Sr. Manager of Site Direct & Programmatic Media

Job Summary

Reporting to the Group Director of Paid Media, the Sr. Manager of Site Direct & Programmatic Media is responsible for driving strategic campaign execution, fostering vendor and internal cross-departmental relationships, and delivering high-performance outcomes across assigned accounts. This role oversees large-scale campaign efforts, ensuring that overarching client strategies are translated into actionable and effective campaign plans within site direct buying and programmatic media channels. By proactively identifying challenges and opportunities, the Sr. Manager develops creative solutions to optimize processes, streamline operations, and improve campaign performance. They also act as a key point of escalation for team issues while maintaining a focus on collaboration and cross-departmental communication.

In addition to operational excellence, the Sr. Manager serves as a thought leader, staying abreast of industry trends and bringing forward innovative recommendations to internal teams. Relationships internally and externally will be important for this role to maintain as a primary point of contact for Site Direct and Programmatic in the agency.  

They also play a pivotal role in mentoring junior talent and fostering professional growth through training and development initiatives. The position requires a balance of strategic insight, technical expertise, and leadership acumen to ensure campaigns deliver measurable success while advancing team capabilities and fostering a positive, forward-thinking work environment.

This role is cross-functional and will work across both site direct and programmatic media practices. They will have a dotted-line reporting structure to the Director of Programmatic, and they will be expected to be hands-on with campaign management across multiple digital buying platforms. Strong digital media buying acumen across display, video, and audio channels is necessary, as well as effectively managing time, tasks, and resources.

Responsibilities

• Help to develop the overarching Site Direct and Programmatic Media practices.  Communicate strategy and campaign updates to internal team via weekly status calls and emails. Build processes that allow for maximum automation and quality assurance.  
• Develops an understanding of overarching client account strategies and their impact on channel-level approaches. Documents account priorities to inform strategic recommendations and ensure campaign performance meets expectations.
• Build and maintain relationships with internal media leads and external media partners; act as a liaison to ensure strategy translates into campaign execution.
• Lead large-scale project management efforts, requiring cross-departmental collaboration (e.g., QBRs).
• Assist with new business projects, account onboarding, and serve on internal committees/taskforces.
• Proactively identify problem areas and use strategic, creative problem-solving, act as a point of escalation for team issues.
• Represent the Site Direct/Programmatic team in meetings, sometimes independently. Host meetings with vendors, involving planning teams when appropriate. Foster vendor partnerships to ensure access to innovative opportunities and disseminate them internally.
• Demonstrate strong presentation skills for RFPs, POVs, and other deliverables.
• Ensure high campaign performance against benchmarks and address performance issues effectively.
• Present reporting insights with clarity and professionalism.
• Develop creative and measurement best practices; explore new measurement opportunities (e.g., brand-lift studies, creative studies).
• Collaborate with Ad Ops on pixel strategies and implementation. Work with BI teams to develop and QA internal Site Direct dashboards.
• Create processes to efficiently plan, execute, optimize, and report on campaigns. Identify process improvements through automation, tools, or new technologies, including AI solutions.
• Offer technical guidance for complex campaign setups.
• Serve as a thought leader by staying updated on industry trends to provide fresh, best-in-class recommendations. This includes the application of AI tech/tools. 
• Grow and manage a team of direct reports, their day-to-day work, and their overall professional development. Provide training and templates to team members on processes.
• Exhibit professional maturity, especially in challenging situations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree and 6 years’ experience working in omni-channel digital media buying. Media planning experience not required but preferred. 2 years’ experience leadership experience preferred; or equivalent combination of education and/or experience. Search/Social experience not applicable.
• Hands-on The Trade Desk and/or Quantcast platform experience strongly preferred, including audience creation, campaign management, and optimization.
• Prisma experience a plus. Must be comfortable with campaign management systems (CM360) and reporting tools (DOMO, Tracer, etc.).
• High proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and other presentation tools.
• Solid understanding of digital media strategies, KPIs, performance benchmarks, and measurement best practices
• Strong attention to detail, communication skills, and presentation skills
• Demonstratable upbeat energy with a positive, can-do attitude
• Adaptability and ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environments
• Ownership of their own deliverables and accountable to those of the team
• Capability to manage challenges and escalations effectively with a calm, professional approach.

This position is preferred to be local to Dallas, TX, but we are open to considering remote employees. 

Local and remote employees will be expected to travel up to 15% for internal, vendor, and/or client meetings.

Employee Benefits

We provide our employees with the tools and resources to keep them healthy, wealthy, and wise through the following benefits:

• 5 weeks PTO (prorated based on first-year start date).
• Employer-subsidized medical, dental, vision, life, and short/long-term disability coverage.
• Up to 6 weeks of 100% paid parental leave (maternity, paternity, adoption).
• Generous 401(k) match – 25% company match on employee contributions, with no cap.
• Paid company holidays, including 7 business days off between Christmas and New Year's.
• Flexible/hybrid work locations.
• Exciting growth opportunities within the organization.