Head of Ad Operations

Meet Life Sciences; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Ground-floor equity

Flexible PTO

401(k)

Growth stipend

Relocation support

High-velocity environment

Job summary

Meet Life Sciences in New York is seeking a Director of Ad Operations to lead and scale our media operations for pharmaceutical brand clients. You will own strategy, execution, and measurement infrastructure and work with engineering and product to build platforms that plan, deploy, and measure media at scale.

The role reports to the co-founder and requires hands-on programmatic buying and strategic leadership to grow the function in a fast-paced startup.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of media strategy, planning, and buying in healthcare or pharma.
• Experience leading a media team and cross-functional collaboration.
• Hands-on programmatic buying across major DSPs with platform familiarity.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end media strategy across paid channels for pharma brands.
• Develop channel frameworks for HCP and DTC campaigns across programmatic, search, social.
• Lead trafficking, setup, QA, and activation across key DSPs.
• Define measurement strategy including MMM and attribution; partner with product/engineering.
• Translate performance data into insights for pharma brand stakeholders.
• Collaborate with product/engineering to specify requirements for media features.

Skills

Media strategy

People management

Stakeholder communication

Tools

DV360

The Trade Desk

Xandr

DeepIntent

IQVIA

PulsePoint

Job description

We are looking for a Director of Ad Operations to lead and scale our media operations function, owning the strategy, execution, and measurement infrastructure that powers campaigns for our pharmaceutical brand clients. This is a highly cross-functional role at the intersection of media, technology, and product: you will work hand-in-hand with our engineering and product teams to help build and refine the platforms that underpin how the company plans, deploys, and measures media at scale.

This role reports directly to the co-founder and is a critical leadership hire as we grow our capabilities and deepen our relationships with top pharma brands. This individual should have direct programmatic media buying experience and should be able to execute ad purchases themselves while also having the strategic thinking necessary to scale this function.

Key Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end media strategy across paid channels for pharmaceutical brand clients, from planning through optimization and reporting.
• Develop channel-level frameworks and playbooks for HCP and DTC campaigns across programmatic, search, social, endemic, and emerging channels.
• Serve as the senior media authority internally and as a trusted strategic advisor to client brand teams.

Deployment & Operations

• Lead trafficking, campaign setup, and activation across key DSPs (e.g., DV360, The Trade Desk, Xandr, IQVIA, DeepIntent, PulsePoint) and endemic healthcare platforms.
• Establish and enforce QA standards for campaign deployment, ensuring accuracy and compliance across all pharma regulatory requirements.
• Build and manage scalable operational workflows that enable the team to execute with speed and precision across a growing client portfolio.

Measurement & Analytics

• Define and lead the company’s measurement strategy, including media mix modeling, multi-touch attribution, brand lift, and script lift methodologies.
• Partner closely with product and engineering teams to help architect and build the internal measurement infrastructure and reporting pipelines.
• Translate performance data into clear, compelling insights and recommendations for pharma brand stakeholders.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Act as a bridge between media operations and the product/engineering team, surfacing practitioner needs that can be solved through technology and tooling.
• Collaborate with the product team to define requirements for media planning, buying, and reporting features within the company platform.
• Partner with client success and growth teams to support new business pitches, client expansions, and strategic account planning.

Candidate Requirements

• 3+ years of experience in media strategy, planning, and buying, with at least 2 years in healthcare or pharmaceutical advertising.
• Deep, hands-on experience working with major DSPs (e.g., The Trade Desk, DV360, DeepIntent, Xandr) and endemic healthcare media platforms.
• Strong command of healthcare media measurement, including NPI targeting, script lift, brand lift, and HCP vs. DTC campaign KPIs.
• Experience partnering with technical teams (engineering, product, or data science) to build or enhance media infrastructure, tooling, or reporting systems.
• Solid understanding of pharmaceutical advertising regulations and compliance requirements (e.g., FDA, OPDP guidelines, MLR review processes).
• Familiarity with data privacy frameworks relevant to healthcare advertising (HIPAA, NAI, and emerging state-level privacy laws).
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex media and data concepts for non-technical audiences, including brand marketing teams and senior executives.
• Experience leading or growing a media team; strong people management and mentorship skills.
• Comfortable in a high-velocity, ambiguous startup environment.
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Ground-floor equity opportunity
• Flexible PTO
• 401(k)
• Professional growth stipend
• Relocation support
• Work in a high-velocity, high-impact environment