Eastern regions. This small team is directly responsible for up to 30% of the company's revenue. The principal markets in the Midwest are Detroit, Minneapolis, Chicago, and Atlanta.

While this is a Director level role, at the end of the day it is a direct hands-on sales role, working with national and regional advertisers as well as major ad agencies. You'll drive the entire sales process, from prospecting and cold calling to managing accounts. For the most part the sales process involves multiple decision-making points at the national, agency , and local level, and one of your challenges will be to keep many simultaneous sales initiatives moving forward.

You will leverage your analytical skills in developing detailed proposals that include market research and performance monitoring, and sell these proposals in attractive and compelling PowerPoint presentations. With three newspapers and a network of websites to work with, you can create an array of customized multimedia solutions targeting any market. We have an online library and other marketing resources you can draw from, but you'll also need a strong degree of self-sufficiency.

You also will have access to other resources within the company; in fact, pivotal to your success will be your ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships with the Publishers and VPs of Sales at the various publications. You'll find these individuals highly collaborative, but they also will challenge you to stay on your game. Moreover, you can expect input, support, as well as a degree of healthy sales pressure from a number of people within The Examiner.

Keys to Success

High expectations are the norm at The Examiner; we don't have the luxury of being the traditional company resting on the laurels of huge market share. For example, your targets will be more aggressive than those at many media companies. In addition we're in a highly competitive industry in a tough economy. If we haven't scared you away, good. If you see these challenges as an opportunity to shine, we've got a match! In addition, in order to be an outstanding National Sales Director, you will:

Bring an aggressive and intelligent approach; for example, many of your clients have separate departments with separate budgets handling print and online advertising -- you'll hit both.
Leverage all your tools -- phone, email, instant messaging, whatever it takes -- to keep the sales cycle moving forward.
Discipline and motivate yourself to achieve goals independently.
Bring a sense of urgency as well as strong resilience and persistence.

If this sounds like the right mix of challenge and opportunity for you, and you meet the minimum qualifications, we want to hear from you!

Who We Are

Formed by Phillip Anschutz in 2004, Clarity Media Group is a newspaper and web publishing company and the parent company to the Washington D.C. Examiner, The San Francisco Examiner, Baltimore Examiner, and Examiner.com.

Beginning with the San Francisco Examiner established in 1865 and made famous by William Randolph Hearst who took control in 1887, the Examiner name and brand is the basis for further expansion of alternative formats for news, features, and advertising in other key markets.

Clarity Media is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, a leading global content and venue company with interests in major arenas and theatres, sports teams, concerts, movies, hospitality and events and exhibits as well as oil and gas and other energy interests.