Associate Director, Performance Media

Horizon Media•New York, NY

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director of Performance Media is the day-to-day liaison between clients and Social and Programmatic teams, providing leadership and strategic direction for media plans. The role directly oversees Social and Programmatic channel experts and collaborates closely with SEM experts to develop holistic strategies. It also coaches, mentors, and develops a high-performing team, including career and resource planning, and builds strong partnerships with vendors and internal stakeholders. This position reports to the Group Director of Performance Media. The Associate Director helps lead client relationships for Social and Programmatic, develops data-led strategies and investment allocation recommendations, communicates performance recommendations against client goals, prepares stories for senior leadership, builds relationships with senior client decision-makers, and identifies business growth opportunities. The role develops Programmatic and Social strategies, plans, testing methodologies, and roadmaps; evaluates custom algorithm, inventory, and supply approaches; explores innovation and first-to-market opportunities; and provides technical risk perspectives. It coordinates makegood responses, reviews platform setup and QA before launch, and monitors in-campaign changes. The role manages subsets of Programmatic and Social teams across multiple clients, establishing and refining processes for campaign creation, implementation, tracking, analysis, and optimization. It may provide hands-on campaign support when needed. The Associate Director also contributes to team training and learning, leading cross-learning sessions for manager-level team members and below. Direct reports include Senior Planners and Planners, with collaboration across Programmatic and Social teams.

Requirements

At least 5 years of experience directly related to Programmatic, including DV360 and YouTube, with Social exposure and a focus on direct response campaigns such as CPA, CPL, ROI, and ROAS.
Ability to optimize YouTube Demand Gen and upper-funnel media within DV360.
Ability to interpret conversion and brand lift studies.
Ability to optimize across CTV.
Experience with Brand Suitability and Brand Safety optimizations.
Expert-level understanding of Programmatic buying and planning.
Ability to train, motivate, and manage individuals at multiple levels, from entry-level through manager level.
Exceptional quantitative skills and aptitude, including advanced Excel skills.
Exceptional analytical skills to measure the success of performance media programs and expand on that success.
Strong interpersonal and verbal communication skills, and the ability to communicate clearly and effectively in person and in writing.
Excellent organizational skills and ability to manage multiple responsibilities.
Bachelor’s degree.

Responsibilities

Help lead client relationships on behalf of Social and Programmatic teams.
Create and promote comprehensive, data-led strategies addressing client needs, including investment allocation across Social and Programmatic.
Coordinate with internal stakeholders so teams understand media investment details and have a central point of contact for the broader investment team.
Communicate performance recommendations and vision against ROI and KPI goals.
Develop overarching session stories for senior leadership.
Establish senior-level relationships with key client decision-makers and monitor account and relationship health.
Identify business growth opportunities and create business development plans.
Develop Programmatic and Social strategies, plans, testing methodologies, and client roadmaps.
Evaluate custom algorithm strategies and applications, as well as inventory and supply approaches for cost and performance efficiencies.
Pursue innovation and first-to-market opportunities and provide points of view on technical risk.
Coordinate makegood coverage responses when mishaps occur.
Explore creative solutions with existing partners and platforms using ecosystem relationships and knowledge of buy mechanics.
Review DSP and Social platform setup as the final reviewer in the QA process, approve launches, and closely track in-campaign changes.
Manage subsets of Programmatic and Social teams across multiple clients.
Establish and refine processes for creating, implementing, tracking, analyzing, and optimizing Programmatic campaigns in DV360 and Social campaigns across platforms such as Meta and LinkedIn.
Provide hands-on campaign support when necessary.
Contribute to team training and learning, leading cross-learning sessions among manager-level team members and below.
Directly manage Senior Planners and Planners and collaborate with team members across Programmatic and Social.