Director, Curation & Activation Partnerships

Equativ•New York, NY

4d•$130,000 - $140,000

About The Position

Equativ is seeking a commercially driven Director, Curation & Activation Partnerships to grow Maestro, its programmatic curation and media activation platform, across North America. The role develops agency and holding-company partnerships, helping programmatic and curation teams build scalable strategies while exploring AI-powered and agentic media activation. This hands-on individual contributor owns revenue growth and long-term partnerships. Curation expertise is not required from day one; commercial judgment, programmatic knowledge, curiosity, and the ability to turn technology into business opportunities are important. The director builds strategic agency relationships, supports agencies in launching curation offerings and activating data, develops white-label and co-branded opportunities, and partners with Customer Success to onboard and activate agreements. The role also develops market and ecosystem knowledge, tracks programmatic and advertising technology developments, contributes to go-to-market strategy, manages agency partnerships from prospecting through expansion, and represents Equativ at industry events and agency meetings. Equativ is an independent ad platform offering SSP, curation, and retail media services and technology. The company has over 750 employees across 19 countries and describes its workplace as dynamic and flexible. Compensation is $130,000–$140,000 per year, with additional variable compensation based on individual and company performance.

Requirements

At least 5 years of experience in programmatic advertising, digital media, business development, or agency partnerships.
Track record of developing partnerships, winning business, and growing revenue.
Understanding of agencies and holding companies, including programmatic planning, buying, and activation.
Knowledge of DSPs, SSPs, and programmatic deal structures.
Familiarity with audience data, contextual signals, and data-driven advertising.
Strong communication and negotiation skills across commercial and technical stakeholders.
Experience managing a sales pipeline and delivering against revenue targets.
Curiosity, adaptability, and eagerness to learn emerging advertising technologies.

Nice To Haves

Experience with programmatic curation, curated marketplaces, or data-driven activation.
Relationships with North American agency programmatic, investment, or curation teams.
Experience with holding-company trading desks or agency technology and data teams.
Exposure to data providers, contextual platforms, or content intelligence.
Experience with technology partnerships, white-label offerings, or reseller models.
Familiarity with CTV, retail media, AI-powered advertising, agentic workflows, MCP, or AdCP.

Responsibilities

Build relationships with agency programmatic, investment, trading, data, and curation teams.
Help agencies use Maestro to launch curation offerings, activate data, access differentiated supply, and unlock value.
Develop white-label and co-branded curation partnership opportunities.
Partner with Customer Success to support successful onboarding and activation of agreements.
Expand relationships across agency teams, brands, markets, and use cases.
Develop expertise in Maestro, curation, and evolving agency buying strategies.
Track developments across DSPs, SSPs, identity, audience data, contextual targeting, and supply-path optimization.
Understand AI-driven advertising, agentic media planning and buying, Model Context Protocol (MCP), and Ad Context Protocol (AdCP), and assess their potential for media activation.
Translate emerging technologies, data partnerships, and market insights into differentiated curation opportunities.
Align with the VP, Curation Activation on target agencies, priority segments, and growth opportunities.
Own an agency partnership pipeline from prospecting and negotiations through activation, revenue generation, and expansion.
Work with Marketing, Product, Customer Success, and Demand Sales to accelerate adoption and growth.
Represent Equativ at industry events, agency meetings, and networking opportunities.
Bring client feedback and competitive insights into Maestro's go-to-market and product strategy.