Director Retail Media

Skai•San Francisco, CA

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Skai is seeking a Director of Expert Services, Retail Media, a key leadership role on the Expert Services team. This position is responsible for upholding the quality of work, clarity of communication, and client confidence. The role blends strategy, commercial judgment, and executive influence, transforming the retail media landscape into actionable direction and extending the function's reach into new business and thought leadership. Reporting to the Expert Services Global Lead, the individual will work with a high degree of independence and trust, supporting internal stakeholders and contributing to the future development of Skai's platform.

Requirements

Leadership and business acumen.
Senior retail media leadership experience, including leading teams of practitioners and accountability for a portfolio of enterprise retail media clients from strategy through execution.
Commercial acumen, connecting media decisions to client unit economics and business outcomes, and experience in retaining, growing, or scoping business.
Executive presence and influence, with the ability to persuade senior stakeholders without relying on authority and respectfully challenge when evidence calls for it.
Independent judgment, operating with minimal direction, comfort with ambiguity, and ownership of decisions and outcomes.
Standard-setting and communication craft, including raising the quality bar of a team, giving direct feedback, and translating complex analysis into clear narratives and strong decks.
Retail media depth, including Amazon and Walmart full stack (search and DSP) at a level credible enough to challenge plans in detail.
Understanding of AMC and other measurement approaches to address client needs beyond standard reporting, and identifying misleading metrics.
Retail media ecosystem fluency, understanding how retailer economics, onsite, offsite, DSP, 1P and 3P, and shopper marketing fit together, and why tactics vary across networks.
Advanced use of generative AI tools (e.g., Claude) to enhance personal and team output.
Experience in new business and thought leadership, including winning work through pitches, audits, or scoping, and sharing points of view through speaking, writing, or frameworks.

Nice To Haves

Agency-side background.
Breadth across other retail media networks such as Instacart, Target and Roundel Media Studio, Criteo, CitrusAd, Epsilon, Kroger Precision Marketing, Amazon Retail Ad Service.
Familiarity with total commerce context, including how retail media integrates with shopper marketing, trade budgets, and joint business planning with retailers.
Experience with Skai, or a comparable retail media or search management platform.
Experience collaborating with a global team, both locally and virtually.

Responsibilities

Act as the leader's trusted deputy, representing the function and its priorities in every room.
Define and uphold the standard for the quality of work, including account plans, methodology, analyses, QBRs, decks, and client communications.
Shape the strategy of Expert Services with the leader, including the service model, coverage, capacity, offering packaging, and the use of AI to enhance quality and capacity.
Support strategic accounts as an executive voice, leading escalations, performance resets, renewals, growth conversations, and executive business reviews.
Lead or co-lead pitches, audits, and scoping with Sales.
Develop thought leadership (points of view, frameworks, talks, and articles) as an external voice of Skai Expert Services.
Hire and coach Directors, Managers, and Specialists.
Hold team members accountable to their commitments.
Build playbooks and succession plans to sustain the team.
Influence senior stakeholders inside and outside Skai.
Partner with product, sales, client services, technical account management, and sales engineers to incorporate client and market evidence into the roadmap.