{"id":525384,"url":"https://alion.io/job/darkroom-associate-director-programmatic","title":"Associate Director, Programmatic","company":{"id":3445,"name":"Darkroom","domain":"darkroomagency.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/darkroom","size_band":"201-500","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":88,"open_postings":10,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.5,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":28,"computed_at":"2026-10-23T05:54:15Z"}},"role":"Marketing","role_family":"Marketing","seniority":"head","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["New York, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":124000,"max_usd":230000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":1455},"experience_years_min":6,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Reddit","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-16T13:27:49Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-19","last_verified_at":"2026-10-23T06:40:41Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":98,"trust":{"level":"stale","repost_count":1,"flags":["stale"],"days_open":98},"description":"About Darkroom\nDarkroom is the leading next-generation growth marketing firm engineering the brands of tomorrow. Founded in 2017, we set out to redefine what a modern agency could be, by replacing the inertia of legacy advertising behemoths with a model built for speed, intelligence, and measurable impact.\nAt our core, Darkroom is a human services company powered by Shadow, a universal AI commerce layer that integrates executive-level strategy with proprietary agentic technology. This fusion enables our teams to deliver outsized returns by enhancing creative output, operational efficiency, and revenue generation across every stage of the customer journey.\nOur track record speaks for itself: billions in attributable revenue driven across e-commerce marketplaces, media networks, DTC ecosystems, and social commerce platforms. Every engagement feeds into our proprietary data infrastructure, enabling a continuous feedback loop that accelerates growth, improves margins, and compounds results across our client portfolio.\nWhat began as a boutique design studio has evolved into one of the fastest-growing private companies in America and among the most effective performance media agencies of the 2020s. Our founders were recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 for advancing the intersection of technology, marketing, and advertising, cementing Darkroom's role as a defining player in the future of media innovation.\nAbout the Role\nWe are hiring an Associate Director, Programmatic to build and lead Darkroom's programmatic capability inside the Paid Media function. This is a foundational hire, not a standard channel-management role. Today, Darkroom is strongest across Meta and Google. Our next stage requires deeper expertise across Amazon DSP, CTV, OLV, Retail Media Networks, high-impact display, and privacy-safe media environments, and you'll be the person who builds that sub-function from the ground up.\nThe ideal candidate is a senior programmatic strategist with hands-on experience activating and scaling programmatic media across high-growth brands, someone who knows how to use Amazon DSP, streaming video, OLV, CTV, and broader programmatic channels to create demand, prove incrementality, and connect media investment back to business outcomes.\nProgrammatic is the primary focus of this role, but it's not a full-time channel on every account at every point in time. When programmatic work is light or between test cycles, you'll flex into Paid Social execution across Meta, TikTok, Reddit, and Pinterest, so the role is built for someone who wants deep specialization without losing a holistic, hands-on media skill set.\nYou'll report to the Managing Director of Paid Media and partner closely with Paid Social, Paid Search, Creative, Growth Strategy, and Analytics.\nWhat We're Building\nWe're empowering small teams with technology that makes it easier to market and grow businesses. Our current focus is to help consumer brands shift from \"workflow automation\" to \"agent management\" within their marketing operations. Shadow is the AI coordination layer, providing shared AI memory, centralized agent control, and model orchestration for marketing teams.\nThe Agency Behind the Product\nShadow is built alongside Darkroom, a performance marketing agency that's been operating for 10 years, employs 100+ people, runs 100+ clients at a time, and has worked with over 1,000 consumer brands. The agency is both our proving ground and our first user, which means the programmatic function you build here gets tested against real client budgets and real business outcomes from day one, and feeds directly into Shadow's programmatic backbone.\nWhat You'll Own\nWith support from the Paid Media MD, build Darkroom's programmatic media capability across Amazon DSP, CTV, OLV, RMNs, display, and high-impact media.\n\nLead strategy, planning, activation, optimization, and measurement for programmatic campaigns across key client accounts.\n\nServe as the internal subject matter expert for Amazon DSP, retail media, streaming video, connected TV, online video, and programmatic buying strategy.\n\nDevelop test plans that connect programmatic investment to business outcomes, not just impressions, reach, or platform-reported conversions.\n\nPartner with Analytics and Growth Strategy to design incrementality-minded test structures across geo holdouts, matched-market tests, exposure-log measurement, clean rooms, and lift studies.\n\nBuild clear client-facing narratives around the role of programmatic in a broader growth system.\n\nEvaluate programmatic partners, publishers, DSPs, RMNs, and measurement vendors.\n\nEstablish programmatic best practices, SOPs, QA standards, pacing rules, and reporting expectations.\n\nCollaborate with Creative to define channel-specific creative requirements across video, display, high-impact, and RMN environments.\n\nCreate case studies that prove programmatic's incremental impact and support future new business.\n\nEducate the broader Paid Media team on programmatic strategy, terminology, platform capabilities, measurement expectations, and client use cases.\n\nHelp define the long-term roadmap for building a programmatic practice inside Darkroom.\n\nWork closely with the Shadow product team to enhance Shadow's programmatic backbone.\n\nStep in on Paid Social campaign management and optimization across Meta, TikTok, Reddit, and Pinterest when programmatic priorities are lighter, acting as a flexible resource for the broader Paid Media team.\n\nMust Have\n6-8+ years of programmatic media experience, preferably in a fast-paced agency or high-growth brand environment.\n\nDeep experience with Amazon DSP is required.