Media Director, Programmatic

Critical Mass; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 135,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Critical Mass in Toronto seeks a Director, Programmatic to lead DSP capabilities and shape programmatic strategy for top brands across Canada. You will drive activation, budgeting, measurement, and optimization on The Trade Desk and DV360, while mentoring a team of specialists and expanding client success.

The role requires deep programmatic knowledge, senior client-facing skills, and a passion for data-driven media with collaborative cross-functional partners.

Qualifications

• 10+ years hands-on programmatic advertising experience.
• 3+ years in people leadership.
• Strong programmatic strategy, audience activation, bidding, measurement.
• Senior client-facing role with relationship-building.
• Advanced Excel skills: Pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP.

Responsibilities

• Oversee programmatic strategy, media planning, activation, and quarterly planning across The Trade Desk and DV360.
• Guide audience targeting, bidding, budget allocation, measurement, and optimization.
• Lead and mentor a team of specialists; provide training and career development.
• Ensure best-in-class execution and operational excellence across DSP campaigns.
• Identify opportunities to expand client success through programmatic media.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to develop integrated media strategies.
• Support development of processes, tools, and best practices for efficiency.
• Monitor industry updates and flag implications to the team.
• Represent Critical Mass in client meetings and new business opportunities.
• Some travel may be required.

Skills

Programmatic advertising

Team leadership

Audience activation

Excel (Pivot tables)

Client relationship management

Tools

The Trade Desk

DV360

Job description

MRM is part of the Omnicom Precision Marketing activation practice with Critical Mass. This practice integrates CRM platform expertise, journey management, and first‑party data capabilities with creative excellence and performance capabilities, enabling Omnicom to deliver intelligent activation across the full funnel with data‑driven decisioning at scale to help clients move faster and deliver more connected customer experiences.

The Role:

We are currently hiring a Director, Programmatic to lead our demand‑side platform capabilities within our Client Services function. The Director, Programmatic will have the opportunity to shape programmatic strategy, drive innovation, and grow some of the country’s top brands and advertisers through data‑driven media activation across The Trade Desk and DV360.

What You Will Do

• Oversee programmatic strategy, media planning, activation, optimization, and quarterly business planning across The Trade Desk and DV360.
• Provide strategic guidance on audience targeting, bidding, budget allocation, measurement, inventory quality, and performance optimization.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of pecialists; consistently provide training, feedback, and career development support.
• Ensure best‑in‑class execution and operational excellence across DSP campaigns, including quality assurance, pacing, performance monitoring, and troubleshooting.
• Contribute to business growth by proactively identifying opportunities to expand client success through programmatic media.
• Partner with cross‑functional teams to develop integrated media strategies and deliver strong client outcomes.
• Continuously support the development and improvement of operational processes, tools, and best practices to drive efficiency and scalability.
• Monitor industry news, privacy developments, and platform changes across The Trade Desk and DV360, flagging relevant updates to the broader Critical Mass team and identifying implications and recommended actions.
• Represent Critical Massin client meetings, business reviews, presentations, and new business opportunities.
• Some travel may be required, depending on client needs.

Who You Are

• You have 10+ years of hands‑on-keyboard experience in programmatic advertising, with deep expertise in The Trade Desk and DV360.
• You have experience managing and developing teams, ideally with 3+ years in a people leadership role.
• You have a strong understanding of programmatic strategy, audience activation, bidding and optimization, measurement, and campaign troubleshooting.
• You are comfortable in a senior client‑facing role and thrive on building trusted relationships with new and existing clients.
• You possess strong analytical skills and substantial knowledge of Excel, including pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, and data analysis.
• You thrive in dynamic and demanding situations and are comfortable navigating ambiguity.
• You have strong project management, attention to detail, and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and work within tight deadlines.
• You have excellent interpersonal, collaboration, and communication skills; you can build rapport with others and present decks with confidence and ease.
• You are innovative and an independent thinker with the ability to use data and insights to influence decisions.
• You are passionate about developing talent, improving ways of working, and advancing the role of programmatic media in client growth.

Salary Range: $135,000 - $160,000 CAD

Omnicom’s policy requires employees to work in the office for a minimum of three days a week, unless additional in‑office days are directed by their agency or manager. Our objective is to increase this requirement over time, and many of our agencies as well as Omnicom’s corporate group already require five days of in‑office attendance.

Omnicom is committed to hiring and developing exceptional talent. We agree that talent is uniquely distributed, and we’re focused on developing inclusive teams that can bring the best solutions to everything we do. We strongly believe that celebrating what makes us different makes us better together. Join us—we look forward to getting to know you. We will process your personal data in accordance with our Recruitment Privacy Notice.