Director, Audience Strategy

Bilinguallink; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 105,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous paid time off

Hybrid work model

Professional development

Global agency network

Job summary

Omnicom Media in Toronto, Canada, seeks a Director, Audience Strategy to lead blended agency and client-facing work, combining business consulting, analytics, and cross-functional leadership.

You will guide audience strategy and activation across platforms, mentor a team, and drive measurable outcomes with senior stakeholders. This role requires strong strategic thinking, relationship management, and the ability to translate complex data into actionable insights.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in audience strategy, data strategy, programmatic media, or marketing analytics within agency, brand, or martech environments
• Experience managing a multi-million-dollar budget
• 1-3 years of people management experience
• Demonstrated ability to independently execute complex audience projects from data analysis through activation
• Direct hands-on experience building audience segments and managing campaign activation across multiple platforms
• Proven ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders

Responsibilities

• Own the audience narrative for clients and align all work to business priorities and measurable outcomes
• Advise senior stakeholders using data-driven insights across audience strategy, testing, and optimization
• Translate complex signals and technical concepts into clear, actionable recommendations that build confidence with clients, partners, and internal leaders
• Support development of client-facing deliverables including segment specifications, activation guides, and performance reports
• Evolve and manage client data partnerships to ensure our audience offering stays ahead of customer needs
• Manage audience infrastructure including segment uploads, match rate optimization, and troubleshooting activation issues across DSPs, social platforms, and other endpoints
• Maintain documentation of audience build processes, segment definitions, and activation requirements
• Support audience modeling projects including clustering, lookalike modeling, propensity scoring, and behavioral segmentation in partnership with Advanced Analytics team
• Willingness and ability to be “hands‑on” as needed to step in, guide, or support deliverables.

Job description

Position Summary

As our new Director, Audience Strategy, you will take on blended agency + client-facing role that incorporates business consulting, analytical depth, and cross-functional leadership.

• Serving as a trusted advisor, you will connect client priorities to the right data capabilities (1P, 2P, 3P), technology, and strategy, to help drive measurable business outcomes.
• Using your financial accumen and eye for detail you will ensure accurate revenue reporting, campaign pacing, and identify opportunities to grow audience targeting usage
• Using your technical expertise and analytics skills you will support a talented team of analysts on segment creation, activation, manage operational issues, and collaborate on the development of new tools that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our processes.
• Leveraging your industry knowledge and leadership skills, you will work with internal product teams and vendors partners to grow our capabilities.

This position requires strong strategic thinking, relationship building and management, presentation, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Key Responsibilities

Audience Strategy

• Own the audience narrative for clients and align all work to business priorities and measurable outcomes.
• Advise senior stakeholders using data-driven insights across audience strategy, testing, and optimization.
• Translate complex signals and technical concepts into clear, actionable recommendations that build confidence with clients, partners, and internal leaders
• Support development of client-facing deliverables including segment specifications, activation guides, and performance reports
• Evolve and manage client data partnerships to ensure our audience offering stays ahead of customer needs

Audience Execution

• Manage audience infrastructure including segment uploads, match rate optimization, and troubleshooting activation issues across DSPs, social platforms, and other endpoints
• Maintain documentation of audience build processes, segment definitions, and activation requirements
• Support audience modeling projects including clustering, lookalike modeling, propensity scoring, and behavioral segmentation in partnership with Advanced Analytics team
• Willingness and ability to be “hands‑on” as needed to step in, guide, or support deliverables.

Team Development

• Mentor a talented team of 4+
• Contribute to internal training materials and knowledge sharing sessions
• Support recruitment efforts by participating in interviews and candidate evaluations
• Provide technical guidance to junior team members and media planners on audience capabilities and data requirements

Continuous Learning & Innovation

• Stay current on audience strategy best practices, emerging technologies, and privacy developments
• Pilot new tools, techniques, and data sources to expand team capabilities
• Document learnings and contribute to internal process improvements
• Explore applications of AI/ML for audience development under senior guidance

Qualifications

Required Experience

• 7+ years of experience in audience strategy, data strategy, programmatic media, or marketing analytics within agency, brand, or martech environments
• Experience managing a multi-million-dollar budget
• 1-3 years of people management experience
• Demonstrated ability to independently execute complex audience projects from data analysis through activation
• Direct hands‑on experience building audience segments and managing campaign activation across multiple platforms
• Proven ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders

Core Competencies

• Strong bias toward action with attention to detail and quality
• Exceptional presentation and written communication skill
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects with competing priorities
• Works effectively across teams and builds productive relationships
• Comfortable with ambiguity and changing priorities in a fast-paced environment

Industry Knowledge

• Understanding of the Canadian data partner ecosystem
• Knowledge of privacy regulations (PIPEDA, CASL) and their implications for audience strategy
• Awareness of cookie‑less targeting approaches and emerging identity solutions
• Basic understanding of media marketplace dynamics and trading mechanics

Technical Capabilities

• Working knowledge of SQL with ability to debug queries for data extraction, transformation, and segmentation
• Working knowledge of statistical analysis and modeling techniques (clustering, regression, propensity models)
• Familiarity with programmatic buying, DSPs, DMPs, CDPs, and ad serving technologies
• Experience with analytics platforms (Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics) and measurement methodologies
• Exposure to Python or R is an asset
• Experience with data clean rooms and privacy-enhancing technologies is a plus

Education

• University degree in Marketing, Statistics, Data Science, Business Analytics, or related quantitative field
• Advanced degree (MBA, MS) is an asset but not required

Working Conditions

• Hybrid work environment with flexibility for remote work
• Fast-paced agency environment with multiple clients and competing deadlines
• Occasional evening or weekend work during peak campaign periods
• Some travel may be required for client meetings or industry events

This is an active vacancy. We are currently hiring for this role and reviewing applications on an ongoing basis.

Expected Salary: $105,000 – $115,000

Omnicom Media is providing the compensation range that the company is willing to pay for this position based on the successful applicant’s education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities. In addition, Omnicom Media provides rewarding offerings such as:

• Generous paid time off with a minimum of 37 paid days off including vacation and monthly wellness days. We also have four‑day long weekends, half‑day summer Fridays, and meeting‑free Friday afternoons year‑round.
• A flexible hybrid work model that works for you.
• A focus on personal development with formal training opportunities, including mental health training and inclusion education for everyone.
• A chance to be part of and grow within a global network of agencies.

Omnicom is an equal opportunity employer, committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, colour, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, citizenship, genetic information, disability, or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal, provincial, or municipal law. If you require an accommodation in any aspect of the selection process, please reach out to