Darren Thompson
Surbiton,United Kingdom
Summary
Driven and strategic, with excellent communication and leadership skills, capable of navigating complex challenges to achieve organisational goals. Demonstrates proficiency in project management and stakeholder engagement, ensuring seamless collaboration and successful project execution. Committed to delivering impactful results and driving growth in Next leadership role.
Overview
23
23
years of professional experience
3
3
years of post-secondary education
Work history
Executive Growth Director
Stink Studios & Film
London
03.2025 - 08.2025
- Strategic Transformation: Leading integrated growth strategy combining creative studios and film production, developing new market positioning for global expansion
- Enterprise Partnerships: Established multi-year collaborative frameworks with Fortune 500 brands including Virgin Media O2 and Loewe, driving sustained revenue growth
- Market Expansion: Spearheading international business development across advertising, entertainment, and branded content sectors
- Leadership Development: Building cross-functional teams and strategic planning processes to support scale-up growth objectives
- Board Relations: Regular strategic reporting on business development metrics and long-term positioning to senior leadership
UK Director of Sales - Agency
Spotify
London
10.2022 - 03.2025
- Organisational Leadership: Built and scaled high-performance team to 19 direct reports, achieving consistent 115% to goal performance throughout 2024& First Quarter 2025
- Market Uptake and penetration: Established UK regional agency division as fastest-growing regional market within global Spotify advertising organization
- Strategic Account Development: Secured exclusive multi-million pound partnerships with major holding companies, creating sustainable competitive advantages, Samsung, Monzo, Shark ninja, Gym shark, Virgin media
- Enterprise Sales: Negotiated complex multi-year trading agreements with GroupM, Publicis, WPP, and Omnicom, totalling £40M+ in committed spend
- Innovation Leadership: Pioneered new advertising product launches in UK market, driving early adoption and category leadership across streaming audio
- Cross-Functional Excellence: Led collaborative initiatives across product, marketing, and operations teams to deliver integrated client solutions and education Forums
Director of Sales - Verticals
Spotify
London
10.2019 - 10.2022
- Market Segmentation: Established vertical-specific go-to-market strategies across Entertainment, Government, Retail, CPG, and Technology sectors
- Team Development: Led and developed team of 8 Client Partners, implementing coaching frameworks and performance management systems
- Strategic Account Management: Built and maintained C-suite relationships with key enterprise clients, ensuring high satisfaction deep partnership and long-term growth
- Data-Driven Strategy: Developed measurement frameworks and KPI-driven strategies tailored to each vertical market
- Product Innovation: Maintained deep expertise in advertising technology solutions, identifying cross-selling opportunities aligned with customer objectives
Head of Sales UK
Teads
London
12.2017 - 10.2019
- P&L Responsibility: Achieved £46M revenue contribution (102% of target) with 45% YoY growth in highly competitive programmatic market
- Team Scale: Inherited and optimized team of 12 account managers, implementing performance frameworks and development programs
- New Business Development: Opened revenue streams with major enterprise clients including Unilever, GSK, Nestlé, generating £1.6M incremental revenue
- Strategic Planning: Led forecasting and business operations for VC funding reports, communicating bi-weekly projections to founders
- Deal Optimization: Increased average deal size by 23% (£35K to £55K) through strategic "ask for more" methodology and value proposition enhancement
- Cross-Functional Leadership: Collaborated across account management, publishing, marketing, and creative studio functions
- Drove regional sales growth by identifying and securing opportunities via untapped opportunities out of Manchester Hub, most notably Webuyanycar equated to £800k partnership for 1 year
- Set ambitious targets, sparking team motivation.
European Sales Director
MaxPoint (acquired by Valassis)
London
09.2015 - 12.2017
- Regional Leadership: Managed European operations including team of 8 Account Directors with full P&L responsibility
- Revenue Growth: Achieved 22% YoY growth in first year through market expansion and strategic partnership development
- Deal Scale: Increased average deal size by 50% (£30K to £45K) through value-based selling and solution optimization
- Enterprise Acquisition: Won direct business from major clients including Danone, Diageo, Jaguar Land Rover, and Lloyd's Banking
- International Expansion: Led market entry strategies and established trading relationships across European markets
- Marketing Leadership: Managed marketing budget and field marketing operations, including major industry events
- Defined clear sales targets, driving team motivation and engagement levels upwards.
Group Account Director
Undertone
London
05.2011 - 09.2015
- Strategic Partnerships: Spearheaded unique trading opportunity with GroupM's Xaxis, achieving £45M over 4-year partnership
- International Business: Won long-term international contracts including £1.2M Reckitt Benckiser deal over 18 months
- Market Innovation: Pioneered first programmatic rich media solution in UK market, establishing new revenue category, called display screen shift which was first non standard programmatically enabled Rich media display unit delivered programmatically
- Performance Recognition: Sales Person Year at global sales summit for two consecutive years
- Team Development: Managed and trained team members across EMEA markets, establishing best practices for sustained growth
Account Management & Business Development Roles
Haymarket (Hearst Digital), Handbag Publishing, Ink Publishing, Eye Candy Media
Shepherds Bush, Hammersmith and Fulham
01.2003 - 01.2011
- Built foundational expertise in digital advertising, account management, and business development
- Pioneered launch of Hearst Digital,( Handbag.com, Get lippy, all about) you, female Network
- Progressed rapidly through sales hierarchy, consistently exceeding targets developing strategic partnerships (of note) became Men's Health digital brand director, advising Magazine publishing Director on how to innovate on their digital platform, ( ideated and built Men's Health fitness calculator) which became fastest downloaded and monetised section on website, driving sponsorship opportunities of £60- 100k per month
- Gained comprehensive understanding of media landscape across print, digital, and programmatic channels
NED & Investor
Velux XR
London
01.2020 - 08.2025
- Strategic Advisory: Providing board-level guidance on go-to-market strategy. Client mix and GTM narrative.
