Senior Programmatic Trader

Senior Programmatic Trader Locala is the world’s leading commerce media platform, leveraging consumer insights and location data to increase brand awareness, drive consumers to store, and deliver smarter business outcomes. Our proprietary technology enables local advertising and insights at scale, all while meeting the highest user privacy standards in the industry. The Senior Programmatic Trader is responsible for driving campaign execution excellence, performance optimization, and margin efficiency across all channels. This role acts as the central authority on trading strategy, deal structuring, and campaign performance, partnering closely with Pre-Sales, Customer Success, and Operations to ensure campaigns are executed effectively and deliver against client expectations. While the role maintains visibility into inventory and supply, its primary focus is on how we buy, optimize, and scale media efficiently and profitably. Your role: Core Objective: Drive trading excellence, maximize campaign performance, and protect profitability across all programmatic channels (Display, CTV, DOOH, Audio/OLV). 1. Strategy, Execution & QA Standardize: Define best practices for campaign setup, budget allocation, and optimization frameworks across all channels. Quality Control: Enforce consistent naming conventions and structures to eliminate setup errors and accelerate launch timelines. Testing: Cultivate an optimization culture through continuous A/B testing (formats, audiences, targeting logic). 2. Margin Management & Financial Efficiency Commercial Alignment: Partner with Pre-Sales on deal structuring and media mix optimization to protect margin. Financial Health: Continuously monitor cost vs. sell price by campaign/channel; flag low-margin or underperforming risks early. Inventory Mix: Assist teams in adjusting inventory and buying strategies to improve cost efficiency. 3. Deal Strategy & Technical Execution Deal ID Ownership: Structure, implement, and oversee PMP, PG, and Open Exchange strategies. Troubleshooting: Directly collaborate with DSP/SSP partners to resolve no-bid issues, underpacing, and access conflicts. Delivery: Monitor deal-level performance and win rates to mitigate campaign risk. 4. Analytics, Inventory & Partnership (~20%) Insights: Build and maintain trading performance dashboards (DV360, etc.) to deliver actionable weekly/monthly trends. Supply Collaboration: Partner with SSPs/publishers to unlock premium inventory, secure better rates, and guide internal selection. Cross-Functional: Act as the internal programmatic expert supporting Pre-Sales (feasibility), Customer Success (insights), and Operations (processes). Key Success Metrics Velocity & Accuracy: Reduced operational setup errors and faster campaign launch times. Profitability: Improved margin performance across all channels. Data Maturity: Cleaner post-campaign analysis (PCA) and data-driven decision making. Your profile: 6-10 years in programmatic advertising with 2+ years in a senior or architect-style role managing large, Tier 1 accounts Strong experience with DSPs such as DV360, The Trade Desk, Amazon DSP, or Xandr Solid understanding of campaign trafficking, ad operations, optimization, and troubleshooting Strong knowledge of publisher landscape is a plus Solid understanding of third party measuring tools (IAS, Doubleverify) is a plus Nice to Have / Differentiators Experience managing Tier 1 or complex, multi-market campaigns Strong understanding of inventory, supply dynamics, and buying strategies Ability to collaborate with external partners (DSPs, SSPs, publishers) to resolve issues and improve performance Experience balancing performance with cost efficiency or margin considerations In addition to an engaging company culture, a remote-first work environment and training & development, future Localers can expect a competitive benefits package that includes: Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance - 100% paid for the employee-only, 80% for dependents 401k with Company Match Paid Parental Leave Paid Vacation, Sick Time & Holidays Base Compensation for this role is CAD 105000-115000 with up to CAD 10,000 in bonuses Department Programmatic trading Role Senior Programmatic Trader Locations Montreal Remote status Hybrid