Our mission at Duolingo is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. It’s a big mission, and that’s where you come in! At Duolingo, you’ll join a team that cares about educating our users, experimenting with big ideas, making fact-based decisions, and finding innovative solutions to complex problems. You’ll have limitless learning opportunities and daily collaborations with world-class minds — while doing work that’s both meaningful and fun. Join our life-changing mission to develop education for our half a billion (and growing!) learners around the world.  Read <a href="https://blog.duolingo.com/?utm_source=greenhouse.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=generalblog_gh_091224">our blog</a> to learn more. <hr> About the role... Join us to build Duolingo Ads, Duolingo’s direct ad business. Most learners use our free, ad-supported app, so high-quality ads are core to our mission. We’re hiring an Ad Sales Lead in Chicago to open and lead the Central region. This is a senior individual-contributor role for a seller who can both win business and help shape how we scale: you’ll set regional strategy, build a high-quality pipeline across priority verticals, cultivate senior relationships with brands and agencies, and close high-impact deals that delight learners and drive revenue. You’ll partner closely with sales leadership and the cross-functional ads team to influence pricing, packaging, market prioritization, and the broader go-to-market motion as Duolingo Ads grows. This is a high-ownership, early-stage opportunity to help define the trajectory of ads on Duolingo for hundreds of millions of learners.   🧠  You will... <ul> <li>Own the Central region’s direct ads strategy and revenue outcomes, including named-account prioritization, pipeline development, forecasting, and quarterly execution.</li> <li>Build and grow senior relationships across brands and agencies, opening new logos and expanding strategic accounts into long-term, high-value partnerships.</li> <li>Lead complex, high-impact deals end-to-end, from prospecting and positioning through negotiation, close, renewal, and expansion.</li> <li>Translate Duolingo’s unique strengths, including premium attention, native formats, character IP, and brand equity, into clear commercial narratives tailored to advertiser objectives.</li> <li>Partner closely with Account Management, Ad Ops, Product, Design, and Engineering to move deals forward, shape feasible programs, and improve the advertiser and learner experience.</li> <li>Share actionable market feedback with sales and product leadership to inform pricing, packaging, measurement, and future ad formats.</li> <li>Help establish repeatable systems and standards for a growing ads business, including account planning, CRM hygiene, proposal quality, and pipeline rigor.</li> </ul>   ✅  You have... <ul> <li>8+ years of experience in direct digital ad sales, with a strong track record of building senior client relationships and closing meaningful new business.</li> <li>Success selling premium video and native/custom ad formats in digital, mobile, or consumer app environments.</li> <li>Proven ability to operate as a senior seller in an early-stage or evolving business, balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution.</li> <li>Strong commercial judgment across pricing, packaging, negotiation, and account prioritization.</li> <li>Ability to influence senior decision makers at brands and agencies while working effectively with cross-functional partners internally.</li> <li>Strong understanding of ad tech and mobile app ecosystems, and comfort using data to assess campaign performance, shape proposals, and inform sales strategy.</li> <

Ad Sales Lead, Central

Don't apply unprepared