About the role
Substack is building a new economic engine for culture, giving the brightest, most interesting, and most creative people on the internet the power of their own publishing platform. Substack empowers independent writers, artists, videographers, podcasters, and creators of all types to create, share, and make a living off their work through subscriptions, while offering them creative freedom, ownership, and a direct connection to their audiences. The Brand Partnerships team at Substack is building our sponsorships business from the ground up. The Sales Manager will help lead that revenue engine. Brands want to reach the audiences that trust Substack publishers, and your job is to turn that demand into a repeatable sales motion, from the first agency meeting through signed insertion orders and renewals. This is a founding role on a small team, so the playbook is yours to write.
Responsibilities: Build sponsorships revenue number, and the pipeline, forecast, and pacing behind it Sell directly to senior brand and agency decision-makers, leading the largest and most strategic deals from prospecting through close Contribute to building the sales infrastructure a new business needs: territory and account coverage, pricing and packaging discipline, CRM hygiene, and a deal process that holds up as volume grows Translate Substack's story into a pitch that lands with CMOs and media planners, working with creative strategy to shape proposals that feel native to the platform Work closely with publishers and their teams to make sure sold campaigns are ones they actually want to run Bring market signal back into the company, shaping product, pricing, and positioning based on what you hear in rooms with buyers Represent Substack at industry events and in key agency relationships, opening doors for the whole team About You: 10+ years in media or advertising sales, with meaningful time selling premium, direct-sold sponsorships at a publisher, platform, or media company A track record of closing seven-figure deals with brands and holding company agencies, and relationships you can activate from day one Comfort operating without a playbook: you've sold something new to market before, or built a sales function inside an early-stage business Fluency in how brands buy creator and content-led media, including measurement expectations, agency dynamics, and where budgets are moving Strong instincts for pricing and packaging, and the discipline to protect them under pressure to close Exceptional communication skills; you can pitch a CMO, coach a team member, and help build products that land in market Genuine belief in independent publishing and what Substack is building;
