Director, New Business Development - Audience Activation - Agencies

Nielsen Consumer LLC; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 117,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive healthcare

401(k) plan

Paid time off

Flexible working environment

Education support

Job summary

NIQ's MRISimmons unit in New York is seeking a Director, Audience Activation to lead sales initiatives for advanced advertising, data enrichment and activation. The role focuses on driving new business, negotiating deals and expanding engagement with agency holding companies.

You will work across Sales, Marketing and Product to shape go-to-market strategies, leverage existing industry relationships, and ensure successful client outcomes. Travel about 25% is anticipated.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in a relevant field.
• 5–10+ years in sales or business development within advanced advertising or ad tech.
• Proven success in audience activation initiatives with agencies or brands.
• Strong industry network across programmatic, investment, and digital teams.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills with executives.

Responsibilities

• Identify and develop new business and upsell opportunities focused on audience activation.
• Manage end-to-end client engagements, including strategy, proposals, and contracts.
• Lead commercial discussions and negotiate terms with internal stakeholders.
• Engage agency holding companies and brand/ad tech partners to drive adoption.
• Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Operations and Product to align roadmaps.

Skills

Audience activation

Sales development

Negotiation

Relationship management

Ad tech network

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Company Description

R26_0009133

Hybrid: 1-2 days/week in office (200 West 41st Street FL 5, New York, NY 10036)

(US role, candidates must reside in US at time of application to be considered for this role)

Who We Are:

MRISimmons, a joint venture majority owned by NIQ, is the leading provider of insights on the American consumer. A leader in consumer insights for over 60 years, MRISimmons possesses one of the few data sets widely used across the media ecosystem for consumer profiling, media planning, audience research, and insightdriven audience development. Powered by addressbased probabilistic sampling, MRISimmons measures real people, chosen at random, to represent the U.S. population in all its diversity-resulting in the most accurate view of the American consumer.

What We Do:

We empower marketers, advertisingagenciesand media companies to turn deep consumer understanding into smarter strategies, targetable segmentation, and more effective advertising campaigns across all media channels: linear TV, Connected TV, Digital, and Social. We enrich customer first-party data to enable more comprehensive consumer profiling and activation.

About this job

The Director, Audience Activation will be a key player in leadingthe sales initiatives for MRI-Simmons to grow our Advanced Advertising business, with solutions including data enrichment and audienceactivation.The ideal candidate will work collaboratively with the Media, Brand and Agencyverticalsto developnew salesopportunities,leadorparticipatein Advanced Advertising presentations,assistin developing new Advanced Advertising product initiatives, andfinalizenegotiations and contracts in relation to closing new business. This position willleadour engagement and penetration of Agency holding companies, specifically with Investment, Programmatic, Video and Activation teams, while supporting our relationships with theirClientteams.

Responsibilities:

Revenue Growth & Deal Leadership

• Identify, develop, drive new business and upsell existing opportunities focused on audience activation, enrichment and data enablement.
• Manage endtoend customer engagement, includingstrategy, discussions, proposal and presentations development, negotiation, and contracts where necessary
• Own commercial discussions and manage deal terms and conditions in partnership with internal stakeholders to ensure audiences meet customer needs to drive utilizations

Client & Partner Engagement

• Leverage strong, preferably existing, industry relationships across advertising and media agencies, and at times brands, and ad tech partners, with a strong focus on stakeholders in programmatic, digital, video, investment, and account teams
• Lead advanced advertising, audience activation, and other datadriven proposals and presentations that clearly articulate the value of MRISimmons audience intelligence
• Act as a trusted advisor to customersby aligning MRISimmons audience solutions to customerbusiness, media, and campaign activation objectives
• Requires approximately 25% travel; in-agency presence expected.

