Retail Media Buyer

This is a hands-on-keyboard role, not a vendor-management seat. You will set budgets, pace them daily, read the ROAS, and make the calls. You'll also be the person who can look at a thread of shifting numbers between our agency, the retailer and our sales team and say exactly what we've committed to, by month, and whether we're on track to hit it. If you'd rather own the number than report on it, this is for you.
What you'll do
Own retailer search (TPA / sponsored products) end to end. Build and manage campaigns across non-branded category terms, conquesting on hero items and brand defense. Shift the item mix with the calendar (carry-forward core, seasonal newness, holiday high-investment items, the January innovation set).
Pace budgets to the dollar, by month. Translate an annual or seasonal commitment into monthly targets and daily budgets, and know where we are MTD at any moment. When a month is tracking short, raise it early, re-set the daily cap, and know when unspent dollars should move (for example, from TPA into display) rather than be forced.
Manage retailer fiscal timing. Understand how each retailer actualizes spend (Target TPA pays out a month after it runs, so December is the last month that counts toward FY) and plan flights so committed dollars land in the right fiscal year.
Run display and onsite programs with the retailer media team. Brief campaigns, review media plans and creative versions, approve proofs, and keep versions, budgets and flight dates straight as plans change.
Be the single source of truth on spend. Reconcile what sales committed, what the agency recommended, what the retailer has on the media plan and what we're actually spending, and keep everyone working from one set of numbers.
Read performance and act on it. Monitor ROAS, budget capping, share of voice and sell-through weekly; scale what's working, cut what isn't, and tie media back to inventory investment and the merchant's gap-close goals.
Open and scale emerging retail media channels. Stand up and grow spend where our client's customer already shops, Walmart Connect, Ulta and Instacart. Run small, time-boxed tests with a clear read-out, then scale the ones that clear our ROAS bar. Keep an eye on retailer offsite and CTV offerings (Roundel offsite) and bring a point of view on when they're worth it.
Connect retail media to creator and affiliate. Work with the creator team so licensed creator content and top-performing affiliate videos feed the paid plan
Manage partners. Day-to-day lead with our agency and retailer account teams: set expectations, chase deliverables, push back on recommendations when the data says to.
Report simply. A weekly pacing and performance view that a sales lead or CMO, CFO can read in two minutes, plus post-campaign wrap reviews with a clear read on incrementality and NTB.
What you bring
•3–5 years buying retail media or paid search, with at least one retailer network run hands-on (Target Roundel / TPA, Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, Ulta or similar) and real curiosity about the newer ones (ChatGPT ad, Instacart, retailer DSP and CTV). Brand side or agency both work.
•You've owned a budget of $500K+ a year and can show how you paced it: monthly targets, daily caps, where you landed.
•Comfortable in spreadsheets: you can build a pacing model from a commitment and a start date without being asked, and you check the math before you send it.
•You read ROAS, CPC, capping and share-of-voice reports and know which one to act on this week.
•You can summarize a messy, multi-party email thread into one set of numbers everyone agrees on, and you'll ask the clarifying question instead of guessing.
•Clear, direct writer. Short emails, no jargon.
•Experience working with an agency or retailer account team, including pushing back on a recommendation.
•Beauty, personal care or CPG at a mass retailer is a strong plus.
Nice to have
•Amazon DSP, Instacart Ads or a retailer offsite / CTV program you've tested and can tell us whether it was worth it.
•Target-specific experience: Roundel Media Studio / Kiosk reporting, Target Circle events, merchant and VI (vendor income) mechanics, Target fiscal calendar.
•Display and onsite campaign experience (audience segments, creative versioning, media plan approvals), not search only.
•Familiarity with incrementality or halo measurement and new-to-brand reporting.
•Experience with Northbeam, Klaviyo or Shopify analytics for DTC, so you can speak both retail and DTC.
•You've managed seasonal capsules or licensed collaborations where inventory investment drove the media plan.

Skills

3-5 years buying retail media or paid search with hands-on experience running at least one retailer network such as Target Roundel, TPA, Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect or Ulta, and ability to own and pace a $500K+ annual budget with monthly targets and daily caps.

Amazon DSP, Instacart Ads or retailer offsite and CTV program testing experience, Target-specific knowledge including Roundel Media Studio and fiscal calendar mechanics, display and onsite campaign experience beyond search only, familiarity with incrementality measurement, and experience managing seasonal capsules or licensed collaborations.