Associate Director, Ad Operations & Programmatic Strategy

Newark, NJ (On-site)

$115K/yr – $125K/yrSenior Level8+ years expFull time

Posted 2 weeks ago

Job Summary

Lead a programmatic trading team, mentoring three traders, owning the automation roadmap, and driving AI-enabled workflows across a ~200 item portfolio.

  • Owns automation roadmap and AI-enabled upskilling for the team
  • Sets performance expectations and aligns cross-functional operations

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Directly manage, mentor, and develop three programmatic traders, setting clear performance expectations and fostering a culture of accountability and growth.
  • Serve as a working manager and backup trader; actively stepping in to manage line items, troubleshoot delivery issues, or support high-priority campaigns during peak periods or team absences.
  • Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and skills-gap assessments; create individualized development plans for each team member.
  • Lead daily and weekly team stand-ups to review pacing, flag issues, and prioritize workload across the full ~200 line item portfolio.
  • Coordinate effectively across onshore and offshore resources to ensure continuity of campaign operations.
  • Automation Roadmap & Implementation: Own the programmatic team’s automation roadmap. Proactively identify, evaluate, and integrate AI-driven tools, automation, and methodologies to streamline day-to-day operations and programmatic strategy.
  • AI-Enabled Upskilling: Lead the team’s transition to AI-enabled workflows. Coach and upskill programmatic traders to adopt "AI-solution-forward" ways of working, ensuring the team is proficient in using AI for forecasting, reporting, and strategic insights.
  • Workflow Re-engineering: Audit and re-engineer manual, recurring processes (e.g., campaign setup, tagging, trafficking) around automation and AI agents to reduce manual effort and increase throughput.
  • Strategic Capability Development: Build and assist in the development of AI-enabled measurement, optimization, and reporting capabilities. Shift the team’s focus from execution-heavy tasks toward higher-value strategic output and AOR-style services.
  • Oversee trafficking, QA, and optimization of bundled CPM package campaigns that follow standardized targeting templates and package definitions.

Requirements

  • 8-10 years of experience in ad operations, programmatic media, or digital media trading, with at least 2 years in a lead or supervisory capacity.
  • Hands-on proficiency with major DSP platforms (e.g., DV360, The Trade Desk, Xandr/Microsoft, Amazon DSP) and ad servers (e.g., Campaign Manager 360, FreeWheel, GAM). PulsePoint DSP experience preferred.
  • Demonstrated experience applying AI or automation to media workflows, with a strong bias toward process redesign and coaching teams into AI-enabled ways of working.
  • Demonstrated experience managing both CPM/impression-based and budget/spend-based campaign structures.
  • Strong understanding of programmatic ecosystem fundamentals: auction mechanics, deal IDs, PMPs, audience targeting, brand safety, and viewability.
  • Proven ability to manage and train teams to manage multiple concurrent campaigns at scale (100+ line items) with a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail.
  • Experience developing or refining ad ops workflows, SOPs, or playbooks.
  • Strong communication skills with the ability to translate technical operations into clear reporting and recommendations for non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred

  • Healthcare vertical experience; familiarity with HIPAA considerations in digital advertising.
  • Experience managing programmatic operations within a media agency or healthcare marketing environment.
  • 3 years of experience trafficking, building, and launching campaigns within PulsePoint DSP / LIFE.
  • Proficiency in reporting and analytics tools (Looker, Tableau, Google Data Studio, or equivalent).
  • Familiarity with offshore team management and workflow coordination.
  • Experience supporting sales teams on programmatic strategy and proposal development.

Benefits

  • Benefits: Employees in this position are eligible to participate in the company sponsored benefit programs, including the following within the first 12 months of employment: - Health Insurance (medical, dental, and vision coverage) - Paid Time Off (including vacation, sick leave, and flexible holiday days) - 401(k) Retirement Plan with employer matching - Life and Disability Insurance - Employee Assistance Program (EAP) - Commuter and/or Transit Benefits (if applicable) Eligibility for specific benefits may vary based on job classification, schedule (e.g., full-time vs. part-time), work location and length of employment.

WebMD

Our Company: WebMD is a leading provider of health information services to consumers, physicians, healthcare professionals, employers and health plans.Our Business: WebMD is the leading provider of health information and services to consumers and healthcare professionals. The online healthcare information, decision-support applications and communications services that we provide: Help consumers take an active role in managing their health by providing objective healthcare information and lifestyle information. Make it easier for physicians and healthcare professionals to access clinical reference sources, stay abreast of the latest clinical information, learn about new treatment options, earn continuing medical education credits and communicate with peers. Enable employers and health plans to provide their employees and plan members with access to personalized heath and benefit information and decision support technology that helps them make informed benefit, provider and treatment choices.

Founded in 1996
3K employees (795 in marketing)

Salaries

Posted range

$115K/yr – $125K/yr

Taken straight from the job posting.

See all WebMD salaries

Marketing Team

Marketing Team Size
661 (22% of company)
Marketing Roles Posted (Last 30 Days)
3

Funding

Last Raise
Series Unknown, 30 years ago

Funding History

  • Jan 1996
    Venture Round

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
38.9M
Traffic Source Mix
Search
72.7%
Direct
24.5%
Referral
1.9%
Social
0.8%
Paid
0.1%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~3K