Job Description

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 Trading Lead 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:

1. Trading Strategy & Execution Leadership (Primary Focus)

Objective: Ensure all campaigns are executed with consistency, efficiency, and strong performance outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Define and standardize trading best practices across all channels:

  • Display / Mobile

  • CTV

  • DOOH

  • Audio / OLV

• Guide:

  • Campaign setup strategy

  • Budget allocation

  • Optimization frameworks

• Ensure consistency in:

  • Naming conventions

  • Campaign structures

  • Targeting logic

• Lead execution quality control:

  • Reduce setup errors

  • Improve campaign readiness and launch timelines

• Partner with teams to ensure alignment between strategy and execution

Expected Impact

• Improved campaign quality and consistency

• Reduced operational errors

• Faster and smoother campaign launches

2. Performance Optimization & Trading Excellence

Objective: Maximize campaign performance through continuous optimization and data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities

• Monitor and analyze:

  • Delivery & pacing

  • CPMs / CPCs

  • Win rates

  • Conversion / visitation metrics

• Define and implement:

  • Optimization frameworks

  • Testing strategies (A/B, formats, audiences)

• Identify:

  • Underperforming campaigns

  • Optimization opportunities

• Provide clear recommendations to trading teams

• Lead post-campaign analysis to inform future strategy

Expected Impact

• Improved campaign performance

• Stronger optimization culture

• Better use of data in decision-making

3. Margin Management & Buying Efficiency

This is critical based on your org shift.

Objective: Ensure campaigns are executed in a way that protects and improves margin.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Pre-Sales on:

  • Deal structuring

  • Media mix optimization

• Monitor:

  • Cost vs. sell price

  • Margin performance by campaign / channel

• Identify:

  • Inefficiencies in buying strategy

  • Opportunities to improve margin through optimization

• Support teams in:

  • Adjusting inventory mix

  • Improving cost efficiency

• Flag risks early:

  • Underperforming or low-margin campaigns

Expected Impact

• Stronger margin performance

• Better alignment between trading and commercial strategy

4. Deal Strategy & DSP / SSP Execution (Deal ID Ownership)

Objective: Ensure all deal-based and standalone campaigns are structured and executed effectively.

Responsibilities

• Own Deal ID strategy and implementation:

  • Define deal structures

  • Select appropriate inventory

  • Align with campaign objectives

• Oversee:

  • PMP / PG / Open Exchange strategies

• Troubleshoot:

  • No-bid issues

  • Underpacing

  • Access / targeting conflicts

• Work directly with SSPs / DSP partners to:

  • Resolve delivery issues

  • Optimize deal performance

• Monitor:

  • Deal-level performance

  • Win rates and delivery

Expected Impact

• More efficient deal execution

• Improved delivery and performance

• Reduced campaign risk

5. Trading Analytics & Insights

Objective: Turn campaign data into actionable insights to improve performance and strategy.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain trading performance dashboards (DV360, Fusio, etc.)

• Analyze:

  • Publisher performance

  • Channel performance

  • Spend allocation trends

• Provide:

  • Weekly / monthly trading insights

• Identify:

  • Performance trends

  • Optimization opportunities

• Support:

  • PCA / Tier 1 client insights

Expected Impact

• Data-driven trading decisions

• Improved visibility into performance

6. Cross-Functional Partnership

Objective: Ensure strong alignment across teams to improve campaign outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Partner with:

  • Pre-Sales → Feasibility, media strategy alignment

  • Customer Success → Performance insights, client needs

  • Operations → Process and execution improvements

• Act as:

  • Go-to resource for trading-related questions

• Support:

  • Complex / Tier 1 campaigns

7. Inventory Strategy & Supply Collaboration (≈20%)

Objective: Support trading performance through smart inventory selection and supply collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Maintain visibility into:

  • Key supply partners (SSPs, publishers)

  • Inventory performance trends

• Collaborate with supply partners to:

  • Unlock better rates or access when needed

• Support:

  • Inventory selection for campaigns

• Provide input on:

  • Premium vs. scalable inventory

• Share inventory insights with internal teams

Expected Impact

• Better-informed inventory decisions

• Improved cost efficiency

• Stronger collaboration with supply partners

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 $110,000-$120,000 with up to $10,000 in bonuses