\n\nStrong experience planning or activating CTV and OLV campaigns.\n\nExperience with Retail Media Networks and audience-led media environments.\n\nHands-on Paid Social media buying experience across at least two of Meta, TikTok, Reddit, or Pinterest, comfortable executing and optimizing campaigns when programmatic priorities allow.\n\nAbility to build programmatic strategies that connect to business outcomes, incrementality, and budget decisioning.\n\nStrong understanding of programmatic buying models, inventory quality, audience strategy, frequency management, supply paths, brand safety, and measurement limitations.\n\nExperience working with streaming video, display, high-impact, contextual, publisher-direct, and DSP-based media.\n\nComfort building test plans, media forecasts, budget recommendations, and client-facing measurement readouts.\n\nExperience partnering with analytics or measurement teams on incrementality testing, lift studies, clean rooms, exposure logs, or MMM inputs.\n\nStrong client communication skills. You can explain complex programmatic concepts in plain English and make a clear recommendation.\n\nHigh ownership mindset. This is a new function, so you should be excited to build systems, not just inherit them.\n\nComfort operating in a remote, fast-moving, high-accountability environment.\n\nNice to Have\nExperience with MMM, MTA, and strong measurement points of view.\n\nAbility to not only execute incrementality tests, but to interpret data outputs, translate next steps into media strategy, and get client buy-in.\n\nExperience managing programmatic and paid social together on the same account, with a point of view on how the two channels should work together in a full-funnel strategy.\n\nHands-on experience across the full Paid Social set (Meta, TikTok, Reddit, and Pinterest), rather than just one or two platforms.\n\nCulture Fit\nYou're fluent in Amazon DSP, CTV, OLV, and programmatic media, and can explain why programmatic matters beyond reach and impressions.\n\nYou know how to pressure-test whether a channel is actually creating incremental impact.\n\nYou're excited by the idea of being the first dedicated programmatic lead inside a growing Paid Media department, and want to help build the operating system: SOPs, best practices, QA, partner POVs, case studies, internal training.\n\nYou want to help Darkroom expand beyond Meta and Google into a more sophisticated full-funnel media practice.\n\nYou're comfortable moving between deep specialization and hands-on execution. Building a new function some weeks, running paid social campaigns across a broad channel mix the next, without treating either as beneath you.\n\nNot the bar: no Amazon DSP experience, no meaningful CTV or OLV experience, execution-only backgrounds with no strategic or client-facing ability, an inability to explain programmatic measurement beyond platform-reported metrics, or no interest in building a function from the ground up.\nWhat It's Like to Work at Darkroom\nDarkroom is not a typical agency. We are looking for A players who want to build something great. We move fast, think deeply, and expect every team member to bring insight and rigor to everything they touch. We hold a high bar for performance, creativity, and ownership, but we also support each other relentlessly. No egos, no red tape, just world-class talent building something remarkable.\nWe believe in autonomy with accountability, truth over comfort, and outcomes over optics.\nUnlimited PTO + US holidays: Rebooting is part of the work. Take the time you need to stay sharp.\n\nRemote-First Culture: Many roles are fully remote. Employees based in or near our New York or Lisbon HQs are expected to work hybrid with weekly in-office time. Hub locations include Brazil and Spain.\n\nHealth & Wellness: Company-sponsored medical, dental, and vision coverage.\n\nFinances, growth, and retirement: Darkroom offers a robust 401(k) program with company match and profit-sharing opportunities to help you save and grow as the company grows.\n\nParental Leave: Flexible parental leave to support new parents during this important transition.\n\nGrowth: Our interdisciplinary model gives every Darkroomer exposure far beyond their core role. Grow your skills, expand your influence, and stay at the forefront of the industry.\n\nCompensation:\nThe base salary range for this role is $110,000 per year. This range represents the anticipated minimum and maximum for this position and applies to candidates based in New York, including New York City, in compliance with the New York State Pay Transparency Law and the New York City Salary Transparency Law. Actual compensation within this range will be determined based on experience, skills, and qualifications. This role is also eligible for performance-based compensation. A summary of benefits is listed above.\nEqual Opportunity Statement\nDarkroom is an equal opportunity workplace. We are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.","description_format":"text","description_chars":10864,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":6,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Parental leave","Unlimited PTO"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"},{"name":"Brazil","iso":"BR","kind":"country"},{"name":"Spain","iso":"ES","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Commerce","Creative Agencies","E-commerce Marketing","Digital Marketing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-08T05:13:52Z"},{"event":"close","at":"2026-10-03T12:39:16Z"},{"event":"reopen","at":"2026-10-19T14:06:11Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":11,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.376,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":98,"expected_fill_days":28,"reasons":["conf:3","stale_co","velocity","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-23T05:54:15Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/darkroom-associate-director-programmatic","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/darkroom-associate-director-programmatic.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-23T08:51:21Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":14251,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-24T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":3445},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3445"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fdarkroom-associate-director-programmatic"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fdarkroom-associate-director-programmatic"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fdarkroom-associate-director-programmatic"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/darkroom-associate-director-programmatic\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fdarkroom-associate-director-programmatic"}]}