Associate Director of Media Investment – Programmatic

About this role

If you’re a self-starter with lots of enthusiasm for devising innovative and integrated media solutions, you get energized by the notion of critical thinking, conceptualizing, and brainstorming with others, you have an entrepreneurial spirit and want to be a part of an agency start-up that is experiencing accelerated growth… then you’ve come to the right place.

Our Associate Directors of Media Investment are seasoned paid media leaders who oversee execution across all digital channels (search, social, programmatic, and emerging) for a portfolio of clients. For this role specifically, we’re looking for a leader with deep programmatic expertise. You live in the platform, lead complex programmatic strategy from campaign architecture and supply-path decisions through audience strategy and bid optimization, and you bring that same in-platform fluency to oversight of search and social teams that report up to you.

In addition, they work well with other parts of the media equation and are interested in providing strategic insight to help assist our Media Managers in the development of media plans that they’ll, in turn, help execute.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the implementation, execution, and optimization of digital advertising campaigns across multiple platforms.
• Lead programmatic strategy and execution across leading demand-side platforms (The Trade Desk, Google DV360, Amazon DSP, Viant) and specialist or emerging platforms (DeepIntent, Basis, Yahoo DSP, etc.) for our largest accounts.
• Own programmatic campaign architecture decisions: insertion-order and line-item structure, audience strategy (first-party data, data-partner segments, contextual, and retargeting), channel and inventory mix (CTV, display, online video, audio, native, and DOOH), and deal-type strategy (open exchange, PMP, and programmatic guaranteed).
• Supply Path & Inventory Quality: Own supply-path optimization and inventory strategy — curating SSPs and direct supply paths, building PMPs and curated marketplaces, and enforcing brand safety, viewability, and invalid-traffic (IVT) standards across the portfolio.
• Bid Strategy: Drive bid and optimization strategy across the portfolio (automated and custom bidding, frequency management, and KPI optimization toward CPA, ROAS, viewability, and completion rate) with strong intuition for when algorithmic optimization works and when it doesn’t.
• Measurement & Attribution: Lead the development of measurement frameworks — attribution, incrementality testing, MMM/MTA, and clean-room analysis — ensuring campaign performance is validated beyond last-touch platform metrics.
• Collaborate with agency and client teams to formulate and create strategic proposals that meet identified objectives.
• Sales Activity Support: Interact on a day-to-day basis with the agency’s Media Operations team to ensure campaign optimization and success. Support agency teams during operational and business reviews and act as a critical team member for operational and technical discussions.
• Campaign Monitoring: Identifying and escalating potential technical issues, identifying and building specifications on potential market needs requiring technical developments.
• Manage a team of media investment associates, specialists, supervisors, and managers.
• Onboard new hires in agency and industry best practices.
• Ongoing strategic media recommendations.
• Comfortable leading client-facing calls and meetings.
• Host internal and external training.

Requirements

• Must be located in DFW or willing to relocate.
• 5+ years of working experience in Paid Programmatic.
• Expert-level proficiency in major demand-side platforms (The Trade Desk and Google DV360 at minimum) and hands-on experience with ad servers (CM360) and measurement or supply-side tools. Familiarity with Amazon DSP, Viant, or other specialist or emerging platforms is a plus.
• Active programmatic certifications — The Trade Desk Edge Academy (Programmatic Principles at minimum) and/or Google Display & Video 360 certification. Amazon DSP or other platform certifications are a plus.
• Outstanding analytical and project management skills. Extreme attention to detail and the ability to handle several projects concurrently under deadline pressure is essential.
• Ability to work effectively with internal team members and external clients and other agency partners.
• Ability to create accurate projections based on data analysis.
• Ability to multitask and perform under pressure.
• Proactive initiative — A team player who is accountable for delivering accurate, timely, and insightful reports, recommendations, and POVs.
• Bachelor’s degree. Master’s degree is a plus.
• Supervisory experience.
• Experience running multi-million dollar media investments.

Position Status:

Salaried Exempt