Kargo

Senior Director, Research & Insights

Kargo$180K — $200K *
Media
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years of experience in research, insights, or analytics within adtech or digital advertising
  • Proven success in leading and developing high-performing teams
  • Strong commercial acumen with measurable impact on revenue and client outcomes
  • Expertise in ad effectiveness and media measurement across digital and CTV channels
  • Familiarity with research and measurement partners like Nielsen and Comscore
  • Ability to translate complex data into compelling narratives for clients
  • Excellent executive presence and client-facing experience

Responsibilities

  • Lead and grow a high-performing Research & Insights team
  • Define and promote vision, priorities, and operational model for the function
  • Align research initiatives with business objectives and revenue growth
  • Own the company's ad effectiveness strategy across all digital channels
  • Develop and oversee custom and syndicated research studies
  • Craft data-backed narratives that distinguish products and platforms
  • Drive insight-led sales strategies for pipeline and revenue generation

Benefits

  • Hybrid work environment
  • Opportunity for professional development
  • Access to industry events and leadership opportunities
  • Support for collaboration across various teams
  • Engagement with senior-level clients and executives
Full Job Description
Title: Senior Director, Research and Insights

Job Type:Full-time, Hybrid

Job Location: NYC

Role Summary

We are seeking a Senior Director, Research & Insights to lead a market-facing insights function that drives revenue, strengthens client partnerships, and advances the company's leadership position across digital advertising.

This is a true functional leadership role, responsible for setting the vision, priorities, and operating model for the team. The ideal candidate brings a strong commercial mindset and understands how research and insights directly drive product adoption, pipeline growth, client strategy, and measurable business outcomes.

You will lead the company's research, measurement, and insights-driven thought leadership strategy across CTV, mobile, video, and cross-channel digital media solutions. This role requires platform-level thinking and the ability to shape how the company positions its broader capabilities and value proposition in market.

This is a highly visible, client-facing role requiring strong industry expertise, executive presence, and established relationships across agencies, brands, and the broader adtech ecosystem. The role will regularly engage in senior-level client conversations, industry events, and external presentations, serving as a strategic voice for the company in market.

What You'll Do

Leadership & Strategy
  • Lead and grow a high-performing Research & Insights team (6+ people)
  • Define and evangelize the vision, priorities, and operating model for the function
  • Drive the evolution of the team into a proactive, commercially focused organization
  • Align research initiatives with business goals, revenue impact, and platform adoption
  • Serve as a strategic leader across Sales, Marketing, Product, Data, and Client Success teams

Research, Measurement & GTM Strategy
  • Own the company's measurement and ad effectiveness strategy across digital, CTV, and cross-channel solutions
  • Partner with VP of Product Marketing on go-to-market strategy for research and insights initiatives, ensuring strong market positioning and adoption
  • Oversee custom and syndicated research studies that demonstrate campaign performance, platform value, and business outcomes
  • Evaluate and integrate emerging methodologies, tools, and partners to maintain industry leadership
  • Translate campaign, audience, and platform data into actionable insights and strategic recommendations

Narrative Ownership & Market Positioning
  • Input research perspective into the company's narrative, positioning, all contributing to a data-backed point of view in market
  • Develop compelling data/insights stories that clearly articulate product and platform differentiation
  • Drive/support thought leadership initiatives across content, PR, case studies, events, and executive communications
  • Represent the company externally through industry conferences, panels, client presentations, and strategic engagements

Sales & Client Leadership
  • Drive insight-led sales strategies that support pipeline growth and revenue generation
  • Lead high-impact client conversations and executive presentations focused on measurement, effectiveness, and platform value
  • Develop data-backed narratives and strategic recommendations that influence investment decisions
  • Build and maintain strong relationships across agencies, brands, publishers, and measurement partners

Cross-Functional Leadership
  • Partner with Product and Data teams to inform platform innovation and measurement strategy
  • Influence product positioning and GTM priorities through market intelligence and customer insights
  • Ensure research outputs are scalable, actionable, commercially impactful, and aligned with organizational objectives

Who You Are
  • 10+ years of experience in research, insights, measurement, analytics, strategy, or product marketing within adtech, media, publisher, agency, or digital advertising environments
  • Proven experience leading and developing high-performing teams and building organizational functions
  • Strong commercial acumen with a demonstrated ability to connect insights and measurement to revenue growth, product adoption, and client outcomes
  • Deep expertise in ad effectiveness, media measurement, attribution, and ROI analysis across digital and CTV channels
  • Strong understanding of the adtech ecosystem, including programmatic, premium publishers, mobile, video, and emerging channels
  • Experience working with leading research and measurement partners such as Nielsen, Comscore, Kantar, Dynata, Adelaide, Upwave, DoubleVerify, IAS, and similar platforms
  • Demonstrated ability to translate complex data into clear, compelling, and revenue-driving narratives
  • Extensive experience leading client-facing initiatives and partnering closely with Sales and Client Success organizations
  • Strong executive presence with the ability to engage credibly with senior clients, agency leaders, and internal stakeholders
  • Established industry relationships and experience representing organizations externally through events, panels, speaking engagements, and thought leadership initiatives
  • Collaborative leadership style with the ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive organizational alignment
  • Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience


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

$180,000-$200,000 USD

About Kargo

Kargo is a mobile advertising company that specializes in delivering ads to mobile devices. The company offers a range of advertising solutions, including display ads, video ads, and native ads. Kargo works with a variety of publishers and advertisers to deliver targeted, engaging ads to mobile users. The company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in New York City.
Learn more about Kargo
Size
200 employees
Industry
Founded
2010

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Kargo

  • Kargo
    Account Director
    $130K — $155K *
    New York, NY 10025 (New York County)
    Media
    In-Person
  • Kargo
    Account Director
    $120K — $140K *
    Chicago, IL 60629 (Cook County)
    Business Services
    In-Person
  • Kargo
    Mobile SDK Developer
    $150K — $185K *
    New York, NY 10025 (New York County)
    Consumer Technology
    In-Person
  • Kargo
    Manager, Research & Insights
    $80K — $90K *
    New York, NY 10025 (New York County)
    Media
    In-Person
  • Kargo
    Agentic AI Engineer
    $120K — $160K *
    San Francisco, CA 94112 (San Francisco County)
    Consumer Technology
    In-Person

More Media Jobs

Find similar Senior Director, Research & Insights jobs: