State Sales Director, VIC + SA at UK Main BU

Guardian Australia is part of Guardian News & Media (GNM), publisher of theguardian.com. As a leading global media organisation, we are renowned for our pioneering independent journalism and our award-winning digital products.

We are seeking a highly motivated, passionate and results-driven State Sales Director to join our dynamic team in Melbourne. This is an excellent opportunity for a driven professional who excels in building strong relationships and enjoys leading a high-performing sales team.
 

In this role you will…

• Represent Guardian Australia to a portfolio of key agencies and clients.
• Have knowledge of all Guardian Australia products including display, audio, content and programmatic in order to meet demands of agencies and clients.
• Established relationships at agencies and clients.
• Ensure all clients and agencies are kept up-to-date with relevant information about Guardian Australia through regular meetings and presentations.
• Build content & display driven advertising programs for key clients on Guardian platforms in order to maximise revenue and contribution to the business.
• Leading and coaching Account Directors, Senior Account Managers, Account Managers and Account Coordinators who are direct reports, working as a team in order to meet client needs and achieve revenue targets. 
• Evaluate and manage team performance, provide coaching and development to direct reports and create a high-performance culture through managing KPI’s.
• Manage the strategic roadmap of the VIC and SA sales team, including both revenue growth and new client acquisition. 
• Proactively identify areas of improvement and new opportunities that can create a competitive difference for The Guardian. 
• Together with the commercial partnerships director, manage the development of new products and go to market messaging.
• Together with the commercial partnerships director, devise a trade marketing plan for engagement of agencies and clients.
   

You’ll bring….

Sales Skills

• Strong business acumen and able to speak at senior level about major business issues and challenges
• Ability to help shape solutions using The Guardian as a channel
• Customer focused and able to deliver complex solutions, with the ability to offer alternatives and resolve customer objections whilst keeping the client happy
• Strategic thinker and ability to approach agencies or customers proactively with solutions for client issues
• Extensive knowledge of the market, business units and clients within patch
• Excellent presentation skills, regularly presenting to bigger groups and with the ability to bring an idea to life and take an audience on a journey
• Ability to identify client’s needs and provide solutions to shape a brief for The Guardian
• Outstanding written skills in order to build a winning sales narrative, including building end-to-end sales proposals for complex long-term campaigns
• Negotiation skills, including closing techniques 
• Excellent pipeline management & forecasting skills, understanding the need for short, medium and long term business to achieve a target across the year
• Ability to analyse data to assist in the development of sales strategies and directions for the VIC and SA sales team. Able to translate sales strategies to targets and strategies for direct reports
• Questioning and listening techniques and the ability to extract necessary information through truly open questions
• Ability to solve problems through innovative thinking in order to achieve a solution
• Demonstrable leadership capabilities
• Strong knowledge of content marketing & display advertising having executed multiple content campaigns
• Strong knowledge of brand strategy. Understands a brands lifecycle and long term strategy and the differences between types of brands
• Indepth understanding of the production process involved in bringing a successful content partnership to life
• Excellent knowledge of the Australian media landscape, including knowledge of how media agencies are structured, what accounts are held where, and the role of creative and clients in the process of planning and booking a campaign
• Technical knowledge, particularly in understanding production processes. Ad Tech knowledge is also required.
• Media Strategy - understands a clients business issues and can devise solutions that fit with The Guardian and aligns with our clients overall direction
• A deep understanding of The Guardian brand and its editorial integrity
   

Mindset

• Ability  to collaborate with multiple stakeholders in order to lead  projects from a client facing perspective
• Apply company values on a daily basis both internally and externally. A champion of values with excellent integrity
• Self-sufficient in the role, can be relied upon to complete tasks and uses initiative to solve tasks
• Goal-oriented with a proven track record of achieving budgets even in difficult times
• Resilience and the ability to  stay calm in the face of setbacks, responding with a positive attitude under pressure
• Self-awareness, with excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively
• Open-minded and optimistic  
• Model behaviours in line with Guardian Australia policies and values 
   

About working at Guardian Australia… 

• Hybrid working 
• Employee assistance program (EAP) to support employee wellbeing
• Paid volunteer leave
• Dedicated diversity and inclusion employee groups, action plans (including our Reconciliation Action Plan) and cultural competency training
• Guardian digital subscription

For more information please view the full job description here.

This role is being offered on a full-time permanent basis.

To apply for this position, please apply online and upload your résumé (maximum three pages) plus covering letter. In your covering letter please outline your motivation for applying for the role and why you think you are suitable.

Closing date for applications: 30 September 2025.

If you have application questions or if you require an adjustment to be made during the recruitment process, please email [email protected]

We believe that our role in the Australian media is to give a voice to the most marginalised people in society and value and respect all differences in all people — including people of colour, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people from different social classes, people with diverse gender and sexual identities, and people with disabilities (seen and unseen). We believe that these communities must be centred in the work we do, bringing a new perspective and a diversity of thought. We also encourage flexible working and aim to create a work environment where all employees feel respected.