VP, Programmatic Strategy & Operations

Canvas Worldwide•El Segundo, CA

3d•$175,000 - $185,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Canvas Worldwide is seeking a VP of Programmatic Strategy & Operations to support the SVP of Programmatic & Activation Technology. This role involves strategic media development, cross-functional partnership, and operational excellence for a team of over 33 people managing significant media investment for major brands. The ideal candidate thinks in systems, simplifies complexity, and has a strong understanding of how programmatic media should function.

Requirements

10+ years in programmatic media with progressive responsibility, moving from execution to strategy to leadership.
Expert-level knowledge of the programmatic ecosystem, including DSPs, SSPs, identity, data, and measurement.
Proven track record of developing sophisticated programmatic strategies that drive business outcomes.
Experience building measurement frameworks beyond last-click (incrementality, multi-touch, brand lift, custom attribution) and partnering with analytics teams.
Deep technical platform knowledge: DV360, The Trade Desk minimum, plus familiarity with ad servers, CDPs, clean rooms, and identity solutions.
Experience managing senior direct reports (Directors and above) with strong coaching and retention skills.
Agency experience required, understanding internal politics, client management, and cross-functional alignment.
Automotive account experience strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead the strategic development of programmatic media plans, including channel selection, DSP strategy, audience construction, deal structures, and budget allocation.
Design media strategies across CTV, display, video, DOOH, and emerging formats, clarifying each channel's contribution to outcomes.
Build media plans prioritizing business objectives, then media logic, and finally platform mechanics.
Translate client briefs and investment strategies into sophisticated programmatic plans.
Demonstrate mastery of the programmatic ecosystem (DSPs, SSPs, DMPs, CDPs, clean rooms, identity graphs, etc.) and its interdependencies.
Serve as an internal authority on the evolving programmatic landscape (signal loss, identity resolution, contextual targeting, attention metrics, MFA/brand safety) and translate this into actionable strategy.
Own the relationship between programmatic and the broader biddable ecosystem, ensuring paid search, social, and programmatic are integrated.
Partner with activation technology and engineering on proprietary tooling, providing strategic input for product development.
Develop measurement frameworks that address business questions like incrementality, path-to-conversion, cross-channel attribution, and audience quality.
Partner with analytics and data science teams to develop custom testing frameworks.
Own the reporting narrative for key accounts, translating complex programmatic data into clear, credible insights connected to client objectives.
Build non-standard reporting frameworks for accounts where standard metrics are insufficient.
Maintain hands-on fluency across major DSP environments (DV360, The Trade Desk, Amazon DSP) and their advanced features.
Understand trafficking structures, pixel implementation, brand safety controls, frequency logic, and bid landscape mechanics to identify and prevent errors.
Provide technical direction on audience strategy, including segmentation, lookalike modeling, suppression lists, and contextual targeting.
Evaluate and pressure-test new ad tech partnerships with technical rigor.
Serve as the primary operational lead for the programmatic team, managing escalations, QA oversight, and capacity.
Directly manage Directors and Associate Directors, acting as their strategic coach.
Bridge programmatic with investment, strategy, analytics, and local teams to reduce friction and improve quality.
Partner with the SVP on organizational design, hiring, and staffing models.

Benefits

Generous medical, dental, vision, pet insurance, commuter benefits, disability and life insurance coverage
401(k) matching
Up to 14 holidays per year
A “Do Good Day”
Unlimited PTO
Employee social and wellness events
DEI Council
Auto purchase rebate program
Monthly wellness allowance
In-office amenities such as fresh kombucha and an in-house barista