Lead Digital Activation: Programmatic & Direct Growth

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

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