Director, Curation & Activation Partnerships

About the Role

Equativ is seeking a commercially driven Director, Curation & Activation Partnerships to grow Maestro, our programmatic curation and media activation platform, across North America.

The role develops agency and holding-company partnerships, helping programmatic and curation teams build scalable strategies while exploring AI-powered and agentic media activation.

This hands-on individual contributor owns revenue growth and long-term partnerships. Curation expertise isn't required from day one; commercial judgment, programmatic knowledge, curiosity, and the ability to turn technology into business opportunities matter most.

What You'll Do

Build & Grow Strategic Agency Partnerships

Build relationships with agency programmatic, investment, trading, data, and curation teams.

Help agencies use Maestro to launch curation offerings, activate data, access differentiated supply, and unlock value.

Develop white-label and co-branded curation partnership opportunities.

Partner with Customer Success to move agreements into successful onboarding and activation.

Expand relationships across agency teams, brands, markets, and use cases.

Develop Market & Ecosystem Knowledge

Develop expertise in Maestro, curation, and evolving agency buying strategies.

Track programmatic developments across DSPs, SSPs, identity, audience data, contextual targeting, and supply-path optimization.

Understand AI-driven advertising, agentic media planning and buying, Model Context Protocol (MCP), and Ad Context Protocol (AdCP), and their potential for media activation.

Translate emerging technologies, data partnerships, and market insights into differentiated curation opportunities.

Contribute to Go-to-Market Strategy

Align with the VP, Curation Activation on target agencies, priority segments, and growth opportunities.

Own a pipeline of agency partnerships, from prospecting and negotiations through activation, revenue generation, and expansion.

Work with Marketing, Product, Customer Success, and Demand Sales to accelerate adoption and growth.

Represent Equativ at industry events, agency meetings, and networking opportunities.

Bring client feedback and competitive insights into Maestro's go-to-market and product strategy.

Who You Are

5+ years of experience in programmatic advertising, digital media, business development, or agency partnerships.

Track record of developing partnerships, winning business, and growing revenue.

Understanding of agencies and holding companies, including programmatic planning, buying, and activation.

Knowledge of DSPs, SSPs, and programmatic deal structures.

Familiarity with audience data, contextual signals, and data-driven advertising.

Strong communication and negotiation skills across commercial and technical stakeholders.

Experience managing a sales pipeline and delivering against revenue targets.

Curious, adaptable, and eager to learn emerging advertising technologies.

Nice to Have

Experience with programmatic curation, curated marketplaces, or data-driven activation.

Relationships with North American agency programmatic, investment, or curation teams.

Experience with holding-company trading desks or agency technology and data teams.

Exposure to data providers, contextual platforms, or content intelligence.

Experience with technology partnerships, white-label offerings, or reseller models.

Familiarity with CTV, retail media, AI-powered advertising, agentic workflows, MCP, or AdCP.