Manager, Sales & Marketing Insights

The Star Tribune is the Upper Midwest’s largest news organization, with audience numbers consistently in the top five in the country amongst regional and national peers. Building on an extraordinary legacy that includes seven Pulitzer Prizes and hundreds of other awards, the Star Tribune is an unrivaled force for journalistic excellence in Minnesota. It is also a company under transformation – realigning its core purpose for a new age of media consumption through innovative new partnerships, technology strategies, and a refreshed strategic direction. Our company has a new vision to create the leading model for local news in America – driving innovation in media to make every Minnesotan’s life better.  We’re looking for dynamic leaders to help create that model. We’re excited to work with people who care about journalism and democracy and are eager to re-invent one of our state’s most trusted companies for a completely new era of growth that embraces new technologies and strategies for excellence. 

Job Summary:

This Manager, Sales & Marketing Insights primary function is to drive better decision-making using data and insights, including GIS spatial analysis, market segmentation and strategic business intelligence. The successful candidate for this role is an essential contributor to revenue generation, consulting with advertising customers to improve their marketing ROI as well as supporting internal Star Tribune sales and marketing processes.

Key Accountabilities: 

• Partner with Star Tribune sales staff to provide advertisers with sound insights that make digital targeting and audience connection programs an effective and integral part of their overall marketing strategies.
• Assess advertising customer needs, including trade area analysis, customer and prospect profiling, site selection, market cannibalization analysis, market share/potential, sales territory design and balancing to drive buying recommendations that increase Star Tribune revenue.
• Lead the strategic approach to behavioral and spatial targeting of the best consumer prospects for Star Tribune’s advertising customers.
• Leverage a toolset and proprietary data and to build prospect lists that fuel customers’ advertising campaigns.
• Work with internal advertising campaign managers to evaluate the success of digital campaigns via address match-back analyses.
• Coach sales reps on how to effectively communicate and explain GIS and insight analyses to customers and participate in customer-facing presentations as needed.
• Work closely with the sales enablement team to support lead-generation activities.
• Provide GIS assistance to other Star Tribune departments as needed circulation, news, operations). Examples include, optimizing and maintaining custom distribution boundaries [mini zones, ZIP clusters, ROP, NDM], sales territories, distribution depots and delivery routes.
• Coach team members on research methods and insights communication so that they are seen as audience experts and strategic partners rather than data providers. Develop leaders who not only identify main challenges, but also seek, propose and implement solutions.
• Make the case for research, technology and tools to inform decisions, and help make the Star Tribune even more audience-focused.
• Manage annual GIS & Insights department budget and negotiate annual license agreements with technology vendors.
• Solve GIS technical problems and issues, including installation of software upgrades, database updates, patches and service packages.

Requirements:

• Degree in mathematics or statistics.
• Advanced degree in GIS.
• Advanced database management skills.
• Strong knowledge of Minnesota and the Minneapolis–St. Paul market.
• Detailed knowledge for acquiring public/free and paid sources of business intelligence.
• Strong formal presentation skills, comfortable presenting to C-level executives.
• Excellent organizational and project management skills.
• Confident decision-maker and creative problem-solver.
• Highly motivated and passionate about businesses intelligence and GIS.
• Ability to prioritize work, work well under pressure and meet multiple deadlines in a tight timeframe.

Relationships:

• Immediate Supervisor: Executive Director, Advertising Marketing
• Direct Reports: Senior GIS Analyst, GIS Insights & Survey Specialist

More about the Star Tribune:

At the Star Tribune, we believe that our employees are our most valuable asset. We go above and beyond to ensure their happiness, growth, and overall well-being. Here is a glimpse into the exceptional benefits we offer:

Modern downtown office with a free fitness center and rooftop patio. Commuting subsidy, medical, dental, and vision insurance. Wellness program with financial incentives. Paid time off which includes flexible holidays to honor the preferences of employees, plus one volunteer day and 2 wellness days. 401(k) with company match, parental and caregiving leaves, flexible work arrangements, employee assistance program, pet insurance, tuition reimbursement, flexible spending, and health savings accounts.

The Star Tribune also gives back to the Minnesota community. In 2020, the Star Tribune launched the Connect Grant, providing qualifying local Minnesota businesses with a total of $200,000 in advertising credits and services. The Connect Grant serves to empower the future growth of underrepresented business owners through marketing collaboration and advertising.

Selected in 2023 to Diversity MBA's inaugural list of Top 25 Outstanding Leadership and Diversity Impact Awards.

Equal Opportunity Employer

If you're interested in this role but don't meet every single requirement, we still encourage you to apply. The Star Tribune is dedicated to fostering a more diverse and inclusive workplace, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.