Associate Director, Digital and Programmatic

dentsu•Chicago, NY

10d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director (AD) manages daily workflow for the team across specified account(s), such as the buying of programmatic and direct digital campaigns, within the dentsu portfolio of agencies, including Carat, dentsuX, and iProspect. They oversee tactical development, campaign activation, pacing and optimizations, and contribute to reporting including direct client interaction daily. The AD is responsible for reviewing client deliverables to ensure quality outputs. The AD is accountable for monitoring campaign performance and proactively ensuring optimization and that any needed course-corrections are implemented to deliver against campaign goals. They provide oversight of QA and operational best practices, while providing continuous training and mentorship to direct reports. The AD is responsible for managing timelines and priorities to ensure high-quality, on-time deliverables in partnership with account leads. Beyond day-to-day team deliverables, they foster knowledge-sharing, support account leadership with central tasks, and are key to cultivating a culture of teamwork and collaboration.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent
5 years' experience within the programmatic and digital industry
Experience with management of a team, with the ability to lead a highly successful team
Strong experience across all digital media channels and ability to eloquently speak to each
Strong understanding of business concepts and client objectives to identify expansion opportunities
Consistent, exceptional project management
Excellent verbal and written communications, presentation, and analytical skills
Collaboration mindset with a proactive work ethic and the ability to prioritize multiple tasks
Ability to retain professionalism in all situations
Detail-oriented with strong attention to project management and follow-through
Solutions orientated with strong critical thinking abilities and problem-solving skills
Strong analytical thinking and mathematical skills
Proficient in programmatic technology, platform, and partner solutions, including but not limited to, DSPs, ad servers, ad verification platforms, planning/financial platforms, DMPs, analytics & reporting dashboards, etc.
Strong experience working with business applications; MS Office Suite required

Responsibilities

Accountable to daily team operations and campaign excellence, ensuring best practices are evident in work of the activation/investment team
Ability to articulate optimizations, rationale, results, and recommendations in reporting commentary and on client calls, and address concerns as needed
Lead RFP responses and develop tactical recommendations showcasing innovative thinking across platforms, audiences & content programs
Be an expert on the buying platforms, direct media buying processes, and internal dentsu products
Identify and test emerging tech solutions and innovations, highlighting client value in results and sharing across client team
Ensure the team adheres to defined processes for campaign management across digital and programmatic channels, with extra oversight on hands-on-keys activation work
Effectively manage and communicate with direct reports, managing expectations, timelines, and priorities
Ability to delegate and foster accountability within junior level team
Identify training and development needs of account team
Update agency leads on team performance, campaign health, and strategic growth opportunities
Contribute to thought leadership, POVs, or other shareable collateral that improves the overall level of knowledge across digital and programmatic investment teams
Assist leadership with new business pitches