Ad Sales Lead, Central

Duolingo; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits package

Accommodations support

EEO employer

Job summary

Duolingo Ads in Chicago is hiring a Senior Ad Sales Lead to own the Central region, shaping strategy, building a high-quality pipeline, and closing high-impact deals that delight learners and drive revenue.

You will partner with cross-functional teams, manage senior brand relationships, and influence pricing, packaging, and go-to-market motions in an early-stage ads business.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of direct digital ad sales experience.
• Proven success selling premium video and native formats.
• Experience in early-stage or evolving businesses.
• Strong commercial judgment in pricing, packaging, and negotiation.
• Ability to influence senior decision makers across brands and agencies.

Responsibilities

• Own the Central region's direct ads strategy and revenue outcomes.
• Build and grow senior relationships across brands and agencies.
• Lead complex deals end-to-end from prospecting to expansion.
• Translate strengths into commercial narratives for advertiser objectives.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to move deals forward.
• Share market feedback to inform pricing, packaging, and formats.
• Establish repeatable systems for account planning and pipeline rigor.

Skills

Direct digital ad sales

Senior client relationships

Closing new business

Pricing & negotiation

Cross-functional collaboration

Ad tech knowledge

Data-driven proposals

Effective communication

Tools

CRM software

Job description

Our mission at Duolingo is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. It's a big mission, and that's where you come in!

At Duolingo, you'll join a team that cares about educating our users, experimenting with big ideas, making fact-based decisions, and finding innovative solutions to complex problems. You'll have limitless learning opportunities and daily collaborations with world-class minds - while doing work that’s both meaningful and fun.

Join our life-changing mission to develop education for our half a billion (and growing!) learners around the world.

Read our blog to learn more.

About the role...

Join us to build Duolingo Ads, Duolingo's direct ad business. Most learners use our free, ad-supported app, so high-quality ads are core to our mission. We're hiring an Ad Sales Lead in Chicago to open and lead the Central region. This is a senior individual-contributor role for a seller who can both win business and help shape how we scale: you'll set regional strategy, build a high-quality pipeline across priority verticals, cultivate senior relationships with brands and agencies, and close high-impact deals that delight learners and drive revenue. You'll partner closely with sales leadership and the cross-functional ads team to influence pricing, packaging, market prioritization, and the broader go-to-market motion as Duolingo Ads grows. This is a high-ownership, early-stage opportunity to help define the trajectory of ads on Duolingo for hundreds of millions of learners.

You will...

• Own the Central region's direct ads strategy and revenue outcomes, including named-account prioritization, pipeline development, forecasting, and quarterly execution.
• Build and grow senior relationships across brands and agencies, opening new logos and expanding strategic accounts into long-term, high-value partnerships.
• Lead complex, high-impact deals end-to-end, from prospecting and positioning through negotiation, close, renewal, and expansion.
• Translate Duolingo's unique strengths, including premium attention, native formats, character IP, and brand equity, into clear commercial narratives tailored to advertiser objectives.
• Partner closely with Account Management, Ad Ops, Product, Design, and Engineering to move deals forward, shape feasible programs, and improve the advertiser and learner experience.
• Share actionable market feedback with sales and product leadership to inform pricing, packaging, measurement, and future ad formats.
• Help establish repeatable systems and standards for a growing ads business, including account planning, CRM hygiene, proposal quality, and pipeline rigor.

You have...

• 8+ years of experience in direct digital ad sales, with a strong track record of building senior client relationships and closing meaningful new business.
• Success selling premium video and native/custom ad formats in digital, mobile, or consumer app environments.
• Proven ability to operate as a senior seller in an early-stage or evolving business, balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution.
• Strong commercial judgment across pricing, packaging, negotiation, and account prioritization.
• Ability to influence senior decision makers at brands and agencies while working effectively with cross-functional partners internally.
• Strong understanding of ad tech and mobile app ecosystems, and comfort using data to assess campaign performance, shape proposals, and inform sales strategy.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with a clear, persuasive style and comfort operating in ambiguity.

Exceptional candidates will have...

• Established relationships with senior brand and agency leaders across the Central region.
• Experience building a direct ads business from 0-1 or scaling a newer ads product within a publisher or platform environment.
• Experience shaping go-to-market strategy, sales process, or regional coverage models beyond your own book of business.
• Familiarity with managed-service and programmatic sales motions, including how they complement one another in a scaled ads business.

Salary Range:

$140,000 - $210,000 USD

Benefits:

Take a peek at how we care for our employees' holistic well-being with our benefits here.

Accommodations:

We will do everything we can within reason to make sure that your interview takes place in an environment that fairly and accurately assesses your skills. If you need assistance or accommodation, please contact [e-mail].

Equal Employment Opportunity:

Duolingo is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

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