Associate Director, Digital Activation

PHD; New York (NY); On-site; USD 70,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

PHD is seeking an Associate Director of Digital Activation (Programmatic & Direct) in New York to own and drive activation strategies across a major Financial Services account. You will lead a team, shape performance across programmatic and direct channels, and collaborate with senior stakeholders to optimize trading, targeting, and measurement.

This leadership role requires deep programmatic expertise, strategic thinking, and a hands-on approach to grow the business while ensuring compliance

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 5 years of experience in programmatic and/or digital activation.
• Hands-on keyboard experience with DSPs (Yahoo!, The Trade Desk, DV360, Google Ads).
• Experience executing across display, video, native, and direct publisher buys.
• Strong understanding of financial advertising regulations, data usage, and compliance considerations.
• Proficiency in ad serving and measurement tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor Programmatic/Direct Investment team members, setting clear expectations and performance standards.
• Manage team resourcing and ensure efficient use of talent across workstreams.
• Support onboarding, training, and development of team members.
• Establish and reinforce best practices, processes, and frameworks.
• Foster a collaborative, accountable, and solutions-oriented team culture.
• Own Investment performance and identify opportunities to drive incremental growth.
• Develop strategies aligned to client business goals across awareness, consideration, and conversion.
• Identify and test new partners, products, and approaches.
• Contribute to broader practice development and innovation initiatives.
• Own end-to-end execution of programmatic and direct publisher campaigns.
• Translate client strategy into actionable activation plans, ensuring alignment with business goals across awareness, consideration, and conversion.
• Drive in-platform optimization including bidding strategies, audience refinement, inventory selection, and creative testing.
• Ensure effective and compliant use of data signals (1P, 3P, contextual).
• Maintain rigorous pacing, delivery management, and troubleshooting across all campaigns.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with programmatic platforms, SSPs, data providers, and premium publishers.
• Manage large-scale partner relationships with Senior Director to anticipate future needs and unlock value.
• Identify and test new partners, products, and deal structures to drive incremental performance.

Skills

Programmatic activation

Leadership

Client management

Strategy development

Trading & optimization

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Yahoo DSP

The Trade Desk

DV360

Google Ads

Ad serving tools

Job description

Agency PHd

Job Function Media

Job Subfunction Performance Media

Job Description The Associate Director of Digital Activation (Programmatic & Direct) is both a strategic thinker and hands-on leader responsible for owning activation across a high-profile Financial Services account. This individual will drive performance, shape activation strategy, and lead a team through continued growth and complexity within the digital ecosystem.

The Associate Director will work closely with the Senior Director to set priorities, allocate responsibility, and measure team performance, ensuring best-in-class execution across all programmatic and direct channels. This role requires a strong command of trading, optimization, and partner management, coupled with the ability to operate at scale and influence senior client stakeholders.

As a key leader on the business, this individual will help evolve digital activation, drive innovation, and elevate team capabilities while maintaining a strong focus on accountability, precision, and performance outcomes within a highly regulated financial category.

The Opportunity

This is a high-impact leadership role on one of the world’s most recognized financial brands. You will have the opportunity to own foundational performance channels, shape how Programmatic and Direct evolves, and play a key role in advancing full-funnel strategy, innovation, and measurement. This role offers immediate visibility, ownership, and the ability to make a meaningful mark on both the account and broader practice.

Your Responsibilities Will Include

Team Leadership

• Lead and mentor Programmatic/Direct Investment team members, setting clear expectations and performance standards
• Manage team resourcing and ensure efficient use of talent across workstreams
• Support onboarding, training, and development of team members
• Establish and reinforce best practices, processes, and frameworks
• Foster a collaborative, accountable, and solutions-oriented team culture

Grow Business

• Own Investment performance and identify opportunities to drive incremental growth
• Develop strategies aligned to client business goals across awareness, consideration, and conversion, with a focus on bottom-funnel tactics
• Identify and test new partners, products, and approaches
• Contribute to broader practice development and innovation initiatives

Activation Ownership & Performance Delivery

• Own end-to-end execution of programmatic and direct publisher campaigns
• Translate client strategy into actionable activation plans, ensuring alignment with business goals across awareness, consideration, and conversion
• Drive in-platform optimization including bidding strategies, audience refinement, inventory selection, and creative testing
• Ensure effective and compliant use of data signals (1P, 3P, contextual), particularly within Financial Services guidelines
• Maintain rigorous pacing, delivery management, and troubleshooting across all campaigns

Partner & Marketplace Management

• Build and maintain strong relationships with programmatic platforms, SSPs, data providers, and premium publishers
• Manage large-scale partner relationships alongside the Senior Director to anticipate future needs and unlock value
• Identify and test new partners, products, and deal structures to drive incremental performance
• Stay ahead of industry trends and evolving programmatic capabilities, particularly as they relate to privacy and financial advertising

Our Expectations Of You

• Deep expertise in programmatic performance marketing
• Ability to translate data into clear insights and business impact
• Strong client leadership and communication skills
• Proven ability to own strategy and execution in complex environments
• Proactive mindset with a focus on growth, innovation, and continuous improvement
• Having a passion for advertising and establishing yourself as a thought leader within the office
• Staying up to date on industry trends and partner updates
• Proactively bringing new opportunities to the team
• Proactively bring new ideas for the account for broader business impact
• Day-to-day lead on client communications

What You’ll Need To Succeed

• Bachelor’s degree or relevant post-secondary education, training, or equivalent experience
• 5 years of experience in programmatic and/or digital activation
• Hands-on keyboard experience with DSPs (Yahoo!, The Trade Desk, DV360, Google Ads) and programmatic ecosystems
• Experience executing across display, video, native, and direct publisher buys
• Strong understanding of financial advertising regulations, data usage, and compliance considerations
• Proficiency in ad serving and measurement tools
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate data into insights and business impact
• Proven team leadership or mentoring experience
• Strong client communication and presentation skills
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment
• Strong negotiation and partner management skills

Why This Role

This is a rare opportunity to step into a true leadership role on a global account at a moment of change. You will have immediate ownership, influence, and visibility, with the ability to shape strategy, mentor a team, and leave a meaningful mark on how performance media is delivered. This role offers both scale and impact, making it a strong next step for candidates looking to accelerate their growth. New York: $70,000.00-$125,000.00

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. Join us—we look forward to getting to know you. We will process your personal data in accordance with our Recruitment Privacy Notice.

Link to Recruitment Privacy Notice: https://www.omc.com/privacy-notice

For US Job Seekers

It is the policy of Omnicom and any of its affiliates to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, ethnic origin, gender, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, disability, or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local law. EOE/AA/M/D/V/F.

New York: $70,000.00-$125,000.00