Head of Advertising Technology
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The Head of Advertising Technology is primarily charged with providing leadership to the junior departments of the ad technology department, reporting only to the Director of Advertising. The Head of Advertising Technology drives the business’s product strategy and innovation leading to immense growth in sales and overall business growth. The Head of Advertising Technology has a passion for developing innovative ad products and an ability to thrive within a fast-paced and rapidly changing business environment.
The Head of Advertising Technology enjoys working closely with internal/cross-functional departments assisting them in understanding technical ad campaigns for the effective execution of advertising initiatives. The role of the Head of Advertising Technology is extremely demanding and he must therefore be able to establish priorities, meet tight deadlines, and work under minimal supervision.
Objectives and Responsibilities of the Head of Advertising Technology
Leadership/Supervisory Role: The most prominent role of the Head of Advertising Technology is his leadership position over the ad technology department. In this capacity, he oversees all the activities of junior ad technology teams and ensures that all campaigns and initiatives promote the overall advertising department and sales objectives and targets.
The Head of Advertising Technology, in this capacity, acts as the lead point of contact in the ad technology department in relation to other departments, assisting in technical aspects of ad campaigns in order to guarantee alignment of all ad initiatives. In his leadership position, the Head of Advertising Technology takes ownership of the more complex ad technology campaign initiatives.
The Head of Advertising Technology also plays a mentorship role to key ad technology personnel, ensuring the continuous growth in their professional skills, and assisting in the execution of their duties upon request. This is in an effort to groom these persons to take up his duties in the event of his retirement or absence.
Strategy: The Head of Advertising Technology plays a lead strategic role where he leads the development and approval of ad tools, platforms, and process strategies along with the senior sales management. In his strategic role, the Head of Advertising Technology, manages and sets the standardization of ad technology guidelines and strategies.
He is also charged with the creation of detailed strategic briefs detailing the scope of technologically related ad campaigns, which are relayed to junior personnel and collaborating personnel in order to align ad efforts that will lead to the achievement of sales goals and targets as well as those of the overall business.
Analytics: The Head of Advertising Technology plays an analytical role where he leverages data and metrics in order to establish and manage aggressive ad technology campaigns for the business. The Head of Advertising Technology evaluates new advertising technologies, market trends, business environments, and the performance of the existent campaigns.
The Head of Advertising Technology has to have an ability to troubleshoot and analyze the business’s campaign issues, determine the root cause and avail actionable solutions. He is responsible for driving product development and the achievement of advertising department sales targets through data analysis.
Collaboration: The role of the Head of Advertising Technology, as mentioned, is a collaborative role where he works with senior sales management and key stakeholders in establishing departmental strategies and processes. He also partners with the marketing department and sales personnel, assisting with technical ad technology campaigns in order to ensure smooth execution of advertising initiatives and campaigns as well as to align efforts for the achievement of overall business objectives.
He also works with the IT department in ensuring that site design and reporting tools are enhancing user experience, hence, attracting consumers, and enabling achievement of sales targets.
Knowledge and Opportunity: The Head of Advertising Technology keeps up with current industry trends and events and is proactive in ensuring effective ad campaign performance through the implementation of the latest best practices. This in turn gives the business a competitive edge and ensures that it stays ahead of its competition in the market. The Head of Advertising Technology conducts regular and consistent research and maintains sound technical knowledge of ad and web operations, and the digital/online and broadcast advertising environment.
In this capacity, the Head of Advertising Technology also takes initiative and educates junior advertising technology personnel on ad technology tools and platform best practices in order to ensure optimal performance at all levels of the department.
Other Duties: The Head of Advertising Technology also performs similar duties as he deems fit for the smooth execution of his duties and duties assigned by the Director of Sales, Chief Sales Officer, or the Employer.
Required Qualifications of the Head of Advertising Technology
Education: The Head of Advertising Technology must have master’s degree (Phd preferred) in Sales, Advertising, Marketing, Computer Science, Software Engineering, or any other related field. An equivalent of the same in working experience is also acceptable for the position.
Experience: A candidate for the position must have had at least 7 years of working experience in an advertising technology position. The candidate must also have gathered advanced knowledge in standard principles of ad serving, analytics, DSP, DMP, QA, and targeting. Additionally, the candidate will have had experience with ad serving technologies, for example, DFP, Header Bidding, and Ad Wrapper as well as a sound understanding of similar or related systems.
The candidate will also have proven experience in managing a team in an ad technology campaign from its conceptualization to its completion. A suitable candidate will also have further experience working with web analytics applications such as Omniture and Google Analytics. He will also demonstrate proficiency implementing and testing third party tags across mobile, web, video, and audio platforms.
Communications Skills: A candidate for this position must demonstrate excellent communication skills both in written and in verbal form. As the head of the entire ad technology department the clarity with which he is able to convey information and instruction down the line will be a big determinant of the performance of the overall department and efficiency of the junior ad technology and collaborating teams.
Communication skills for this position will also be necessary in drawing materials and reports for senior ad technology management and key stake holders. These reports have to be drawn in a clear, convincing and understandable manner. He must also be capable of tailoring the most complex and technical messages in a simplified and digestible manner for any audience at hand.
Ms Office: A candidate for the position must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the use of Ms Word, Ms Excel, and PowerPoint, which are absolutely necessary for the creation of both visually and verbally engaging materials, reports, presentations, and proposals for senior ad technology management, and collaborating personnel.
Technology Savvy/Analytical Skills: The Head of Advertising Technology must be technologically adept in order to lead the department into the adoption of the most suitable ad technology tools, platforms, and processes. Additionally, he must be capable of analyzing technical problems in ad technology campaigns and developing lasting solutions on top of being able to conduct performance analyses of these campaigns and determining points of improvement for better efficiency.
The candidate must demonstrate a keen interest and skill in drawing inferences from raw data and information and developing ad campaign insights, strategies, and solutions. A suitable candidate will also be highly skilled and knowledgeable in the workings of HTML and Javascript, and Google AdX.
Interpersonal Skills: A candidate for this position must have a positive attitude, be able to thrive in fast-paced and dynamic business environments, be consumer-oriented, have a strong work ethic, and have an ability to handle multiple projects while meeting tight deadlines.
He must also be a critical thinker, be detail-oriented and highly organized, have an ability to work comfortably in a group setting, be self-motivated working under minimal supervision, and have an ability to stay calm in times of uncertainty and under immense pressure encouraging his team to follow his lead.
Leadership/People Skills: The Head of Advertising Technology must demonstrate superior leadership skills. He must be an individual who is capable of inspiring and driving a cross-functional team towards a unified direction with a common vision. Despite his strong leadership skills, the Head of Advertising Technology must also be an approachable and likable individual who is able to gain the trust of senior ad technology management and key stakeholders who will give more credit to his insights and judgments.
This will also enable the junior ad technology department and collaborating personnel to readily follow in his directives.
