Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Ad Tech Specialist

🎯 Role Definition

The Ad Tech Specialist is responsible for the technical implementation, trafficking, optimization and reporting of programmatic and direct digital advertising campaigns. This role blends ad operations, technical integrations, data analysis and vendor management to ensure campaigns hit KPIs while maintaining platform integrity, ad quality and privacy compliance. The Ad Tech Specialist partners closely with trading desks, demand-side platforms (DSPs), supply-side platforms (SSPs), ad servers, creative teams and data teams to deliver scalable, measurable advertising solutions.

Key SEO/LLM keywords: Ad Tech Specialist, programmatic advertising, DSP, SSP, ad server, header bidding, RTB, OpenRTB, Google Ad Manager, DV360, The Trade Desk, campaign trafficking, creative QA, CTV, OTT, cookieless targeting, measurement, attribution, GDPR, CCPA.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Junior Ad Operations / Ad Trafficker
Programmatic Analyst / Media Operations Coordinator
DSP/SSP Support or Campaign Analyst

Advancement To:

Senior Ad Tech Specialist / Programmatic Lead
Programmatic Trading Desk Manager
Head of Ad Operations / Technical Account Lead

Lateral Moves:

Data Engineering (ad ops-focused)
Product Manager (ad tech products)
Analytics / Measurement Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead end-to-end trafficking and technical setup of programmatic and direct-sold campaigns across DSPs (DV360, The Trade Desk, Xandr) and ad servers (Google Ad Manager, AdButler), ensuring targeting, frequency caps, creative specs and pacing align with campaign objectives.
Architect and implement header bidding stacks and client-side/server-side wrappers (Prebid.js, Prebid Server), managing partner integrations, timeouts, and demand priority to maximize yield and revenue.
Configure and manage inventory and line items in ad servers (GAM), including key-values, dynamic allocation, orders, line items, creatives, and priority rules to support both guaranteed and programmatic direct deals.
Execute technical onboarding and integrations for new demand partners (DSP/agency integrations), including sync pixels, user match tables, OpenRTB endpoints, creative templates and API credential management.
Implement and troubleshoot mobile SDK integrations and tracking for in-app and mobile web, ensuring correct event mapping, attribution, and prevention of duplicate or missing impressions.
Design and maintain campaign tagging strategy using tag management systems (Google Tag Manager, Tealium) to enable reliable audience capture, conversion tracking and measurement across channels.
Build and maintain data pipelines for campaign performance using SQL, BigQuery, Snowflake or Redshift to enable automated reporting, anomaly detection and ad spend reconciliation.
Perform creative QA for all ad formats (HTML5, video, VAST/VPAID, CMAF, MRAID) to verify rendering, click-through behavior, viewability and IAB creative specs before go-live.
Monitor and optimize campaign delivery in real time: adjust pacing, targeting, bids, frequency caps, and inventory allocations to meet KPI targets (CPM, CPC, CPA, viewability, CTR).
Drive measurement and attribution solutions, integrating pixels, server-to-server events, postbacks, and offline conversions to feed attribution models and incrementality testing.
Implement verification and brand-safety tools (IAS, MOAT, DoubleVerify), manage fraud prevention settings, and review third-party reports to mitigate invalid traffic and non-compliant placements.
Own creative trafficking and dynamic creative optimization (DCO) setup, including template configuration, feed integrations, and runtime optimizations to improve relevance and engagement.
Manage private marketplace (PMP) deals, programmatic guaranteed and preferred deals: negotiate deal IDs, set up deal targeting, and verify delivery and reporting against IOs.
Collaborate with data science and analytics teams to define audience segments, lookalike models, and data onboarding to DMPs/CDPs, ensuring secure and compliant data transfers (S2S).
Troubleshoot and resolve technical discrepancies between platforms (DSP vs. ad server vs. analytics), reconcile impression/click metrics and produce root-cause analyses and corrective action plans.
Maintain and document ad tech runbooks, SOPs and escalation paths for trafficking, troubleshooting, creative QA, and platform maintenance.
Drive adoption of cookieless targeting strategies (first-party data, server-side IDs, UID solutions) and CTV/OTT targeting models to future-proof programmatic capabilities.
Implement and monitor privacy and compliance controls (consent management platforms, IAB CMP integration), ensuring ad requests respect GDPR/CCPA/CPRA requirements and user consent signals.
Manage vendor relationships and RFP evaluations for new ad tech vendors, providing technical due diligence on API capabilities, data privacy, SLAs and integration complexity.
Create stakeholder-ready dashboards and campaign reports using Looker, Tableau, Data Studio, or Python-based notebooks that highlight performance, ROAS, and optimization recommendations.
Automate recurring manual workflows (scripting with Python, JS or Google Sheets/Apps Script) to scale trafficking, reporting and QA tasks across high-volume campaigns.
Plan and execute migration projects such as ad server swaps, header bidder upgrades, or measurement vendor transitions, including parallel runs, data validation and risk mitigation.
Provide technical training and mentorship to junior ad ops staff and cross-functional teams on programmatic concepts, platform best practices, and troubleshooting techniques.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist account teams with technical pre-sales scoping, RFP responses and statement-of-work estimates.
Participate in post-campaign reviews, knowledge sharing sessions and continuous improvement initiatives.
Maintain an inventory of active tags, vendor libraries, and technical credentials; rotate or revoke credentials as security policies require.
Monitor industry trends (IAB standards, OpenRTB updates, MRC viewability changes) and recommend platform or process updates.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Programmatic platforms: DV360, The Trade Desk, MediaMath, Xandr or similar DSP experience.
Ad servers and trafficking: Google Ad Manager (GAM) and/or AdButler, including line item and creative configuration.
Header bidding and Prebid.js/Prebid Server configuration, debugging and partner management.
RTB/OpenRTB, S2S integrations, deal ID setup and PMP/programmatic guaranteed flows.
Creative formats & QA: HTML5, VAST/VMAP, VPAID knowledge, video ad workflows and ad tag debugging.
Measurement and analytics: Google Analytics, Data Studio, Looker, Tableau, BigQuery, Snowflake, SQL proficiency.
Tag management & SDKs: Google Tag Manager, mobile SDK implementation, MMP familiarity (Adjust, AppsFlyer).
Scripting and automation: SQL, Python, JavaScript for QA, reporting, and API automation.
Privacy & compliance: CMP integration, IAB TCF, GDPR/CCPA knowledge and server-side consent flows.
Verification and fraud tools: IAS, DoubleVerify, Moat or equivalent, and anti-fraud best practices.
Cloud tools & APIs: BigQuery, AWS, GCP, RESTful APIs and webhooks for eventing and postback setup.
CTV/OTT and connected device ad tech: SSAI, VAST compatibility, and device ID strategies.
Data onboarding and audience management: DMPs/CDPs, SFTP/secure transfer, and hashing/matching techniques.
Ad operations tooling: campaign management platforms, ticketing systems, and QA checklists.

