Head of Exchange Product & Operations

BidMachine is looking for a Head of Exchange Product & Operations to own the commercial and operational performance of its programmatic exchange. The role represents the exchange to the C-level leadership of its largest publishers and demand partners, runs exchange operations above agreed gross-profit margins, and is accountable for growing gross profit and gross profit per employee every quarter. It decides which projects get priority to move exchange performance, and has the authority to redirect the team's effort to get there. New-partner business development sits elsewhere; this role is about getting more out of the exchange and its most important relationships.

It is also a hands-on role at a senior level. The person in this seat writes the product vision for the exchange and executes on it directly, including through code or AI-assisted coding, and tests variations of the auction's components. Relationships with senior partners cannot be automated, and the role is built around them. Exchange operations can be partly automated, and this role is expected to build that automation itself rather than manage around its absence. Expect an environment that changes often and rewards people who stay curious and keep building after they have already succeeded.

Key Responsibilities:

Own the top exchange relationships:

• Speak every week with the C-level leaders of the exchange's top publishers and demand partners.
• Represent the exchange in those relationships, commercially and on product.

 Run exchange operations above margin:

• Run exchange operations above agreed gross-profit margins while growing gross profit quarter on quarter.
• Implement the exchange's operational framework in full.

 Set priorities:

• Decide which projects will move exchange performance most, and in what order.
• Redirect the team's effort to those priorities without needing sign-off.

Own the exchange product vision:

• Write the product requirements and vision for the exchange.
• Execute on it directly, contributing hands-on to at least one project that impacts the exchange.

Test and improve the auction:

• Run tests on variations of auction components such as bid density, demand callouts and traffic shaping.
• Analyse your own results and others', and build what you learn into the auction itself, including automating auction components.

Work alongside exchange leadership:

• Support the head of demand and exchange wherever needed.

Requirements: 

• Has scaled a successful exchange. Direct responsibility for growing a programmatic exchange's or SSP's revenue or gross profit, with numbers you can speak to.
• Hands-on. Still builds: can write a product spec and execute on it, including code or AI-assisted coding.
• Strong communicator, credible with C-level leaders at large publishers and demand partners.
• Demonstrated AI experience, required. Practical, hands-on use in your own work or your team's over the last 12 months: the specific workflows you improved, the results delivered, and how you validated the output.
• Strong data analysis capability. Can pull and interrogate exchange performance data (spend, gross profit, margin, bid and win rates, timeouts) by partner, spot where a headline number hides a problem, and explain it to a non-specialist.
• Still hungry after real success; curious; resilient when the environment changes often.