Director, Investment Marketplaces

Overview

GENERAL PURPOSE

The Director, Marketplaces is responsible for overseeing the strategy, planning, execution, and performance of retail media programs across eCommerce ecosystems. This leader will serve as the agency’s expert in marketplace advertising—guiding client strategies, managing vendor relationships, optimizing performance, participating in new business opportunities and building a high-performing team of specialists. This role requires a hybrid of performance marketing, retail media, and client leadership skills. The successful Director is both analytical and strategic, with deep experience in digital marketplaces and a proven ability to scale retail media programs across multiple clients. The Director is responsible for the training and development of other team members, including cross-functionally, and will provide strategic direction to team members in all aspects of media planning, performance and budget forecasting, campaign management, performance analysis, and partner outreach.

Location : 4 days in office, Chicago office

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of paid media strategies across retail media platforms including Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, Instacart, Kroger Precision Marketing, Target Roundel, and others.
• Serve as the agency’s primary expert in digital marketplaces, educating clients and internal teams on marketplace dynamics, trends, ad formats, targeting capabilities, and attribution models.
• Own senior-level relationships with marketplace media partners and negotiate strategic deals that benefit client performance and agency efficiency.
• Collaborate with media planning and investment teams to integrate marketplace strategies into broader media plans and omnichannel customer journeys.
• Oversee performance analysis, optimizations, reporting, and insights development to drive continuous improvement and client ROI.
• Manage a team (remote and across all Rise locations, onshore and offshore) of marketplace strategists and buyers; mentor and support team development, quality control, and workload prioritization; accountable for all aspects of team oversight, including employee onboarding, employee training, employee performance (accountability and behavior), employee retention
• Develop and refine SOPs, workflows, and best practices for marketplace media execution, reporting, and data integration.
• Stay ahead of industry developments and platform updates; assess and pilot new tools, betas, and data partnerships that enhance performance.
• Lead retail media pitches and client onboarding efforts, establishing clear strategies, KPIs, and expectations for new business.
• Partner with analytics, eCommerce, and brand teams to deliver cohesive and measurable commerce media programs.

Job Requirements

Appropriate education and / or experience may be substituted on an equivalent basis

Education

Certification :

Experience

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Employees can be expected to be paid an annualized salary range of $120,000-$150,000, based on variations in knowledge, skills, experience and market conditions.

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