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At Instacart, we invite the world to share love through food because we believe everyone should have access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together. Where others see a simple need for grocery delivery, we see exciting complexity and endless opportunity to serve the varied needs of our community. We work to deliver an essential service that customers rely on to get their groceries and household goods, while also offering safe and flexible earnings opportunities to Instacart Personal Shoppers.
Instacart has become a lifeline for millions of people, and we’re building the team to help push our shopping cart forward. If you’re ready to do the best work of your life, come join our table.
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Overview
Instacart is seeking an experienced and entrepreneurial Ad Sales Executive to join our growing Instacart Ads team. This role will be responsible for sourcing, building, and managing relationships with high-value, non-endemic advertising clients (i.e., advertisers whose products are not sold on Instacart). This is a unique opportunity to establish and scale a net-new revenue stream by partnering with advertisers across a variety of industries, including finance/payment providers, travel, entertainment, telecom, apparel, automotive, and others.
The ideal candidate will have strong sales acumen, an ability to thrive in ambiguity, and deep knowledge of the digital advertising landscape, including emerging ad units and retail media networks. The individual will own the full sales lifecycle, from prospecting new business opportunities to delivering pitches and performance presentations, all while building long-term partnerships to meet and exceed Instacart’s revenue targets.
In this highly visible role, you will partner cross-functionally across teams including legal, product, marketing, partnerships, and yield management to ensure seamless deal execution, secure approvals for new workstreams, and refine Instacart’s ad product roadmap to align with non-endemic client needs. Success in this role requires a proven track record of selling innovative advertising solutions, exceptional relationship management skills to engage senior decision-makers (including the C-suite), and a passion for creating ground-breaking opportunities in the digital advertising space.
About the Job:
- Identify, source, and establish relationships with non-endemic advertisers, introducing them to Instacart’s advertising solutions and uncovering opportunities to connect them with Instacart’s customer segments.
- Develop a pipeline of high-potential advertising prospects across key verticals (e.g., finance, travel, entertainment, telco, apparel, automotive) and execute a sales plan to close new contracts and grow revenue.
- Own end-to-end client relationship management, including prospecting, pitching, negotiating, onboarding, campaign management, performance analysis, and annual renewal discussions.
- Collaborate with internal stakeholders (product, legal, partnerships, and client services) to secure approvals for new ad formats, refine product roadmaps, and unlock partnership opportunities for non-endemic clients.
- Educate clients on Instacart Ads’ full suite of solutions, including on-site media placements, audience segmentation capabilities, programmatic opportunities, and potential offsite activations like social and connected TV.
- Build scalable processes for managing and growing non-endemic vertical clients, creating playbooks, case studies, and best practices to inform future growth initiatives.
- Serve as a thought leader in identifying emerging non-endemic trends and advocate for innovative advertising opportunities that can drive incremental value for Instacart and its partners.
- Meet or exceed sales and revenue goals while ensuring high client satisfaction and campaign success.
- Willingness to travel for in-person meetings, client presentations, industry conferences, or team collaboration to drive partnerships and meet revenue goals
About You:
Minimum Qualifications:
- 7-10 years of experience in high-growth advertising verticals, with a strong track record of driving significant revenue through innovative ad sales.
- Deep knowledge of the digital media landscape, including programmatic platforms, social media advertising, connected TV, and audience segmentation for offsite campaigns.
- Proven ability to establish high-value partnerships at senior leadership levels, including the C-suite.
- Strong client presence, with the ability to craft persuasive and strategic pitches tailored to clients’ business objectives.
- A high achiever mentality with the ability to thrive in fast-paced, results-driven environments.
Preferred Qualfications:
- Experience working within or partnering directly with retail media networks (RMN) and understanding of their capabilities.
- Existing relationships and experience selling to key verticals, including finance/payment providers, travel, entertainment, telco, apparel, and automotive industries.
- Knowledge of audience segmentation value propositions and experience positioning segments effectively to drive advertiser ROI.
- Experience developing and selling innovative ad formats, launching new ad units, or establishing net-new revenue streams in an advertising context.
- Proven ability to adapt and succeed in dynamic, ambiguous environments, with a knack for crafting solutions for undefined or nascent ad products.