Director – Sponsored Advertising

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in California, +25 more states.

📋 Description

• Take ownership of the strategic vision, operational health, and growth of the Sponsored Ads division across various pods.

• Lead a multi-layered organization consisting of Senior Managers, Managers, Senior Strategists, Strategists, and Associates.

• Provide direct oversight, mentorship, and career development for Senior Managers and Managers.

• Manage organizational health, structure, staffing, workload allocation, pod design, and resource decisions.

• Establish performance expectations and oversee performance management, calibration, and promotional decisions.

• Develop career advancement pathways and succession plans across the team.

• Act as the primary escalation contact and executive sponsor for key client relationships.

• Align Sponsored Ads strategy with clients' e-commerce and omnichannel objectives.

• Present advertising strategies, performance outcomes, and growth recommendations to senior leadership.

• Identify opportunities for retail media growth beyond Amazon, including Walmart and Instacart.

• Define and refine Sponsored Ads practice standards, playbooks, and best practices.

• Facilitate the adoption of emerging ad products, betas, AMC/OCM, and incrementality measurement across the practice.

• Advocate for the use of platforms like Skai, Intentwise, Downstream, and other advertising management and analytics tools.

• Enhance campaign management processes, reporting standards, and tools.

• Collaborate with the VP of Advertising on annual planning, organizational design, headcount, and execution of retail media strategy.

• Work in partnership with Sales, Retail, Content, Data, and other departments.

• Represent Sponsored Ads in agency-wide leadership discussions and provide thought leadership.

• Navigate complex ambiguities and resolve intricate cross-functional challenges.

• Take responsibility for revenue, retention, and growth targets; forecast and report on business performance.

• Monitor budgets and KPI performance across all pods.

• Identify risks, resource gaps, and organizational challenges, providing recommended solutions.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, or a related field; an MBA is preferred.

• Over 8 years of retail media search experience (Amazon and Walmart required; Instacart and Target are a plus).

• More than 5 years of experience in people management, including managing managers or multi-tiered teams.

• 2–4 years of experience with Google Ads/paid search, sufficient to manage strategy and oversee a specialist or agency partner.

• Proven track record of scaling a team or practice while achieving strong client and business results.

• Experience with revenue ownership, growth, or P&L accountability for a business portfolio.

• Extensive knowledge of Amazon Advertising products, including Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display.

• Demonstrated ability to lead and cultivate a multi-tiered team, including managing managers.

• Strong executive presence with the capability to influence senior internal and external stakeholders.

• Advanced understanding of full-funnel, multi-channel marketing planning and measurement, including incrementality (AMC, OCM).

• Exceptional analytical skills for interpreting complex datasets into coherent business narratives.

• Proficient in negotiation, organization, planning, and prioritization.

• Expertise in Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel and PowerPoint.

• Familiarity with Skai, Intentwise, Tableau, and similar reporting/automation platforms.

• No sponsorship for work visas available.

🏝️ Benefits

• Variable compensation.

• Up to 25% travel.