Data & Tooling Innovation Media Lead

Unilever PLC; Rotterdam; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Unilever in Rotterdam is seeking a Data + Tooling Innovation Media Lead to shape how Foods drives media performance through platforms, data, automation and AI. This role influences the end-to-end media infrastructure, enabling sharper global capabilities and faster optimisation across markets.

The role covers media buying, platform governance, ad tech partnerships and scalable solutions with agencies to deliver stronger ROI. Full-time, onsite in Rotterdam.

Responsibilities

• Media buying excellence and platform best practices across major media platforms.
• Ad tech and automation innovation to simplify workflows and improve activation.
• Scale innovations across markets and partner with agencies to improve performance.

Job description

Job Purpose

We are seeking a passionate and self-driven Data + Tooling Innovation Media Lead for the Integrated Demand Generation Team (IDG), who will help shape how Foods drives stronger media performance through better use of platforms, technology, automation, data and AI. This is an exciting time to join the Foods business as it builds sharper global capabilities, creates new ways of working, and unlocks the next level of growth and performance.

This role helps shape the end-to-end media performance infrastructure for Foods — across execution, technology and data — to drive stronger business outcomes at global scale. It brings together platform best practice, AI-enabled activation opportunities and trusted data foundations so Foods can move towards more connected, responsive and optimisation-led ways of working. The role will span areas such as media buying, media spend and performance reporting, asset code frameworks, Rapid ROI, competitor reporting, ad accounts, buying principles, smart bidding, ad tech partnerships, media technology stack management and emerging agentic tools.

• Location: Rotterdam, South Holland
• Job Type: Full time
• Job Category: Marketing
• #LI-Onsite

Key Responsibilities

1. Media Buying Excellence & Platform Best Practice

• Define and scale buying best practices across major media platforms
• Drive adoption of Smart Bidding and platform-native optimisation capabilities
• Own core media platform responsibilities including ad account structures, governance, buying principles and smart bidding approaches
• Own media spend and performance reporting across markets, ensuring clear visibility of investment, delivery and optimisation opportunities
• Manage the reporting foundations that enable consistent measurement, including asset code frameworks, Rapid ROI, spend reporting and competitor reporting

2. Ad Tech & Automation Innovation

• Maximise the value of ad tech partners
• Identify opportunities to simplify, automate and improve activation workflows
• Prepare media activation for deeper content integration, ensuring platform, data and workflow readiness as content and media become more connected
• Manage and evolve the media technology stack, including partner usage, tool governance, integration opportunities and performance use cases
• Explore and scale agentic tools that can reduce manual work, improve decision-making and unlock faster optimisation across markets

3. Scaling Innovation Across Markets

• Translate platform and technology innovations into scalable solutions for markets and agencies

4. Agency Partnership & Performance

• Partner with agencies to continuously improve activation quality, efficiency and performance

Experience

• Deep hands-on experience across major digital media platforms
• Strong understanding of media buying, optimisation, and auction dynamics
• Experience using ad tech partners such as Smartly, The Trade Desk, Innovid, and DoubleVerify

For the recruitment of this position, we would like to emphasize that local conditions apply to the position and for this vacancy in principle we will consider candidates based on the set locations. If you are based outside of these locations and you are interested in applying, please feel free to do so but at this stage we will not take your application forward. We will only consider your application if a decision is made to also recruit outside of the set locations.

Whilst the role is advertised on a full-time basis, we would be happy to discuss possible flexible working options and what this may look like for you.

Please be aware if you are applying for this role from outside the BeNeLux (Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg), while location of the role is within the BeNeLux, if successful, your internal application will be treated as a self-initiated Change Location Outside of Country (CLOC) transfer. You will be eligible for relocation support in the form of economy-class flights (to NL), immigration support (if applicable), tax support (in the year of move) and a lump sum of €7.500 net of taxes to be paid out during the first salary payment in the Netherlands. No further relocation support will be provided in a self-initiated CLOC.