Associate Director, Programmatic

The Associate Director, Programmatic is responsible for leading the deployment function for one of our largest enterprise clients, ensuring programmatic strategies are translated into flawlessly executed campaigns at scale.

Working in close partnership with our Strategy/Performance team in programmatic, Ad Ops, and Delivery teams, this role oversees the people, processes, and operational standards required to build, launch, optimize, and maintain complex enterprise media programs.

This role serves as the senior day-to-day leader for the deployment team, overseeing Managers and Associates across a distributed team structure while fostering a culture of accountability, precision, collaboration, and continuous improvement. The Associate Director is expected to be both a strong people leader and a hands-on programmatic expert, capable of driving deployment excellence, establishing scalable operational frameworks, and maintaining best-in-class quality standards across all campaigns. This role is also responsible for identifying, developing, and scaling AI-enabled workflows that improve deployment efficiency, quality assurance, operational consistency, and team productivity.

Success in this role requires a deep understanding of campaign architecture, platform implementation, quality assurance, launch management, and optimization execution. The Associate Director will act as the primary owner of deployment governance, ensuring media is built correctly, launched efficiently, and optimized accurately across all platforms within the programmatic ecosystem.

You’ll be responsible for:

• Lead and mentor a team of Managers and Associates across U.S.-based, nearshore, and offshore teams, fostering professional growth, accountability, and a high-performing team culture.
• Partner closely with the Strategy/Performance and Ad Ops teams to translate strategy into execution and ensure optimizations are implemented accurately and efficiently.
• Own the successful deployment lifecycle across all campaigns within your team’s remit, overseeing campaign build, trafficking, QA, launch, optimization implementation, and post-launch validation to ensure accurate, efficient, and high-quality execution.
• Lead campaign architecture and account structure development, establishing scalable frameworks that support performance, reporting, optimization, and operational excellence.
• Serve as the senior escalation point for deployment challenges, launch risks, tracking discrepancies, platform troubleshooting, and operational issues while maintaining governance standards, quality assurance processes, and deployment best practices across the account.
• Identify, test, and operationalize AI-powered solutions that streamline campaign deployment, quality assurance, project management, documentation, and optimization workflows across the team.
• Lead internal project management across programmatic deployment efforts, developing deployment roadmaps, launch calendars, implementation checklists, and operational documentation that support timely, scalable, and error-free delivery.
• Collaborate effectively across functional departments, including Ad Operations, Data Science & Analytics, Integrated Media Strategy & Planning, Project Management, and other media craft teams to deliver seamless campaign execution.
• Continuously identify, build, and scale process improvements, automation, and AI-enabled workflows that enhance deployment velocity, quality assurance, documentation, operational efficiency, and overall team effectiveness.
• Promote DEPT®’s values while creating an inclusive, collaborative environment that supports learning, innovation, and growth.

You’ll need:

• 5–7 years of programmatic media experience within an agency environment, including experience supporting large, complex, enterprise-level clients.
• Advanced proficiency across leading programmatic platforms, including The Trade Desk, DV360, Amazon DSP, and Google Ads. Deep expertise in Google Ads and YouTube is required for this role.
• Deep expertise in campaign architecture, account structure development, media deployment, quality assurance, trafficking, launch management, and optimization implementation.
• Proven experience leading and developing teams, with the ability to coach, influence, and create opportunities for others to grow.
• Extensive experience managing complex deployment workflows across multiple stakeholders, timelines, and workstreams while maintaining exceptional attention to detail.
• Strong understanding of project management principles, operational planning, launch governance, and process development within enterprise media environments.
• Confident mastery of campaign troubleshooting, measurement validation, tracking verification, and quality assurance across complex programmatic campaigns.
• Demonstrated ability to build trust, stay organized, manage competing priorities, and deliver high-quality work in fast-paced, evolving environments.
• A “get sh*t done” mentality when it comes to solving operational challenges, removing blockers, and driving execution forward.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify risks, improve processes, and translate technical details into actionable recommendations.

Additional things that will impress us:

• Trello or Project Management experience
• Natural curiosity around AI and automation, with a demonstrated ability to identify opportunities to transform operational workflows through practical application of emerging technologies.