VP, Publisher Growth & Commercial Operations

Who we are

Venatus is the gaming advertising specialist. We connect brands with audiences In the Zone and grow the value of those audiences for the publishers that built them. We operate at the intersection of content, mindset, and commercial impact, turning gaming attention into measurable outcomes for brands and sustainable revenue for publishers. Recognizable brands like EA, Miniclip, Scopely, and Rovio come to us for campaigns that work. Around 900 run through us directly each year, built by our in‑house creative team and sold across both direct and programmatic channels. Many of our publisher partners have been with us for more than a decade. This is an exciting moment for Venatus. Our acquisition by MediaScale Capital Limited will broaden what we can offer publishers and advertisers alike, adding data and identity tools, technology and infrastructure to the audience expertise we are built on. London is our HQ, with regional teams in Amsterdam, Chicago, LA, New York, Sydney, Seoul, and Manila.

What we’re looking for

We are seeking an exceptional, multi-disciplinary leader to run the operational and commercial engine of our supply-side ecosystem. Reporting directly to the CEO, the VP of Publisher Growth & Commercial Operations will lead the supply-side strategy and monetisation operations of the business. As a key member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), you will bring together and lead our newly formed supply leadership team, spanning Business Development, Publisher Success, Onboarding, Commercial Product, Programmatic Monetisation, and Ad Operations. Your focus is to align these functions into a seamless, high-performing machine that scales our publisher footprint, maximizes yield, and protects and grows margins across our ad stack. By collaborating closely with regional Ad Sales leaders, you will ensure our global demand-side sales engine is backed by premium, highly optimized inventory and world-class delivery infrastructure to drive overall company growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Executive Leadership & Business Unit Ownership
  • Provide direct mentorship and strategic leadership to six senior direct reports, overseeing publisher business development, account management, operations, commercial product, monetisation and ad operations.
  • Serve as the principal supply-side advisor to the CEO, providing executive-level forecasting and strategic business updates.
  • Drive global accountability by defining and monitoring critical unit-wide KPIs, including gross revenue, take rate margin preservation, partner retention, and onboarding velocity.
• Supply Acquisition & Business Development
  • Lead the Go to Market Strategy for global publisher acquisition in-app and across the web, expanding our premium inventory footprint.
  • Manage and mentor the Publisher Business Development leads, driving pipeline velocity and negotiating high-value, long-term commercial partnerships.
  • Define our market positioning and value proposition for publishers, in collaboration with the wider business, including the marketing and demand-side strategy team.
• Onboarding & Customer Success
  • Oversee the Publisher Onboarding team to ensure seamless, efficient, and technically sound integration of new partners into our adtech stack.
  • Optimize the time-to-value metric, reducing friction between contract signing and live monetization.
  • Guide the Publisher Success team to maximize partner retention, satisfaction, and organic growth.
  • Build deep, strategic relationships with key publishers and game development studios, ensuring our platform remains their preferred monetisation partner.
  • Ensure the Customer Success team executes proactive retention strategies, driving upsells into high-impact formats, video, and in-game/around-the-game ad units.
• Programmatic Revenue & Commercial Product Development
  • Own the global programmatic revenue target, driving yield optimisation strategies and work closely with our tech provider(s) to extract maximum value from every impression.
  • Maintain high-level relationships with major Demand‑Side Platforms (DSPs), Supply‑Side Platforms (SSPs), and data partners.
  • Lead the commercial product function, setting the strategic direction, governance, and performance framework for the company’s product portfolio to ensure products achieve market fit, drive revenue growth, profitability, and long-term business value.
• Ad Operations & Direct Business Delivery
  • The Ad Operations team is responsible for trafficking, delivering and optimising campaigns sold by our direct sales teams (North America, EMEA and APAC).
  • Champion campaign pacing, discrepancy reduction, margin management, and inventory forecasting to ensure direct client performance KPIs are consistently met or exceeded.
  • Work with the Ad Ops Director to build a scalable operational framework that minimizes overhead while maintaining flawless execution.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Supply Growth: Total volume of premium publisher inventory on‑boarded and retained.
• Net Margin: across direct and programmatic demand and publisher take-rate.
• Delivery Excellence: Direct campaign fulfilment rates, minimal discrepancy margins, and zero-error trafficking.
• Time-to-Live: Reduction in the average days required to onboard and monetize a new publisher.

What We Are Looking For

• Experience: significant experience in senior programmatic or publisher-facing leadership roles (SSP, ad network, or publisher collective), and having managed multi-layered teams (managing Directors/Heads of departments).
• Executive Presence: Comfortable operating with C-suite autonomy and negotiating enterprise-level commercial contracts.
• Multi-disciplined: A rare mix of commercial acumen (the ability to pitch and close premium publishers) and deep technical understanding (Header Bidding, Prebid, SDKs, ad tags, and auction mechanics).
• People Management: A track record of leading diverse, cross-functional teams.
• Data‑Driven & Analytical: Exceptional ability to interpret complex data sets, a proven track record of optimising margins and identifying operational bottlenecks to drive immediate business action and results.
• UK/European Market Expertise: Deep familiarity with the UK and broader European digital media ecosystem, including established relationships with premium publishers and media houses. US experience a bonus.
• Gaming DNA (Bonus): A deep understanding of, or passion for, the gaming and entertainment publishing landscape is highly desirable.

Package:

• Base salary dependent on experience.
• Uncapped commission.
• Flexible working pattern & Summer Hours.
• Cycle to Work scheme.
• Season Ticket Loan scheme.
• 25 days annual leave (inclusive of festive office closure) plus bank holidays and your birthday off.
• Option to buy and sell annual leave allowance.
• Excellent career opportunities in a growing, international company.

We understand that the best ideas are born from the collaboration of diverse minds, spanning all races, religions, ethnicities, genders and orientations. We are dedicated to making Venatus a safe and happy place, allowing everyone to feel comfortable and confident in order to produce their best work. We employ a range of talent that represents the diverse creativity of our industry and we are proud of our growing teams of employees who share these values. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation during the application process, please let us know in your application. Please let us know if you require any adjustments to enable you to apply or attend an interview. If you would like to discuss your requirements, or have any concerns about the application process, please email people@venatus.com.