Soft Skills

Strong analytical mindset with attention to detail and problem-solving aptitude for complex cross-platform discrepancies.
Clear written and verbal communication to translate technical details for non-technical stakeholders.
Project management skills: ability to prioritize tasks, manage multiple campaigns and meet deadlines in fast-paced environments.
Collaboration and stakeholder management across sales, creative, product, engineering and analytics teams.
Initiative and continuous learning orientation to stay current with rapid ad tech innovation and privacy changes.
Customer-service mindset when supporting agency partners, clients and internal teams.
Critical thinking and ability to document processes, create runbooks and drive process improvements.
Adaptability to work across different advertising channels (display, video, mobile, CTV) and partner ecosystems.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Marketing, Advertising, Statistics, Engineering, Data Analytics, or related field (or equivalent practical experience).

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Data Science, Business Analytics, Computer Science, or an MBA with digital advertising focus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Computer Science / Software Engineering
Marketing / Advertising / Digital Media
Data Science / Statistics / Analytics
Information Systems / Business Analytics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3 to 7 years in ad operations, programmatic or digital advertising roles with progressive technical responsibilities.

Preferred:

5+ years of hands-on programmatic and ad ops experience with a proven track record managing DSPs, ad servers, header bidding, and measurement stacks.
Demonstrated experience integrating partners via APIs, managing cross-platform reconciliations, and leading technical migrations.
Proven experience with CTV/OTT and mobile app monetization technical flows preferred.