Associate Director, Programmatic

Chicago, IL, United States

This is a hybrid role, requiring three days in-office each week. If you are contacted for an interview, your recruiter will discuss specifics with you, inclusive of any necessary reasonable accommodations.

About Spark Foundry:

Spark Foundry is a global media agency that exists to bring HEAT – Higher Engagement, Affinity, and Transactions – to brands. By combining flawless media fundamentals with aggressive innovation, Spark inspires consumers to pay more attention, to care more about our clients’ brands, and to buy more products and services from them.

Balancing the nimble spirit of a startup with the powerhouse soul of Publicis Media, Spark Foundry delivers the best of both worlds to a client roster that spans some of the world’s best and most beloved brands and companies. We combine boutique-caliber insights and service with the buying clout and first-look access of a global leader, bringing the heat to challenger brands that want to act like giants, and to giant brands that want to act like challengers.

With a bottom-up culture that celebrates diversity and aims for all voices to be heard, Spark has become a magnet for the industry’s best talent, with one of the best retention rates in the industry. And by applying a whole-person approach to professional and personal development, Spark develops a workforce that is well prepared for today’s challenges, and also poised to create meaningful careers in the years to come.

Because we know that heat arises the intersection of complementary forces, our professionals come from myriad disciplines and backgrounds: data, analytics, and insights, content and creative production, communications and strategy, finance and marketing, and sociology, psychology, and other liberal arts disciplines.

Job Description Overview:

The Associate Director (AD) oversees the strategic development and execution of programmatic campaigns across Display, Social, Mobile, Search, and Video channels. The AD owns planning activities for complex or large spend campaigns and is responsible for generating strategic insights while driving learnings across the full suite of the client’s activities. The Associate Director serves as the primary point of contact for clients and owns the development of client decks, status documentation, and facilitates client meetings.

While providing thought leadership on audience strategies and campaign optimization, the AD builds strong relationships and establishes clear lines of communication with agency partners and the client services team alike. This role oversees all campaign activity and deliverables by the team’s Programmatic Analysts and Managers, and facilitates the training and development of the team. The AD determines each individual’s assignments and bandwidth, distributing work as needed.

The AD must possess a strong inner drive to redesign the digital media landscape, enjoy working with some of the finest minds in the industry, and truly desire to contribute to a unique team of industry thought leaders.

Role Objectives:

Direct and manage the daily work flow of all programmatic campaigns including proposal development, campaign activation and maintenance, and post-buy recaps

Interface with Agency media teams to respond to RFPs, build strategic campaign plans, communicate service offerings, and identify and deliver new solutions in a collaborative fashion

Review client deliverables for quality, ensuring that recommendations and work product are sound and viable

Own the development of strategic proposals, coordinating across programmatic teams to account for all relevant inputs

Assume accountability and ownership of programmatic campaign execution for assigned client accounts

Understand and effectively communicate programmatic value proposition, technology, and processes as related to the growth of current and prospective agency accounts

Monitor and report on campaign performance

Participate in forecasting exercises for senior management

Embrace and encourage a culture based on team work, collaboration, and intellectual curiosity

Adopt established account management standards and program management best practices

Assist in training, mentoring, and developing team members

Assist in the development and documentation of best practices for improving communication and collaboration within the team and the group

Develop and maintain quality control procedures for programmatic campaign implementations

Participate in regular knowledge sharing sessions to share and learn new strategies for optimizing and enhancing campaign performance

Qualifications Understanding of interactive media planning and buying elements

Proficiency in Microsoft Office solutions

Strong analytical thinking and mathematical skills

Excellent communication and writing skills

Ability to organize and manage detail work, as well as work independently and balance multiple tasks

5+ years of experience in Search, Display, Video, Social, and/or Mobile programmatic media buying

2+ years of increasing levels of responsibility within an agency or media company

2+ years of people management experience, managing 3+ reports in account management/client services team

Additional Information All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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