Global Senior Sales Lead

Job Description:

About Rakuten TV

Rakuten TV is a leading streaming platform available in 42 European countries. We offer a premium viewing experience, combining Hollywood blockbusters and local content with diverse access models: Transactional Video-on-Demand (TVOD), AVOD, and FAST (linear free TV channels). As part of the global Rakuten Group, we are driven by a mission to contribute to society by creating value through innovation, helping our users and partners grow and thrive.

About the role

Reporting to the Senior Director, Media UK, you will play a key role in accelerating Rakuten TV's international advertising business across Europe.

You will be responsible for developing new, and expanding existing, business with those strategic multinational advertisers, either directly or via their international media agency groups, whose media investment decisions are made at European or Global Headquarters.

This is a highly commercial hunter role, focused on acquiring new strategic clients and creating incremental revenue opportunities across Rakuten TV's premium Connected TV advertising ecosystem.

The role focuses exclusively on opportunities where media investment decisions are made at an international or global level. You will work closely with Rakuten TV's local sales teams across Europe to ensure full alignment while maximizing incremental revenue opportunities.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify, prospect and win new international advertising opportunities across Europe.
• Build relationships with the European or Global headquarters of multinational advertisers with centralized media buying.
• Develop strategic relationships with Global and Regional Media Directors, Investment Leads, Trading Directors and senior decision-makers within international agency holding groups.
• Lead the complete sales cycle from prospecting through negotiation, contract signature and handover to internal teams.
• Build and maintain a strong pipeline of international opportunities through proactive outbound business development.
• Coordinate cross-market commercial opportunities with Rakuten TV's local sales teams to ensure a consistent customer approach.
• Promote Rakuten TV's premium CTV, FAST, AVOD and Programmatic advertising solutions.
• Prepare commercial proposals, negotiate trading agreements and close strategic partnerships.
• Work closely with Product, Marketing, Ad Operations and Customer Success teams to ensure successful campaign execution.
• Maintain accurate sales forecasting and CRM reporting.
• Provide market intelligence regarding advertisers, agencies, competitors and emerging market trends.
• Represent Rakuten TV at major industry events, conferences and commercial meetings across Europe.
• Travel regularly across Europe to develop strategic relationships and identify new business opportunities.

What you bring

Experience

• 8–10+ years of successful experience in digital media, television, CTV or programmatic advertising sales.
• Proven experience developing business with multinational advertisers and/or international media agency groups.
• Strong network across European media agency holding companies (GroupM, Publicis, Omnicom, Dentsu, Havas, IPG, WPP, etc.).
• Demonstrated track record of consistently exceeding new business targets.
• Experience negotiating complex commercial agreements with enterprise-level clients.

Technical / Functional Expertise

• Strong understanding of the digital advertising ecosystem.
• Excellent knowledge of Programmatic Advertising, CTV and Video advertising.
• Good understanding of international media buying structures.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen.
• Experience managing complex multi-country opportunities.

Personal Skills

• Strong hunter mindset with exceptional business development capabilities.
• Entrepreneurial, self-motivated and highly autonomous.
• Excellent negotiation and presentation skills.
• Strong relationship-building and networking capabilities.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders.
• Collaborative mindset and ability to coordinate multiple internal and external stakeholders.
• Results-driven with a proactive, solution-oriented attitude.

Languages

• Fluent English (mandatory).
• Additional European languages are considered a strong advantage.

Location

London, United Kingdom (mandatory)

This position is based in our London office and requires frequent travel across Europe (approximately 20–30%) to meet clients, attend industry events and develop strategic partnerships.

What we offer

This position offers the opportunity to play a strategic role within one of Europe's fastest-growing Connected TV advertising businesses.

You will work with leading international brands and global media agency groups while contributing to the continued expansion of Rakuten TV's advertising business across Europe.

The role offers an attractive career path, competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits, all built around Rakuten's Shugi Principles.

Rakuten Shugi Principles
Rakuten Group has an unswerving commitment to building an egalitarian society by empowering individuals and companies to be successful in business and in life. We expect “Rakutenians” to model these 5 “Shugi” Principles of Success:

• Always improve, always advance. With enough determination and effort, you can achieve anything.
• Be passionately professional. Be determined to be the best.
• Hypothesize - Practice - Validate - Shikumika. Success in business depends on making and executing concrete specific action plans.
• Maximize Customer Satisfaction. The greatest satisfaction in a service industry is to see our customers smile.
• Speed!! Speed!! Speed!! Always be conscious of time. Take charge, set clear goals, and engage yourself and your team.

Our D&I Mission
Rakuten’s corporate mission is to “contribute to society by creating value through innovation and entrepreneurship.” We foster a culture that provides equal opportunities to those who share this founding philosophy and take on the challenge to transform society, regardless gender, age, sexual orientation, race, religion, culture, nationality, disability, or any other status. Diversity is one of Rakuten's core strategies and a driving force for innovation. To continue to provide innovative services, we strive to respect the uniqueness and values of every one of our Rakutenians, located all around the world, and to create environments where they are able to demonstrate their full potential.
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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