Lead Associate Trading Director

The Trade Desk is a global technology company and the world’s leading independent platform for digital advertising, with nearly 4,000 employees across more than 30 offices. Our technology helps advertisers reach the right audiences across the open internet — from streaming TV and podcasts to mobile apps, news, and more.

Advertising powers the content people love. By making it more transparent, effective, and responsible, we help support trusted journalism, quality entertainment, and creators worldwide. The world’s brands and agencies rely on us to reach their customers and grow their businesses responsibly.

The scale of our platform brings unique technical challenges — from processing massive datasets in real time to building systems that operate reliably on a global scale. When you work here, your impact is worldwide. We welcome diverse perspectives, encourage curiosity, and build teams that learn from one another. If you’re driven to solve meaningful challenges, we’d love to meet you.

What you'll do:

• Manage, mentor, and work alongside Trading Specialists to grow a dedicated book of business through data-led strategy, consultative client engagement, and scalable trading excellence.

• Support the Director of Trading, as a senior member of the team, in shaping the overall trading strategy for the DACH business.

• Lead the adoption of AI-enabled trading capabilities, automation, and advanced analytics to improve campaign outcomes, team productivity, operational consistency, and client value.

• Work with internal teams to create 12-month growth strategies that connect client objectives, platform capabilities, measurement, product adoption, and commercial opportunities.

• Lead and evolve programmatic buying strategies, optimisation approaches, data visualisation, and automated workflows across complex client portfolios.

• Become a leader in The Trade Desk platform best practices and mentor both clients and internal teams on how to use platform functionality, data, and automation responsibly and effectively.

• Combine data analysis, client feedback, market trends, and product knowledge to create optimisation strategies and solutions for complex campaigns.

• Work closely with Product Management and other cross-functional teams to define features, improve workflows, and translate regional trading needs into scalable platform enhancements.

• Build trading best practices, training collateral, internal resources, and enablement programmes that help teams adopt new tools, AI capabilities, and automation at the right pace.

• Partner with the client services team to develop onboarding and success plans that help customers maximise value from The Trade Desk platform.

• Understand and effectively communicate The Trade Desk’s value proposition, technology, processes, and partnerships as they relate to current account growth and future client needs.

Who you are:

• Experienced programmatic specialist with hands-on DSP, trading, ad operations, or activation experience across complex client portfolios (5+ years); familiarity with DSPs is a plus.

• Strong strategic understanding of AI, automation, measurement, and data-driven decisioning in programmatic advertising, with the ability to translate technology into business value.

• Client-facing experience with a proven track record of growing accounts by understanding client objectives, building trusted relationships, and recommending effective strategies.

• Team management or mentoring experience, ideally managing hands-on-keyboard Traders, Operations, Activation, or Client Services teams (3+ years).

• Strong leadership skills: ability to set and communicate goals, measure progress, hold teams accountable, delegate effectively, provide useful feedback, and coach people through change.

• Experience working with ad exchanges, data partners, measurement solutions, ad servers, and optimisation platforms in programmatic environments.

• Advanced analytical skills, including experience with Excel and ideally business intelligence, data visualisation, or workflow automation tools.

• Outstanding troubleshooting and problem-solving abilities, with the ability to collaborate cross-functionally and drive clarity in complex, fast-moving situations.

• Proven ability to lead process improvement, tool adoption, and operational change while maintaining quality, transparency, and client trust.

• Effective time management skills with the ability to prioritise team leadership, client growth, strategic projects, and business-critical deadlines.

• Self-starter and quick learner who can rapidly grasp new technology, guide others through product change, and shape what great trading looks like in an AI-enabled future.

The Trade Desk akzeptiert keine unaufgeforderten Lebensläufe von Personalvermittlern. Für den Fall, dass ein von einem Personalvermittler, ohne Vertrag, eingereichter Kandidat eingestellt wird, werden keine Honorare gezahlt; derartige Lebensläufe gelten als alleiniges Eigentum von The Trade Desk. The Trade Desk ist ein Arbeitgeber, der allen gleiche Chancen bietet. Alle Aspekte einer Anstellung basieren auf Leistung, Kompetenz und unseren Geschäftsanforderungen. Wir unterscheiden nicht nach ethnischer Herkunft, Hautfarbe, Religion, Familienstand, Alter, nationaler Herkunft, Abstammung, körperlicher oder geistiger Beeinträchtigung, Gesundheitszustand, Schwangerschaft, genetischen Informationen, Geschlecht, sexueller Orientierung, Geschlechtsidentität, Veteranen-Status oder einem anderen Status, der durch staatliches oder lokales Recht geschützt ist.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, The Trade Desk is committed to creating an inclusive hiring experience where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

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