Senior Director, Programmatic Strategy & Operations

Thenewyorktimes; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision benefits

401(k) plan

Paid vacation and sick days

Job summary

Thenewyorktimes is looking for a Senior Director, Programmatic Strategy and Operations in New York. This role encompasses defining the programmatic advertising strategy across various platforms and leading a team to ensure execution aligns with revenue growth and user experience.

The ideal candidate has extensive experience in digital advertising, particularly programmatic monetization, and will work closely with multiple departments to optimize and enhance advertising strategies.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in digital advertising.
• 5+ years leading high-performing teams.
• Deep expertise with programmatic ecosystem.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute programmatic strategy across digital platforms.
• Lead and mentor a team focused on advertising growth.
• Act as principal advisor on programmatic trends.

Skills

Digital advertising experience

Programmatic monetization expertise

Team leadership

Analytical skills

Experience with ad tech system

Negotiation with ad tech vendors

Education

Bachelor's degree in relevant field

Job description

The mission of The New York Times is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. That means independent journalism is at the heart of all we do as a company. It’s why we have a world-renowned newsroom that sends journalists to report on the ground from nearly 160 countries. It’s why we focus deeply on how our readers will experience our journalism, from print to audio to a world-class digital and app destination. And it’s why our business strategy centers on making journalism so good that it’s worth paying for.

About the Role

The New York Times' Advertising team is looking for a Senior Director, Programmatic Strategy and Operations to define and lead our programmatic advertising strategy across web, app, video, audio and newsletter environments. This leader will own how we monetize our inventory programmatically, balancing revenue growth, reader experience and advertiser outcomes. They will set the long-term vision for programmatic at the Times, align stakeholders, and ensure we have the right technology, partners and processes in place to execute it. This is a hybrid role based in our New York headquarters, reporting to the VP, Revenue Operations. You can typically expect to be in the office 3 days per week.

Job Description

As the Senior Director, Programmatic Strategy and Operations, you will serve as the overall owner of our programmatic business, responsible for setting strategy, leading a high‑performing team, and driving coordinated execution across Revenue Operations, Sales, Product and Finance.

Responsibilities

• Vision & Strategy: Develop and execute the long‑term vision and enterprise‑level strategy for programmatic monetization across all digital platforms (Web, App, Video, Newsletter, Audio), driving innovation in the ad tech stack, supply path optimization, and privacy‑safe addressability solutions.
• Team Leadership: Lead, mentor, and develop a high‑functioning team of managers and analysts supporting advertising growth, elevating organizational performance across Revenue Operations and Sales Enablement.
• Executive & Cross‑Functional Influence: Serve as a principal advisor to executive leadership on programmatic trends. Partner with Finance, Strategy, and Product leadership on quarterly forecasting, pricing models, and annual operating planning tied to programmatic revenue streams.
• Yield & Optimization: Act as the ultimate owner and decision‑maker for programmatic optimizations, rate card development, and day‑to‑day yield management across direct‑sold, PMP, and open exchange channels.
• Advanced Partner Diligence & Negotiation: Lead high‑level negotiations with top SSPs, DSPs, and tech providers. Build a rigorous partner evaluation framework assessing technology fit, transparency, auction competitiveness, and operational excellence.
• Insights & Analytics: Build and utilize dashboards to deliver data‑driven insights encompassing market trends and supply/demand dynamics. Establish the measurement framework to evaluate changes across the programmatic stack.
• Go‑To‑Market Integration: Stakeholder the go‑to‑market sales strategy for all programmatic offerings in close partnership with the Direct Sales and Product Marketing teams to integrate programmatic into the broader commercial strategy.
• Industry Thought Leadership: Act as the external face of the company's programmatic strategy—presenting at industry events and engaging with trade organizations to elevate the company's market position.
• Quality Assurance: Aid in data reconciliation and QA across programmatic data sources. Be an avid reader who regularly audits our site for programmatic ad experiences below our expectations.
• Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world.

Basic Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in digital advertising, with at least 6+ years focused on programmatic monetization at a premium publisher, platform or agency.
• 5+ years of experience leading high‑performing teams, including people managers, in revenue operations, yield management or programmatic strategy.
• Deep expertise with the programmatic ecosystem, including SSPs, DSPs, ad servers, header bidding and identity/addressability solutions.
• Demonstrated experience building and executing programmatic yield strategies across direct‑sold, PMP and open exchange channels.
• Advanced analytical skills and fluency with data tools (Excel, BI dashboards); comfort using data to inform decisions and communicate trade‑offs to senior stakeholders.
• Experience partnering with Finance and Strategy teams on forecasting, pricing, and revenue planning.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a complex, matrixed organization, ideally in news, media or other mission‑driven environments.
• Prior ownership of enterprise‑level programmatic strategy and partner selection (e.g., evaluating and negotiating with SSPs, DSPs and other ad tech vendors).
• Experience designing and implementing privacy‑safe monetization strategies in an evolving regulatory environment.
• Proven success launching new programmatic products or packages in partnership with Sales, Product and Marketing.
• Comfort representing an organization externally at industry events, in trade groups, or with key partners and clients.

REQ-020176

The annual base pay range for this role is between $200,000 and $220,000 USD.

Benefits may include medical, dental and vision benefits, Flexible Spending Accounts (F.S.A.s), a company‑matching 401(k) plan, paid vacation, paid sick days, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement and professional development programs.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate on the basis of an individual's sex, age, race, color, creed, national origin, alienage, religion, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation or affectional preference, gender identity and expression, disability, genetic trait or predisposition, carrier status, citizenship, veteran or military status and other personal characteristics protected by law. All applications will receive consideration for employment without regard to legally protected characteristics. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s Know Your Rights Poster is available here.

The New York Times Company will provide reasonable accommodations as required by applicable federal, state, and/or local laws. Individuals seeking an accommodation for the application or interview process should email [e-mail].

The Company encourages those with criminal histories to apply, and will consider their applications in a manner consistent with applicable "Fair Chance" laws, including but not limited to the NYC Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act.

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