Product & GotoMarket Collaboration

• Partner closely with Commercial, Marketing, Operations and Product teams to provide client feedback and input that informs audience development and utilization prioritization
• Support the developmentof new data enablement and activation initiatives, partnerships, and gotomarket strategies
• Serve as a subject matter expert for advanced advertising and audiencebased activation, use cases, both external with customers and internal guiding sales colleagues on cross-teamopportunities
• Coordinate outreach and engagement where needed with internal sales colleagues across all verticals

Operational Excellence

• Manage internal sales and audience revenue tracking processes;ensure tracking sheets, audience taxonomies, andCRM accuracy
• Support revenue collection team where necessary, aligning communication with all stakeholders
• Collaborate with Operations and Account Management teams when needed define data, technical, and delivery requirements
• Ensure client reporting requirements contractual obligations are met.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required
• 5-10+ years of experience in sales or business development within advanced advertising, programmatic, addressable, data enablement, audience data, or ad tech
• Proven success driving audience activation initiatives within agencies orbrands
• Strong ad tech industry network across agency stakeholders, including programmatic, activation, investment, and digital teams
• Deep understanding of the advanced advertising, programmatic activation,and audience data ecosystem, including planning/insights, activation, and measurement/attribution solutions for digital video and CTV
• Demonstrated ability to communicate the value of audience and datadriven solutions in a clear, compelling way
• Experience applying syndicated audience data to activation, planning, and partnership opportunities preferred
• Exceptional relationship management and executivelevel communication skills
• Strong negotiation skills with experience navigating complex commercial agreements
• Highly collaborative, proactive, and selfdirected

Seller Profile

• Consultative, self-directed seller and evangelist with a "hunter" mindset and the ability to create opportunity where none previously existed
• Comfortable leading complex, multistakeholder communication efforts, connecting silos in an enterprise environment like a large agency holding company
• Familiarity with Challenger sales methodology and MEDDICC frameworks preferred
• Strategic thinker who proactively identifies new use cases and growth opportunities
• Strong agency presence is preferred with hands-on experience operating within ad agencies, leading educational programming, thought leadership initiatives, and events for agency planning and buying teams

#LI-Hybrid

US Benefits

• Comprehensive healthcare plan (medical, Rx, dental, and vision).
• Flexible spending accounts and a Health Savings Account (including company contributions).
• Life and AD&D insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan including company matching contributions.
• Disability insurance.
• Tuition Reimbursement.
• Discretionary paid time off program and 11 paid holidays.
• Flexible working environment
• Volunteer time off
• LinkedIn Learning
• Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP)

Additional Information

This role has a market-competitive salary with an anticipated base compensation of the following range:$117,250.00 - $160,000.00.Actual salaries will vary depending on a candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, and location.This role is eligible for a sales-based incentive or performance-based bonus.Other benefits include flexible working environment, comprehensive health insurance, industry-leading parental leave, life insurance, education support and more.

Our Benefits

• Flexible working environment
• Volunteer time off
• LinkedIn Learning
• Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP)

NIQ may utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools at various stages of the recruitment process, including resume screening, candidate assessments, interview scheduling, job matching, communication support, and certain administrative tasks that help streamline workflows. These tools are intended to improve efficiency and support fair and consistent evaluation based on job-related criteria. All use of AI is governed by NIQ's principles of fairness, transparency, human oversight, and inclusion. Final hiring decisions are made exclusively by humans. NIQ regularly reviews its AI tools to help mitigate bias and ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. If you have questions, require accommodations, or wish to request human review were permitted by law, please contact your local HR representative. For more information, please visit NIQ's AI Safety Policies and Guiding Principles: https://nielseniq.com/global/en/info/niqs-ai-safety-policies/

About NIQ

NIQ is the world's leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. In 2023, NIQ combined with GfK, bringing together the two industry leaders with unparalleled global reach. With a holistic retail read and the most comprehensive consumer insights-delivered with advanced analytics through state-of-the-art platforms-NIQ delivers the Full View. NIQ is an Advent International portfolio company with operations in 100+ markets, covering more than 90% of the world's population.

For more information, visit NIQ.com

Want to keep up with our latest updates?

Follow us on:LinkedIn|Instagram|Twitter|Facebook

Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At NIQ, we are steadfast in our commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace that mirrors the rich diversity of the communities and markets we serve. We believe that embracing a wide range of perspectives drives innovation and excellence.All employment decisions at NIQ are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.We invite individuals who share our dedication to inclusivity and equity to join us in making a meaningful impact.To learn more about our ongoing efforts in diversity and inclusion, please visit thehttps://nielseniq.com/global/en/news-center/diversity-inclusion