Ad Sales Executive

We're transforming the grocery industry

At Instacart, we invite the world to share love through food because we believe everyone should have access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together. Where others see a simple need for grocery delivery, we see exciting complexity and endless opportunity to serve the varied needs of our community. We work to deliver an essential service that customers rely on to get their groceries and household goods, while also offering safe and flexible earnings opportunities to Instacart Personal Shoppers.

Instacart has become a lifeline for millions of people, and we’re building the team to help push our shopping cart forward. If you’re ready to do the best work of your life, come join our table.

Instacart is a Flex First team

There’s no one-size fits all approach to how we do our best work. Our employees have the flexibility to choose where they do their best work—whether it’s from home, an office, or your favorite coffee shop—while staying connected and building community through regular in-person events. Learn more about our flexible approach to where we work.

Overview

Instacart Ads is building the operating system for retail media, helping our retailer partners unlock incremental value through innovative advertising solutions. We’re growing a net-new Retailer Ad Sales function within our Midmarket Ad Sales team and are looking for a results-driven Ad Sales Executive to expand advertising partnerships across our existing retailer network.

This role is a high-impact individual contributor opportunity where you’ll collaborate closely with Business Development, Product, Marketing, Legal, Yield, Policy, and Off-Platform teams to bring new retailer-dedicated ad units to market and drive meaningful, measurable revenue. In Q4 alone, this new function generated over $2.5M, and we’re targeting 100% year-over-year growth. You’ll join a nimble group within a Midmarket Sales organization of approximately 45 teammates; your immediate team is growing from 8 to 11, and you will be 1 of 2 dedicated retailer ad sellers shaping how Instacart partners with retailers at scale.

If you thrive in a fast-paced environment, enjoy rolling up your sleeves to build from 0 to 1, and want to help retailers achieve their goals with Instacart’s audience and ad products, this role offers the ownership and cross-functional collaboration to make a visible impact.

About the Role

• Own the full sales cycle for retailer advertising partnerships within Instacart’s existing retailer network, from prospecting and pipeline development through scoping, contracting, launch, optimization, renewal, and expansion.
• Identify, position, and sell retailer-dedicated ad units and cross-channel solutions (on-site and off-site), partnering with Product, Marketing, and Yield to craft packages that map to retailer objectives and deliver measurable ROI.
• Work hand-in-hand with the Business Development retailer team to align account strategies, convert platform relationships into advertising revenue, and create cohesive joint plans for growth.
• Translate performance data into clear narratives, proposals, and QBRs; set targets, monitor KPIs, and drive optimizations that lead to renewal and upsell.
• Build repeatable playbooks, pricing guardrails, and best practices that support scale across Midmarket Ads and enable future teammates to execute with quality and speed.
• Navigate cross-functional processes with Legal, Policy, Finance, and Off-Platform to structure terms, ensure compliance, and accelerate deal velocity in a dynamic, rapidly evolving environment.

About You

Minimum Qualifications

• 5–7+ years of experience in digital advertising sales, account management, or business development, with a focus on retail, grocery, or the broader retail ecosystem.
• Hands-on experience with retail media networks, including on-site media, off-site activation, audience targeting, and performance measurement.
• Proven track record owning end-to-end sales cycles and growing high-value advertising partnerships with individual contract values between $100k and $2M.
• Experience presenting complex advertising solutions to senior stakeholders and negotiating commercial terms through close.
• Analytical and data-driven approach; proficiency using performance data to inform optimization and renewal strategies.
• Demonstrated cross-functional collaboration with teams such as Business Development, Product, and Marketing to package and deliver solutions.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, communications, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Existing relationships or ad sales experience with regional and national retailers (e.g., grocers, mass merchandisers, specialty retailers).
• Expertise in audience segmentation and the ability to tailor solutions to retailer goals and target customers.
• Experience launching new ad formats or implementing innovative advertising solutions in a retail environment.
• Familiarity with retail attribution models and campaign metrics (e.g., ROAS, incrementality, basket size, repeat rate), and comfort interpreting campaign reporting.
• Experience using CRM tools (e.g., Salesforce) for pipeline management and forecasting.
• Willingness to travel as needed (up to 10%–25%) for client meetings and cross-functional collaboration.

Instacart provides highly market-competitive compensation and benefits in each location where our employees work. This role is remote and the base pay range for a successful candidate is dependent on their permanent work location. Please review our Flex First remote work policy here.

Offers may vary based on many factors, such as candidate experience and skills required for the role. Additionally, this role is eligible for a new hire equity grant as well as annual refresh grants. Please read more about our benefits offerings here.

For US based candidates, the base pay ranges for a successful candidate are listed below.

CA, NY, CT, NJ

$120,000—$146,000 USD

WA

$114,000—$140,000 USD

OR, DE, ME, MA, MD, NH, RI, VT, DC, PA, VA, CO, TX, IL, HI

$110,000—$134,000 USD

All other states

$100,000—$122,000 USD