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.

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.

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

1
Earn the IAB Retail Media Certification and refresh measurement skills (MMM/MTA, incrementality).
2
Gain platform proficiency via trainings from DV360/The Trade Desk and a leading RMN (e.g., Walmart Connect, Roundel, KPM).
3
Build a 90-day retail media GTM and P&L model case study; share with mentors and RMN leaders for feedback and referrals.