Head of Retail Media

Career Guide

Leads a retailer’s or brand’s retail media business, setting strategy, growing ad revenue, and overseeing ad products, sales, and measurement. Owns P&L, builds partnerships with brands and agencies, and aligns marketing, merchandising, analytics, and engineering to scale onsite and offsite media.

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Key Responsibilities

Define retail media strategy, revenue targets, and operating model
Own P&L, pricing, packaging, and yield optimization
Lead ad product roadmap (onsite, offsite, in-store) with product/engineering
Build and manage sales/org structure; coach high-performing teams
Establish measurement, attribution, and incrementality testing standards
Develop brand/agency partnerships and joint business plans
Select and govern ad-tech stack, data partnerships, and clean-room usage
Report KPIs to executives; ensure privacy and retail compliance

Career Progression

Can Lead To

SVP/VP, Retail Media or Commerce Media

General Manager, Retail Media Network

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

Transition Opportunities

Director of Product (Ad Tech/Retail Media)

Head of Performance/Acquisition Marketing

Head of Partnerships/Business Development

Consulting Lead, Retail Media/Commerce Media

Common Skill Gaps

Often Missing Skills

Hands-on retail media tech stack and clean-room workflowsRevenue management with dynamic pricing/yield across ad productsIncrementality testing design and interpretationAd product packaging and go-to-market for onsite/offsite media

Development SuggestionsComplete an IAB Retail Media course; run a pilot campaign on a major RMN and document results, including pricing, KPIs, and an incrementality test.

Market Intelligence Report

Head of Retail Media is part of the Digital Marketing category.Explore our market intelligence report to see how AI and hiring demand are shifting for these roles.

See the market intelligence report

Salary & Demand

Median Salary Range

Entry Level$150,000-$185,000

Mid Level$185,000-$240,000

Senior Level$240,000-$325,000

Growth Trend

rapidly_growing: Retail media ad spend surging; more retailers launching networks

Companies Hiring

Major Employers

Walmart (Walmart Connect)Target (Roundel)Kroger (Kroger Precision Marketing)

Industry Sectors

Retail & EcommerceAdvertising & MarketingConsumer Packaged Goods (CPG)Technology

Recommended Next Steps

Earn the IAB Retail Media Certification and refresh measurement skills (MMM/MTA, incrementality).

Gain platform proficiency via trainings from DV360/The Trade Desk and a leading RMN (e.g., Walmart Connect, Roundel, KPM).

Build a 90-day retail media GTM and P&L model case study; share with mentors and RMN leaders for feedback and referrals.