Job Description:

Rakuten International oversees 7 businesses with over 4,000 employees globally. The brand is recognized for its leadership and innovation in e-commerce, digital content, advertising, entertainment and communications, bringing the joy of discovery and access to more than 1 billion members across the world. Our teams deliver on the company’s mission to delight merchants and customers through innovation, optimism, and teamwork.

Rakuten Advertising provides advertising technology and consumer insights to the world’s leading brands and retailers. Working with agencies and brands around the world, Rakuten Advertising unites technology, client strategy and consumer insights to deliver advertising experiences that drive increased brand awareness and marketing performance. With access to Rakuten’s diverse media properties and audiences, combined with an award-winning performance network and proprietary consumer research, Rakuten Advertising creates the right conditions to reach new customers and sustain long-lasting loyalty.

Job summary

As a Sales Director, you will be responsible for leading and closing enterprise level affiliate deals mainly focused on the Finance and Travel verticals with large brands and agencies. You will be accountable for an annual revenue target, on- time pipeline reporting and achievement of strategic objectives as defined by the VP, Sales.

Job Description

Strategy and planning

Lead sales strategies and execution for the Affiliate product in the market; integrate plans with market strategy and collaborate with all departmental leads.Develop prospecting strategies using a range of methods (phone, email, Linkedin) for key stakeholders to acquire new business opportunitiesDemonstrable success in developing successful sales strategies, analysing performance metrics and achieving targets of revenue growth and market shareDeliver proactive proposals to new clientsWork closely with the Head of Marketing to plan and execute events, ensuring a strong presence that drives brand awareness and fosters client engagement.

Client relationships

Build meaningful relationships with prospective and current clients and key decision makers within each organisationUnderstand client needs to create proposals based on client objectivesRespond promptly to incoming leadsLog activity and conduct reports on sales force to ensure client communication and opportunity progression

Financial

Responsible for achieving quarterly and annual sales targetsUnderstand how own sales targets contribute to collective annual revenue goal

Ad hoc

Support Management in understanding bottle necks in the sales processSupport Management in process improvement

Key requirements

Technical / functional expertise

7+ year successful experience in digital advertising / affiliate platforms (media agency and advertisers)Deep understanding of the digital advertising industry value chain, specifically including affiliate modelsProven knowledge of Salesforce to manage pipelines, track sales activities, and generate reports on performance metrics.Proven ability to build and maintain a sales prospect pipelineProven experience of selling software solutions to Senior stakeholdersOutstanding negotiation, sales and presentation skills

Personal effectiveness

Can work in fast-moving environment to achieve clarity and solutionsOrganised and proactive approach to leading and closing sales dealsSelf-motivated and goal-oriented, with excellent time management skills.Stay informed about trends in affiliate marketing, travel, and finance to position yourself as a trusted advisor.

Communication skills

Excellent oral and written communication skillsOutstanding negotiation and presentation skills

Results focus

Demonstrable success in setting, meeting and exceeding quantitative goalsHigh demonstration of winning mentality

Teamwork

Confidently able to integrate with their team and wider business

Understanding of the business

Strong understanding of revenue paths within Rakuten Advertising and their impact on achieving business goals

Five Principles for Success
Our worldwide practices describe specific behaviors that make Rakuten unique and united across the world. We expect Rakuten employees to model these 5 Shugi Principles of Success.

Always improve, Always Advance - Only be satisfied with complete success - Kaizen
Passionately Professional - Take an uncompromising approach to your work and be determined to be the best
Hypothesize - Practice - Validate – Shikumika - Use the Rakuten Cycle to succeed in unknown territory
Maximize Customer Satisfaction - The greatest satisfaction for our teams is seeing their customers smile
Speed!! Speed!! Speed!! - Always be conscious of time - take charge, set clear goals, and engage your team