Senior Manager, Retail Media Growth & Ad Operations

Job Description:

About the role

We're hiring a Senior Manager, Retail Media Growth & Ad Operations to grow non-endemic advertiser investment in retail media networks (RMNs) and commerce media networks (CMNs), and to build the ad operations that let that growth scale.

This role is part retail media analyst, part ad operations architect. You'll build the case for why brands should invest in retail media, and you'll design the campaign workflows, self-serve enablement, and playbooks that make execution seamless across RMNs and CMNs.

You'll report to the Group Director, Commerce & Retail Media, and partner with dentsu's Audiences, Analytics, and Account Management teams, agency media planners and buyers, and retail and commerce media network partners.

What you'll do: Non-endemic retail media growth & insights

• Build the business case for non-endemic brands to invest in retail media networks, using sales lift, incrementality, closed-loop attribution, and retail media market trends.

• Run audience overlap analysis with dentsu's Audiences team, matching advertiser customer bases to retailer loyalty and first-party shopper data, including in clean rooms such as Amazon Marketing Cloud and LiveRamp.

• Turn retail media performance and audience data into POVs that give agency media planners clear reasons to shift budget from other channels into RMNs and CMNs.

• Contribute retail media insights to pitches, POVs, and expansion strategies for retail and commerce media clients.

• Track the retail media landscape, including new networks, ad products, offsite and in-store formats, and non-endemic advertiser demand.

What you'll do: Retail media ad operations & platform enablement

• Design scalable retail media ad operations workflows across managed-service and self-serve advertising products, from campaign intake and insertion orders through trafficking, pacing, and reporting.

• Audit current campaign setup and delivery processes and find ways to simplify, standardize, and automate them across retail media teams.

• Partner with Product and Engineering to prioritize ad platform enhancements and improve self-serve usability, based on what campaign teams see day to day.

• Write ad ops playbooks, campaign QA checklists, and runbooks that make retail media execution consistent across networks.

• Use automation, AI, and ad tech tooling to improve campaign operations efficiency.

• Lead adoption of new retail media workflows and platform features, including documentation and training for media teams.

What you'll do: Cross-functional partnership & storytelling

• Turn retail media performance data and ad ops challenges into clear narratives that shape media budget decisions.

• Build data visualizations and POVs for agency media planners and retail media network partners, focused on clear takeaways over dense reporting.

• Show media, analytics, and account teams how better data and ad operations drive retail media revenue.

• Influence without direct authority across dentsu's Audiences, Analytics, and Account Management teams, Product and Engineering, and agency partners.

• Flag ad operations risks, workflow gaps, and platform dependencies to leadership, with scalable fixes.

What you'll bring

• A systems thinker who sees both the retail media strategy and the ad operations behind it.

• A data storyteller who explains retail media performance simply to media planners and non-technical audiences.

• A cross-functional influencer who aligns media, ad tech, and client-facing teams without direct authority.

• Curiosity about AI, automation, and emerging ad tech, and eagerness to apply them to media operations.

• Comfort with ambiguity in a fast-changing retail media market, plus the discipline to build structure around it.

• Genuine interest in non-endemic retail media and how brands outside a retailer's core categories create value for its media network.

Required qualifications

• 3–6+ years in digital media or advertising, with at least 2 years in retail media, commerce media, or shopper marketing, on the agency, ad platform, retailer, or media network side.

• Hands-on experience with at least one major retail media network, such as Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, Roundel (Target), Kroger Precision Marketing, Instacart Ads, or Albertsons Media Collective.

• A track record of building retail media performance narratives that moved media budget.

• Experience designing or scaling ad operations or campaign workflows in retail media, eCommerce advertising, or digital media.

• Experience leading process improvement within a media, ad tech, or advertising operations team.

• Comfort with audience data, overlap analysis, and retailer first-party data; loyalty data and clean-room experience a plus.

Nice to have

• Experience selling to or planning for non-endemic advertisers on a retail media network.

• Experience with retail media tools and measurement partners such as Pacvue, Skai, Criteo, Amazon DSP, Amazon Marketing Cloud, LiveRamp, or Nielsen and Circana sales lift studies.

• Background in sports, retail, travel, or hospitality media networks, such as an airline, convenience-store, or venue media network.

• Familiarity with loyalty-driven retail media monetization models.

• Experience supporting self-serve advertising products or ad platform operations.

• Experience with automation or AI-enabled ad operations workflows.

• Knowledge of ad servers, order management systems, and campaign management platforms.

The annual salary range for this position is $72,000 -$95,000. Placement within the salary range is based on a variety of factors, including relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and other factors permitted by law.

Benefits available with this position include:

• Medical, vision, and dental insurance,
• Life insurance,
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance,
• 401k,
• Flexible paid time off,
• At least 15 paid holidays per year,
• Paid sick and safe leave, and
• Paid parental leave.

Dentsu also complies with applicable state and local laws regarding employee leave benefits, including, but not limited to providing time off pursuant to the Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, in accordance with its plans and policies. For further details regarding Dentsu benefits, please visit www.dentsubenefitsplus.com.

To begin the application process, please click on the "Apply" button at the top of this job posting. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, and qualified candidates will be contacted for next steps.

At dentsu, we believe great work happens when we're connected. Our way of working combines flexibility with in-person collaboration to spark ideas and strengthen our teams. Employees who live within a commutable distance of one of our hub offices, currently located in Chicago, metro Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York City, are required and expected to work from the office three days per week (two days per week for employees based in Los Angeles). Dentsu may designate other Hub offices at any time. Those who live outside a commutable range may be designated as remote, depending on the role and business needs. Regardless of your work location, we expect our employees to be flexible to meet the needs of our Company and clients, which may include attendance in an office.

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Dentsu is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees. We do this without regard to race, color, national origin, sex , sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religious practices and observances, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. 

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