Ad Sales Lead, Programmatic

Join Duolingo to build Duolingo Ads, Duolingo's premium programmatic business. As Ad Sales Lead, Programmatic, you will build a deal-led book of business with agency holding companies, independent agencies, and advertisers who want access to Duolingo's native formats, first-party learner signals, and one of the most engaged mobile audiences in the world.

You will:

• Own a programmatic revenue target and forecast, and build a predictable pipeline across agency holding-company programmatic and investment teams, trading desks, independent agencies, and premium programmatic buyers.
• Lead the shift from open auction to premium, deal-led PMP/PG by packaging Duolingo's native formats and first-party learner signals into always-on and custom deals that buyers will pay a premium for, and negotiate annual and upfront commitments that make that revenue durable.
• Become the person holdco programmatic teams call about mobile app inventory: run joint business planning; get Duolingo onto preferred supply paths, curated marketplaces, and principal/outcome-based buys; and defend our position when buyers consolidate.
• Build the programmatic value proposition and measurement story through proposals, pricing narratives, and post-campaign proof that connect our native formats and audience data to brand and performance outcomes.
• Partner with Ad Platform Operations and Ad Ops on deal setup, targeting, floors, pacing, and troubleshooting.
• Work alongside direct sellers under clear rules of engagement so programmatic expands the account through incremental value.
• Feed structured market intelligence back to sales, product, and engineering leadership about what buyers need in pricing, packaging, audience segments, formats, and integrations.
• Establish the operating rhythm for a scaling programmatic business via account planning, outreach cadences, deal hygiene in CRM, pipeline rigor, and repeatable playbooks.

Requirements:

• 8+ years in digital advertising, including at least 4 years selling programmatic on the sell side or in a holding-company programmatic/investment role.
• Demonstrated PMP/PG selling and trading-desk engagement.
• Experience selling premium mobile or consumer app inventory, especially video and native/custom formats, through programmatic channels to top-tier advertisers and agencies.
• Strong understanding of ad tech and mobile app ecosystems, including DSP/SSP workflows, deal IDs, verification/measurement, and using data to inform pricing and packaging.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.

Exceptional candidates will have:

• Deep, current relationships with programmatic leads at major agency holding companies and larger independents.
• Experience moving partners from a heavy open-auction mix to meaningful always-on/custom PMP/PG alongside direct sales.
• Sold against first-party audience segments or custom data products, not just inventory.
• Hands-on partnership with Ad Ops on deal setup, SSP onboarding, and campaign QA.