Director, Programmatic & Emerging Media (Remote, CA)

About the role

Avocado is seeking a Director of Programmatic & Emerging Media to join our growing digital marketing team. This is a senior individual contributor role. We are looking for a Director-level practitioner to own and build our programmatic, audio, and emerging channel portfolio — no direct reports, no bureaucracy, just a high-trust seat for someone who knows these channels deeply and wants to own them end to end.

Responsibilities

• Build and manage programs across the full audio ecosystem — host-reads, podcasts, streaming audio, and satellite or traditional radio while leading vendor relationships directly.
• Consolidate a fragmented vendor set into a program you can actually optimize, and bring more of the buying in-house over time.
• Drive testing and optimization across placements, and own performance reporting for the channel.
• Develop and execute data-driven campaign strategies across programmatic display, self-serve CTV, and OTT.
• Manage DSP relationships and optimize toward brand and acquisition KPIs.
• Create and formalize an RFP process, identify gaps and opportunities to improve program efficiency over time.
• Own targeting strategy, audience segmentation, and creative trafficking across platforms.
• Build the attribution and measurement framework that connects this investment to business outcomes, working with our analytics function where deeper modeling is needed.
• Identify, test, and scale new channels — retail media, emerging and streaming platforms, and other long-tail opportunities.
• Run a disciplined testing cadence with clear success criteria, and make honest calls about where to pivot.
• Own out-of-home and digital out-of-home planning and buying, evaluating formats and placements within the broader media mix.
• Lead all vendor relationships, RFP processes, and media negotiations across your portfolio.
• Assess partner value including fee structures, pilot terms, and renewal decisions, and make recommendations on where we should buy directly versus through a partner.
• Own spend pacing, budget reconciliation, and channel-level cost accuracy, working with our finance partners on monthly close.
• Own performance dashboards and weekly reporting across all vendors in your portfolio.
• Ensure your channels are tracked accurately in Northbeam, our attribution platform, and take responsibility for the integrity of your own channel data.

Requirements

• 5-8 years of experience in programmatic, media buying, or performance marketing.
• Agency and in-house experience are both valued.
• Deep, hands-on expertise in audio and programmatic display.
• Experience with self-serve CTV, OTT, and OOH is strongly preferred.
• Real fluency with DSPs, PMPs, and DMPs, and a strong understanding of data-driven targeting and audience strategy.
• Prominent track record managing media budgets and vendor relationships independently.
• Direct experience with podcast advertising, streaming audio, or radio media buying.
• Strong analytical instincts. You are comfortable building a measurement framework, not just reading a report someone else built.
• Familiarity with attribution platforms such as Northbeam or equivalent MTA tools.
• Comfortable operating as a senior individual contributor — resourceful, self-directed, and highly organized.
• Excellent written communication and the ability to present clear, evidence-based recommendations to senior leadership.
• Passionate about our brand's values of healthy living, environmental awareness, and social responsibility; previous experience working for a brand with similar values is a plus!
• DTC or e-commerce brand experience is strongly preferred.

Qualifications

• Regular and predictable attendance. This is a hands-on role.

Skills

• Communication skills
• Travel skills

Benefits

Medical (HMO, PPO, HSA), Dental, Vision

100% Employer Paid Life Insurance

401(k) with employer match

PTO

Volunteer days

Employee product discount

Annual Bonus Plan

Training and Tools to be successful, along with a strong partnership from your peers and leaders

Wellness Program

Referral Bonus

Opportunity to grow

Pay

The pay range for this role is $110,000 - $140,000 Yearly DOE for remote.

Schedule

This role is hybrid out of our Fullerton, CA office or fully remote within the United States. We prefer candidates based in the Fullerton, CA area or the New York metro area to support occasional in-person collaboration, but we are open to strong remote candidates across the U.S.