Advertising Sales Executive - Forest Ads

Forest; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free Forest bike rides for you and a +

25 days holiday pro rata + bank public

Private medical insurance & cashplan

Therapy and career coaching sessions

Annual personal development budget

Free lunch on Wednesdays

Birthday off

Childcare salary sacrifice

Job summary

Forest in London is seeking a proactive Advertising Sales Executive to grow our Forest Ads business. You'll build early pipeline, qualify prospects and run initial meetings under the Head of Advertising Sales.

Hybrid role with four days in the office and one day working from home. This position suits someone curious about brands, confident starting conversations and organised in their follow-through. You will collaborate with the wider sales team to convert opportunities into revenue.

Qualifications

• 1-2 years' experience in sales or business development, preferably in advertising or media.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with confidence to initiate conversations.
• Organised, commercially curious and able to turn market insights into relevant sales.
• Enjoys working with a team and taking ownership.

Responsibilities

• Prospecting and lead generation: qualify inbound inquiries and progress prospects into the pipeline.
• Market research and campaign tracking: monitor publishers and advertising platforms to inform outreach.
• Prospect engagement and qualification: run initial qualification meetings and arrange follow-ups.
• Sales materials and communications: develop outreach and maintain sales materials.
• CRM and pipeline management: keep records up to date and manage next steps.

Skills

Sales experience

Strong communication

Organised

Team player

Job description

Location: London (Hybrid 4 days/week in office)

Reports to: Head of Advertising Sales

A Bit About Forest

We’re Forest. You know, those shared ebikes in London that look like trees. We’re London’s most sustainable shared ebike operator. We bridge the gap between affordability and sustainability, using advertising revenue to offer our users up to 30 free minutes per ride. Our mission is to help cities move greener, and with over 1.5 million riders across 20 London boroughs, we’re growing fast.

A Bit About Forest Ads

Forest Ads is the commercial engine behind Forest, helping fund free ride minutes for every rider. It allows brands to connect with our riders through in-app advertising, video, branded bikes and customer rewards. We already work with brands including Virgin, Deliveroo, Octopus Energy, Merrell and Acer, and agency partners including OMD, Havas and WPP.

A Bit About The Role

We’re looking for a proactive, commercially minded Advertising Sales Executive to help us grow. You'll be responsible for developing the early stages of our sales pipeline, from researching prospects and creating tailored outreach to running initial qualification meetings. You'll work under our Head of Advertising Sales, handing opportunities over and collaborating with the wider sales team.

This role suits someone curious about brands, confident starting conversations and organised in their follow-through.

Your key responsibilities include:

Prospecting and lead generation

• Qualify inbound enquiries promptly, following up and progressing suitable prospects into the pipeline
• Identify and research target accounts, decision-makers and campaign opportunities across brands and media agencies, covering both digital advertising and bike sponsorship

Market research and campaign tracking

• Monitor comparable publishers, mobility-media platforms, DOOH and advertising platforms to understand who advertises with them and how their campaigns are structured
• Track brand activity, product launches, seasonal campaigns, agency appointments and sustainability/ESG commitments that create timely reasons to reach out

Prospect engagement and qualification

• Run initial qualification meetings to understand objectives, audiences, budgets, decision-making process, timelines and success KPIs, and identify where Forest's advertising proposition fits
• Arrange follow-ups and thorough handovers including discovery notes, contacts, and agreed next steps whilst assessing against agreed criteria

Sales materials and communications

• Develop personalised and compelling outreach across email, phone and LinkedIn, tailoring towards each prospect and product line
• Create and maintain relevant sales materials, sharing insights, testimonials and campaign results with the wider team

CRM and pipeline management

• Maintain accurate, current records of contacts, outreach, meetings and opportunities
• Ensure active prospects have clear next steps, owners and follow-up dates, re-engaging previous prospects when timing or priorities change

Who you are:

• 1 - 2 years' experience in a sales or business development, ideally in advertising, media, OOH or tech and keen to learn
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to contact and meet new people
• Organised, commercially curious and able to research and turn market insights into relevant sales
• You enjoy working with a team and are keen to get stuck in and take ownership

Measuring success

You’ll agree clear targets with the Head of Advertising Sales, covering:

• Sales-qualified leads accepted by the advertising team
• Qualified meetings held and progression into sales opportunities
• Value of qualified pipeline generated and contribution to won revenue
• Consistency and effectiveness of prospecting activity
• Quality of research, qualification and opportunity handovers
• CRM accuracy and timely follow-through

Location

We love spending time in the office together, with 4 days a week in our office and 1 day a week working from home.

What You’ll Get In Return

• Free Forest bike rides for you and a +1
• 25 days holiday pro rata + bank holidays
• Private medical insurance & cashplan
• Therapy and career coaching sessions through MYNDUP
• Annual personal development budget
• Free lunch on Wednesdays
• Enhanced parental leave
• Regular socials
• Birthday off
• Childcare salary sacrifice

Equal opportunities

Forest is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination, bias, or harassment.

If you'd like to share your pronouns, please let us know.

If there's any reasonable adjustments we can include to make our application process easier for you (due to disability, neurodiversity or anything else) please let us know so we can support you.

Want to make an actual, positive impact for cities? Join us, and help us grow the forest!