We're seeking a VP, Media Operations to lead and grow a team of media operations specialists across programmatic, paid social, and paid search while remaining actively involved in campaign execution, optimization, and analysis. This is a unique opportunity for a media leader who enjoys both leading people and staying close to the work. The VP will oversee day-to-day media operations, mentor a team of buyers and specialists, and serve as a senior escalation point while continuing to work directly within DSPs, Google Ads, and paid social platforms. A key focus of this role will be leading the transition of programmatic media buying from a managed-service model to an in-house capability. This person will help select and onboard the appropriate DSP, establish processes and infrastructure, and build the internal expertise needed to successfully manage programmatic campaigns directly. The ideal candidate combines strong platform expertise, people leadership, operational thinking, and client-facing communication skills.
Responsibilities:- Lead, manage, and mentor a team of Media Operations Specialists across programmatic, paid social, paid search, and campaign trafficking
- Oversee workload distribution, campaign quality, team performance, and professional development
- Lead the onboarding and implementation of a DSP, including platform configuration, seat management, workflows, and internal adoption
- Own the transition of programmatic media buying from managed service to an in-house model, including migration planning, QA, performance benchmarking, and process development
- Remain hands-on across programmatic, paid social, and Google Ads platforms, including campaign setup, pacing, optimization, troubleshooting, and reporting
- Review and QA campaigns to ensure accurate execution, strong performance, and adherence to internal standards
- Serve as a senior escalation point for complex campaign challenges, technical issues, and platform-related questions
- Monitor performance across the team's portfolio and proactively identify optimization opportunities and potential risks
- Partner directly with clients to present campaign performance, communicate insights, and provide clear, actionable optimization recommendations
- Develop and refine internal documentation, workflows, QA processes, and best practices across media channels
- Partner with senior strategy and media planning leadership on channel strategy, campaign approach, and team resourcing
- Stay current on emerging platforms, industry trends, and best practices across programmatic, social, and search and share relevant learnings across the team
Qualifications:- 5-8+ years of hands-on media buying experience across programmatic, paid social, and paid search
- Strong working knowledge of major DSPs such as The Trade Desk, DV360, or similar platforms
- Hands-on experience with Meta Ads Manager, Google Ads, and/or Google Marketing Platform
- Prior experience managing, mentoring, or developing media buyers, media operations specialists, or similar teams
- Experience onboarding, implementing, or establishing a DSP environment strongly preferred
- Experience supporting or leading the transition from managed-service programmatic buying to an in-house model is highly preferred
- Demonstrated ability to personally build, optimize, troubleshoot, and analyze campaigns across multiple media channels
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate campaign data into meaningful insights and optimization strategies
- Experience developing and presenting client-facing performance reports and strategic recommendations
- Strong organizational and operational skills with the ability to balance people leadership with hands-on campaign responsibilities
- Agency experience preferred
- Ideal Profile
This role is best suited for a media leader who has progressed into team leadership without moving away from hands-on platform execution. You should be equally comfortable mentoring a buyer through a pacing issue, presenting performance recommendations to a client, building scalable media operations processes, and jumping directly into a DSP or ad platform to troubleshoot and optimize a campaign.