- Investment Leadership: Angel investor supporting innovative technology development in XR/AR applications and AI-powered generative workflow enablement.
- Market Positioning: Advising on commercial strategy and Velox Brand positioning for emerging technology adoption across enterprise and Tech markets markets
- Growth Strategy: Supporting scaling initiatives and strategic partnership development, Pixamondo, epic games, Unreal engine and Hasmat studios.
- Sourced funding opportunities for various projects within agreed deadlines. Established investment and on going guidance from Deloitte for £500k funding rounds, and business development for extended reality and generative AI alighned clients such as Pixamondo - Sony
Education
BSc (Honours) 2:1 - Sports & Applied Sciences
St Marys University Twickenham
Twickenham 09.1997 - 09.2000
Skills
- Revenue operations and business development
- Leadership and team scaling
- Board management and strategic planning
- Negotiation and persuasive communication
- Executive decision-making and presentation
- Strategic visioning and operational leadership
- Staff appraisals and performance reviews
- Transformational leadership and training
- Sales strategy implementation and recruitment
- Ethics and sustainability
- Change facilitation
- Influential communication
- Persuasive presentation
References
- Rak, Patel, Former Head of Sales Spotify, Current Head of Commercial Channel 4, +44779192404
- Paul, Maraviglia, MD MaxPoint & Undertone, +44 7919 397740
- Sally, Keane, Head of Sales Spotify, +447510360929, Additional references available upon request
Awards
Future leader Media 100 - 2023, 2018: Achieved £46M revenue target with 45% YoY growth at Teads, 2017: Secured £45M four-year partnership with GroupM/Xaxis at Undertone, 2015-2016: Global Sales Person of the Year (consecutive years) at Undertone, 2013: Pioneered first UK programmatic rich media solution, establishing new market category, Media For ALL (MEFA MENTOR 2023- present), Digilearning - Trustee - 2024 - present
Leadership & Performance Excellence
- Elite Athletic Achievement | Great Britain Athletics Team
- 1998-2004
- International Competition: Represented Great Britain at Junior Olympics (8th globally), Commonwealth Games qualifier, Olympics 2000 qualifier (unfortunately injury inhibited my attendence)
- National Recognition: English Schools Champion (1998, 1999), National Championships Silver Medallist (2000,2001,2002)
- Olympic Qualification: Qualified for Sydney 2000 Olympics in long jump (injury stopped my ability to take part)
- Leadership Qualities: Demonstrated resilience, goal-oriented mindset, and performance under pressure at world-class level
Affiliations
- Football coach & athletics coach for each of my 3 children's respective teams and pursuits, interested in technology and advancements in The Ai space have been advising a Volumetric Ai company velox XR for 4 years and have subsequently become an investor in the tech, i like to keep myself healthy and keep my old bones working as much as possible by also going to the gym regularly, for my sins i have taken part in three tough mudder events, brutal but rewarding raising money for child cancer charities
Accomplishments
Media leader - Future 100 delegate 2022
International Delegate of the year PAC course
Ambassadors club top seller award winner - Undertone
Timeline
Executive Growth Director
Stink Studios & Film
03.2025 - 08.2025
UK Director of Sales - Agency
Spotify
10.2022 - 03.2025
NED & Investor
Velux XR
01.2020 - 08.2025
Director of Sales - Verticals
Spotify
10.2019 - 10.2022
Head of Sales UK
Teads
12.2017 - 10.2019
European Sales Director
MaxPoint (acquired by Valassis)
09.2015 - 12.2017
Group Account Director
Undertone
05.2011 - 09.2015
Account Management & Business Development Roles
Haymarket (Hearst Digital), Handbag Publishing, Ink Publishing, Eye Candy Media
01.2003 - 01.2011
BSc (Honours) 2:1 - Sports & Applied Sciences
St Marys University Twickenham
09.1997 - 09.2000
Similar Profiles
Peter ZhangPeter Zhang
Development Intern at The Three-Body Universe Film & Television StudiosDevelopment Intern at The Three-Body Universe Film & Television Studios
Kelly MartinKelly Martin
Film and Television Producer at Northern Ontario Film Studios/Hideaway PicturesFilm and Television Producer at Northern Ontario Film Studios/Hideaway Pictures
Aurel RaduAurel Radu
Production Assistant at Castel Film StudiosProduction Assistant at Castel Film Studios
Saif Khan GhauriSaif Khan Ghauri
Treasurer Trustee Voluntary Role at Action for Child Trauma InternationalTreasurer Trustee Voluntary Role at Action for Child Trauma International
Sean FearnSean Fearn
Trainee Pre-Registration Pharmacy Technician at Kingston Hospital NHS TrustTrainee Pre-Registration Pharmacy Technician at Kingston Hospital NHS Trust