Strategic Account Manager

VERSANT (Nasdaq: VSNT) is an industry-changing media and entertainment business and home to trusted brands that shape culture, inform audiences, and build lasting connections. It operates across four core markets: political news and opinion, business news and personal finance, golf, and sports and genre entertainment. These markets are served through a powerful portfolio of iconic and innovative brands, including CNBC, MS NOW, USA Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Versant's sports division USA Sports, along with complementary digital assets including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and GolfPass.

The Opportunity

Versant is seeking a Strategic Account Manager to join our Digital Planning Team, supporting advertising solutions across the Digital Platforms & Ventures portfolio, including premium sports and entertainment brands and digital experiences like Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, and GolfPass.

The Digital Planning Team at Versant is a strategic, collaborative group of digital experts representing our premium sports and entertainment portfolio. The team partners closely with Account Directors to develop audience-first, data-driven advertising solutions that align with client business objectives.

Serving as a key connector across Sales, Strategy, and Operations, Digital Planning supports the full RFP lifecycle - from pitch development through campaign launch and post-sale stewardship. The team builds compelling proposals, packages innovative cross-platform solutions, develops client-specific materials, and ensures a seamless transition from proposal to activation.

As a critical driver of Versant’s digital revenue strategy, the team identifies growth opportunities, leverages audience insights, and delivers best-in-class advertising programs across our digital ecosystem.

As a Strategic Account Manager, you will partner closely with Account Directors and cross-functional teams to translate advertiser objectives into strategic media plans and integrated digital solutions. You will help manage opportunities from initial RFP through campaign launch and stewardship, bringing together audience insights, portfolio capabilities, pricing considerations, campaign requirements, and performance data to create solutions that deliver for clients and support Versant’s revenue goals.

Why This Role Matters: This role sits at the center of how Versant brings its digital advertising capabilities to market. By working across sports and entertainment, you will help create a connected experience for advertisers, identify opportunities to unlock the value of the broader portfolio, and ensure strong continuity from proposal development through campaign activation and performance.

Success in this role will be measured by the quality and strategic strength of digital proposals, responsiveness to advertiser needs, campaign execution and stewardship, cross-functional collaboration, and contribution to revenue growth and long-term client relationships.

This position has been designated as hybrid, generally contributing from our New York office a minimum of three days per week.

What You'll Do

• Develop strategic digital media plans. Partner with Account Directors to understand advertiser and agency objectives and build audience-first, data-driven proposals across Versant’s sports and entertainment digital portfolio.
• Own the RFP process from pitch through activation. Manage proposal development, media planning, pricing inputs, inventory considerations, client-specific materials, and internal coordination to deliver thoughtful and timely responses.
• Build integrated advertising solutions. Work across digital brands, platforms, products, and capabilities to package solutions that address client objectives while identifying opportunities to maximize revenue across the portfolio.
• Ensure seamless campaign activation and stewardship. Partner with Ad Operations, Sales, Strategy, Marketing, Product, and other stakeholders to transition sold campaigns from proposal to launch, monitor delivery, identify risks, and support optimizations.
• Turn insights into client value. Use audience intelligence, campaign performance, marketplace trends, and client feedback to inform recommendations, develop compelling presentations and recaps, and support renewal and growth conversations.
• Strengthen how Digital Planning operates. Collaborate across teams to improve processes, share best practices, and build consistent, scalable planning approaches that support clients and Versant’s evolving digital revenue strategy.

What You Bring

Basic Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 2+ years of experience in digital media, advertising, media planning, account management, client services, or a related field.
• Experience developing digital media plans or advertising proposals based on client objectives.
• Working knowledge of the digital campaign lifecycle, including RFP response, planning, activation, delivery, optimization, and reporting.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret audience and campaign data and translate insights into clear recommendations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience developing client-facing presentations and proposal materials.
• Strong project-management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple RFPs, campaigns, stakeholders, and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across Sales, Strategy, Ad Operations, Marketing, Product, Finance, and other cross-functional teams.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint or comparable tools.

How We Do It

• Trust: Build credibility with clients and colleagues through sound judgment, integrity, reliability, and consistent follow-through.
• Teamwork: Partner across Sales, Strategy, Operations, brands, and functions to develop stronger advertising solutions and deliver shared outcomes.
• Transparency: Communicate clearly and proactively about priorities, campaign performance, risks, opportunities, and decisions.
• Agility: Adapt quickly as advertiser needs, business priorities, inventory, campaign performance, and the digital media landscape evolve.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit: Look beyond the immediate request to identify creative solutions, new opportunities, and smarter ways to create value for clients and Versant.
• Accountability: Take ownership of commitments, proposal quality, campaign transitions, client experience, and results from RFP through stewardship.

Bonus Points

• Experience developing advertising solutions across multiple digital properties, brands, or audience segments.
• Familiarity with paid social, programmatic media, ad-serving and business management platforms (e.g., Google Ad Manager, FreeWheel, Operative One), CRM systems, or digital measurement tools.
• Experience supporting advertisers across sports, entertainment, streaming, theatrical, or other consumer-focused categories.
• Experience using campaign performance and audience insights to identify renewal, upsell, or cross-portfolio opportunities.

Why You’ll Love It Here

At Versant, you’ll have the opportunity to work across a distinctive portfolio of digital sports and entertainment platforms and collaborate with teams spanning Sales, Strategy, Operations, Marketing, Product, and more. You’ll gain broad exposure to the digital advertising business while helping shape solutions that connect leading advertisers with highly engaged audiences.

You’ll join a collaborative environment that values Trust, Teamwork, Transparency, Agility, and Entrepreneurial Spirit, with meaningful ownership and the opportunity to contribute directly to Versant’s digital revenue strategy.

This position has been designated as hybrid, generally contributing from our New York office a minimum of three days per week.

Versant offers company-sponsored benefits, subject to applicable eligibility requirements and plan terms.

New York Pay Transparency: salary range is $80,000 - $90,000 + bonus

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with a VERSANT Media employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. VERSANT Media's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to [email protected].

VERSANT Media is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We include a good faith pay range for each position to comply with applicable state and local pay transparency laws and to promote equity across our organization. Actual compensation will be based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location and may include additional forms of compensation and benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, etc.

VERSANT Media is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at VERSANT via-email, the Internet, or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from VERSANT's Talent Acquisition team will be deemed the sole property of VERSANT. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by VERSANT as a result of the referral or through other means.