Jobs & Careers

Title: Sales Associate

Report: COO

Location: Hybrid/Wilmington, Delaware 

Position Type: Exempt 

Travel: Frequent local travel / occasional out-of-state 

About Spotlight Delaware
Spotlight Delaware is a nonprofit, collaborative, community-powered newsroom with a mission to engage, empower and connect Delawareans with local news and information. We envision a Delaware where all neighbors have access to the local news and information they need to thrive on a daily basis, participate in local democracy and engage with their communities.

Position Summary

As Sales Associate, you’ll build and manage a pipeline of sales prospects – including Fortune 500 companies, locally‑owned businesses, major nonprofits,and more – to sell sponsorships, mission‑aligned advertising, custom content and event partnerships that directly fund our journalism. You will be on the ground floor of a start-up journalism project, with a voice in building both sales strategies and fulfilment processes.

Key Responsibilities

This role requires exceptional salesmanship, project management, and fulfilment/analytics skills, as well as flexibility, creativity and collaboration with internal and external partners and stakeholders.

Under the leadership of the COO, the sales associate will: 

• Prospect & pitch – Identify and qualify high‑value prospects; craft compelling proposals that align client brand goals with Spotlight offerings.
• Close deals & hit targets – Own the full sales cycle, meet or exceed quarterly and annual revenue goals, and maintain accurate CRM records.
• Partner management – Serve as primary point‑of‑contact, ensuring flawless execution of campaigns, recognition, invoicing and reporting.
• Cross‑functional teamwork – Collaborate with editorial, marketing, events and finance teams to deliver on partner commitments.
• Market intelligence – Monitor local business trends, competitor activity and the nonprofit landscape to keep offerings fresh and relevant.

Other duties may be assigned to meet business needs.

Education and Experience Requirements 

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• 3–5 years of sales experience,  with documented success closing five- and six‑figure deals.
• Familiarity with consultative selling, solution selling or account‑based marketing.
• Experience in media sales, event sponsorships, or nonprofits a plus.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities  

• Persuasive communicator
• Solid pipeline management using a sales CRM 
• Comfort with metrics, analytics and basic contract terms.
• Collaborative, entrepreneurial mindset; able to navigate a start‑up‑style newsroom.
• Commitment to a high ethical standard in both media sales and client outreach.

The ideal candidate will have all of these qualifications. But if you have most of them and think you could do a great job, please apply! 

Spotlight Delaware Benefits

Compensation: $60K–$75K commensurate with experience, plus sales-based incentives that could add an additional $5K-$10K based on performance

In addition to competitive pay and the opportunity to work with a great group of people, Spotlight Delaware provides exceptional benefits to all eligible employees. Current benefits for full-time employees include:

• Excellent health, dental and vision coverage
• Four weeks PTO
• 12 paid holidays plus 2 floating holidays
• 403(b) with employer match
• Life insurance
• Short-term disability insurance
• Paid parental leave
  

How to Apply
Please send a resume and cover letter to jobs@spotlightdelaware.org. Apply by August 28, 2025

We’re committed to building an inclusive organization that represents the people and communities we serve. We encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, veterans, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities.