Fairfax joint venture HuffPost Australia has named former REA sales manager Sammy Lewis as its new commercial director.

The company says the newly-created role will be responsible for building and leading HuffPost Australia's national team of agency sales managers guiding advertisers, media agencies, and creative agencies on advertising and branded content solutions.

She worked for REA Group for five years in a variety of commercial roles, most recently as group sales manager - media for NSW and Queensland, and previously in account management and sales roles at digital marketing firms.

HuffPost Australia chief executive JJ Eastwood describes her as an "immensely talented digital sales leader with a passion for content-driven advertising.

"With branded content forecast to grow at 35 per cent year over year for the next five years, Sammy is perfectly suited to help position HuffPost Australia as a leader in that space."

The move comes from Lewis' "great admiration and respect" for HuffPost and its unique position in the Australian media landscape, "writing for the people, not about them".

She started at HuffPost today (September 4).

HuffPost Australia was launched in August 2015 as a joint venture between HuffPost and Fairfax Media.