Advertising Sales Manager

About The Role: Digital Matters reaches practitioners and operators who make real buying decisions about AI tooling, infrastructure, and security. That audience is valuable, and right now we are barely monetizing it. You would be the first dedicated commercial hire, which means you are not inheriting a territory or a quota someone else invented. The inventory already exists: display placements, newsletter sponsorships, a paid directory, and a sponsored-review program. There is a published rate card. What is missing is someone who will pick up the phone, build the pipeline, and tell us honestly which parts of the offering buyers actually want. Worth saying plainly: we are a small, independent publication, not a network with a household name. You will be selling on audience quality and topical authority, not on brand recognition. If that sounds like a fun problem, keep reading. What You Would Own Build and run the sales pipeline end to end: prospecting, outreach, pitch, negotiation, close. Sell the full stack of inventory: display, newsletter placements, directory listings, and sponsored product reviews. Own the relationship after the sale. Renewals matter more to us than one-off logos. Report back on what the market actually pays for, and help reshape the rate card accordingly. Keep the commercial and editorial sides properly separated, and route every creative asset through the standard ad-materials process.