Manager, Publisher Partnerships

Job Description

Job Description

Who We Are

Kargo creates powerful moments of connection between brands and consumers to build businesses. Every day, our 600+ employees work to radically raise the bar on what agentic AI, CTV, eCommerce, social, and mobile can do to deliver unique ad experiences across the world's most premium platforms. Taking a creative science approach to all we do, we continuously innovate solutions that outperform industry benchmarks and client expectations. Now 20+ years strong, Kargo has offices in NYC, Chicago, LA, Dallas, Sydney, Auckland, London and Waterford, Ireland.

Who We Hire

Techies who want to build the future. Creatives who want to design it better. Communicators to win business. Collaborators to build it. Data pros who turn numbers into insights. Product builders who turn ideas into innovations. Anyone eager to be on a team that doesn't stop to ask what's next, because they're already building it.

Mission

The Publisher Partnerships Manager exists to protect and grow revenue for Kargo's most valuable publisher relationships. This role owns the day-to-day health of a portfolio of premium digital media partners — monitoring performance, solving technical issues, and delivering the kind of consultative service that makes Kargo indispensable. When this role is firing, publishers are hitting their revenue goals, churn risk is low, and Kargo is the partner they call first.

This is a hybrid role requiring onsite presence 4 days per week.

Outcomes — What Success Looks Like in 6–12 Months

• Portfolio health is proactively managed, not reactively patched — Performance data is monitored consistently across all accounts; revenue trends are flagged and addressed before partners raise them
• Publisher retention is strong across the book — Assigned partners renew and expand their relationship with Kargo; escalations are rare and resolved quickly when they do occur
• QBRs are delivered with depth and strategic value — Quarterly business reviews are prepared and presented with competitive insights, performance analysis, and forward-looking recommendations that partners cite as genuinely useful
• Technical issues are resolved with speed and ownership — Supply-side issues — header bidding, integration bugs, reporting discrepancies — are triaged independently and closed in partnership with product and ops without hand-holding
• Onboarding support accelerates publisher time-to-revenue — New publisher onboarding is executed smoothly from introduction to first monetization milestone, with minimal friction and clear communication throughout

Skills — Core Technical Capabilities

Required

• 3–4 years in a publisher-facing role at an SSP, DSP, or ad tech platform — understands the supply side of the ecosystem from the inside
• Fluency in programmatic fundamentals — supply/demand dynamics across mobile, video, and CTV; knows how inventory quality and fill rates are driven
• Hands-on experience with header bidding, VAST, OpenRTB integrations, and/or Amazon TAM
• Proficiency in Excel for performance analysis — pivot tables, lookups, and functions used regularly, not occasionally
• Ability to generate, interpret, and present reporting that surfaces actionable insights for publisher partners
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; comfortable leading calls, QBRs, and partner-facing presentations independently

Preferred

• Existing book of publisher relationships and contacts that can accelerate trust-building from day one
• Experience with onboarding new publisher supply partners from contract through technical integration

Competencies — Behaviors We Like to See

Proactive Account Ownership

• Monitors performance data regularly and surfaces issues or opportunities before partners ask — doesn't wait for inbound to drive the relationship
• Treats each publisher's revenue goals as their own; brings recommendations, not just reports

Technical Credibility

• Troubleshoots integration and supply issues independently before escalating; understands enough of the stack to ask the right questions and speak credibly with product and engineering
• Earns publisher trust by demonstrating real platform expertise, not just relationship warmth

Composure Under Pressure

• Stays solutions-oriented when multiple accounts have competing urgent needs; prioritizes without dropping balls or losing tone
• Handles technical escalations and difficult partner conversations with professionalism and calm

Collaborative Execution

• Works fluidly across internal teams — ops, product, sales — to get things resolved without territoriality or drama
• Brings a positive, low-ego presence that makes cross-functional partners want to work with them

In accordance with applicable federal, state, and local pay transparency laws, the anticipated base salary range for this position is listed below. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as geographic location, work experience, education, and skills.

U.S Salary Range

$70,000—$80,000 USD

Our Laurels

• AdAge Best Places to Work
• ThinkLA Partner of the Year
• Built In Best Places to Work
• Cynopsis 2025 Top Women in Media - Jeannine Shao Collins
• Martech Breakthrough Awards - Best Overall Adtech Company
• Digiday Media Awards Best Event
• Cynopsis Media Impact Awards-Best CTV Platform
• Martech Breakthrough Awards-CTV Innovation
• Adweek Media Plan of the Year Awards - Best Use of Insights

Follow Our Lead

• Big Picture: kargo.com
• The Latest: Instagram (@kargomobile) and LinkedIn (Kargo)

Kargo is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse workplace where all employees and applicants are treated with respect and dignity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital or family status, national origin, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local, state, or federal law. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment.

Pursuant to applicable fair chance laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Kargo will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment.