Manager, Ad Operations and Trafficking – REMOTE
Summary:
Acadia is seeking an Ad Operations Manager to establish and lead our ad trafficking, campaign delivery, and media QA processes across all paid digital media channels. This foundational hire will define Acadia’s ad operations framework, set standards for trafficking, campaign setup, tag management, QA, and post-launch governance across display, video, social, and DSP activated campaigns.
You will be both a builder and a doer, executing hands-on trafficking in Google Campaign Manager and supporting trafficking and workflow in DSPs, search, and social platforms, while developing Standard Operating Procedures, naming conventions, QA checklists, and automation processes that will scale across teams.
You will collaborate closely with Media, Analytics, Account Management, and Performance Creative teams to ensure flawless campaign execution, tracking accuracy, creative integrity, and data consistency across the agency’s paid media operations. There will also be less frequent collaboration with the Retail Media team.
Key Responsibilities
Build and Launch the Function (First Six Months):
- Establish Acadia’s agency-wide process for trafficking and QA, from insertion order to launch and through reporting; including setup of Google Campaign Manager and trafficking templates.
- Work closely with media planning and buying teams as well as platform specialists to identify, codify, and document campaign handoff requirements.
- Ensure all necessary campaign input details are captured clearly and completely for trafficking.
- Partner with Media, Analytics, Dashboarding, and Performance Creative teams to create naming conventions, taxonomy standards, and creative and placement hierarchy.
- Build and update the master trafficking matrix and Asana workflow to support effective team operation and project management.
- Collaborate with Analytics and Dashboarding teams to define Floodlight tagging, UTM parameter standards, and tracking governance.
- Document standard operating procedures for trafficking, QA, and tag distribution steps.
- Develop onboarding materials, FAQs, and reference guides, making sure documentation stays updated for new and current team members.
- Deliver initial onboarding and training sessions to ensure the Ad Ops team and cross-functional partners can execute the defined processes accurately.
- Maintain ongoing monitor of inputs into established process from collborating teams, with an intent to maintain adherance to the established, agency ad ops process.
- Work with team leads to resolve any issues that may arise.
Ongoing Campaign Trafficking, QA, and Platform Support:
- Execute or oversee campaign setup and trafficking in Google Campaign Manager, supporting activation in DSPs such as DV360 or The Trade Desk, and social platforms as needed.
- Responsibilities include placement builds, creative uploads, and comprehensive tag management. Familiarity with activation on Amazon's DSP is a plus.
- Configure and maintain Floodlight activities, groups, and attributes in Google Campaign Manager, including settings for lookback windows, attribution, and custom variables.
- Oversee and implement UTM parameter standards, ensuring tracking consistency and effective analytics integration.
- Work with a variety of creative types and tag solutions, including HTML5 creatives, third party tags, click trackers, backup images, and polite loading formats.
- Manage VAST and VPAID tags for video and CTV placements as appropriate.
- Collaborate with the Performance Creative team to coordinate dynamic creative assets, data feeds, and profile mapping for campaign elements in Google Campaign Manager.
- QA all DCO components for correct rendering, dynamic logic, feed integration, and trafficking accuracy.
- Partner with DCO specialists to troubleshoot and update dynamic units as needed throughout the campaign lifecycle.
- Manage and implement third-party measurement and verification tags such as IAS, MOAT, DoubleVerify, and other relevant vendors when needed.
- Coordinate tag wrapping and QA to ensure proper operation with Google Campaign Manager, DSP, and social platform partners.
- Conduct thorough quality assurance including use of Campaign Manager preview links, testing environments, Chrome DevTools, Google Tag Assistant, and related QA tools.
- Perform preflight and post-launch checks to confirm pixels and trackers are firing and placements are functioning as intended.
- Generate and distribute tags to publishers and platforms.
- Maintain trafficking sheets, tag logs, and comprehensive campaign documentation that is audit ready.
Cross Functional Collaboration and Training:
- Work closely with Media Planners, Buying teams, Creative specialists, and Account teams to validate insertion order details, targeting, specs, and ensure handoff is complete before trafficking begins.
- Organize recurring touchpoints with media planning, buying, and creative teams to address campaign needs, clarify handoff procedures, and resolve any workflow issues in advance of launch.
- Collaborate with Analytics partners to verify tracking, troubleshoot discrepancies, and ensure data integrity.
- Partner with Creative and Production teams to ensure assets meet technical specifications, size requirements, and follow consistent naming conventions.
- Integrate workflow with the DCO team to ensure all dynamic elements are correct and up to date.
- Select, train, onboard, manage, and mentor new Ad Ops team members as team expansion is needed, updating training materials, SOPs, and process guides regularly as workflows evolve.
- Lead scheduled process review meetings with the Ad Ops team at least quarterly, review lessons learned, update best practices, and drive continuous improvement.
- Establish and track clear communication channels including feedback surveys or brief retrospectives with relevant teams following major campaigns to foster collaborative improvement.
Governance, Process Improvement, and Quality:
- Develop and maintain comprehensive QA checklists, STOP IF gates, and launch readiness scorecards. STOP IF gates must be satisfied before any new campaign is launched.
- Implement opportunities for automation using tools such as Asana rules, Google Sheets macros, or platform APIs to streamline QA and reporting.
- Own the internal Ad Ops process from end to end. Continuously review, audit, and improve trafficking, QA, and tag management processes to keep pace with evolving needs.
- Evaluate and recommend Ad Ops management tools, verification partners, and workflow refinements at the team level.
