Ad Operations Executive Division: Sales at The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)

JOB PURPOSE  

•  The Ad Operations Executive is responsible for the flawless execution, monitoring, and optimisation of all digital advertising campaigns across SABC-owned and operated platforms — including SABC+, News, Sport, Radio, and Video Entertainment — as well as campaigns delivered through external sales partners (MediaMark, MediaNorth, and Arise/365 Digital) and programmatic supply partners (Castoola, Magnite, Adform, etc.). 
• The role ensures campaign delivery accuracy, platform compliance, and revenue assurance across both direct and programmatic channels. It combines trafficking, quality assurance, yield monitoring, and troubleshooting to safeguard revenue integrity and optimise performance across all sales streams. 

 MAIN OBJECTIVES (KEY PERFORMANCE AREA)   

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR 

CAMPAIGN TRAFFICKING & DELIVERY   

• Execute and QA all digital campaigns in Castoola and other ad servers (including partner servers). 
• Validate creatives, tags, click-through URLs, and placements before launch. 
• Monitor pacing, impressions, and delivery to ensure campaigns deliver booked revenue. 
• Troubleshoot trafficking, tag, or serving issues in collaboration with internal teams and external partners. 
• Support trafficking for campaigns sold through MediaMark, MediaNorth, and Arise/365.

PROGRAMMATIC SUPPORT & OPTIMISATION  

• Support programmatic deal setups (e.g., PMP, open exchange) in collaboration with agencies and trading desks. 
• Monitor programmatic campaigns sold via SSPs such as Magnite, Adform, and Castoola, ensuring correct setup and pacing.   
• Assist with inventory forecasting and yield optimisation across SABC digital properties. 
• Apply data insights to improve campaign efficiency across CPM, CTR, and ROI metrics. 
• Stay up to date with industry ad tech trends, new formats, and partner capabilities. 
• Optimise floor prices, fill rates, and viewability metrics to maximise yield across SABC inventory. 
• Analyse revenue performance across direct, partner, and programmatic channels to identify optimisation opportunities. 

GOVERNANCE, REPORTING & COMPLIANCE  

• Ensure all campaigns comply with SABC policies, PFMA, and brand-safety standards. 
• Reconcile campaign delivery data with SAP bookings and partner reports. 
• Consolidate reporting across Castoola, Magnite, Adform, and partner systems for unified dashboards. 
• Identify and flag under-delivery or discrepancies early and coordinate recovery actions. 

PARTNER & STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION   

• Serve as operational liaison for external partners — MediaMark, MediaNorth, Arise/365 Digital — ensuring alignment on trafficking, QA, and reporting standards. 
• Coordinate daily with SSP account managers (Magnite, Adform, Castoola) for issue resolution and performance tracking.  
• Share performance insights with partners and sales teams to improve delivery consistency. 
• Support onboarding and training of partner teams on SABC’s trafficking and reporting workflows. 

KNOWLEDGE SHARING & CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT   

• Stay updated on ad tech trends, emerging programmatic formats, and yield optimisation strategies.
• Document best practices and assist in developing internal Ad Ops SOPs. 
• Participate in training sessions and cross-departmental learning to build capability within Sales and Ad Ops teams. 

INHERENT REQUIREMENT  

FORMAL QUALIFICATIONS: 

• NQF 6-7 degree/diploma in Marketing, Media, Digital Business, or equivalent. 
• Short courses in Digital Advertising, Programmatic, OTT/CTV, or AdTech preferred 

EXPERIENCE: 

• 1-3 years in digital ad operations or campaign management, preferably in a broadcaster, publisher or ad tech environment 
• Hands-on experience with ad servers (Castoola, Google Ad Manager, Freewheel, Xandr) and SSPs (Magnite, Adform, etc.). 
• Familiarity with DSPs (DV360, The Trade Desk) and PMP/programmatic guaranteed workflows. 
• Proven experience in troubleshooting, trafficking, and reporting across multiple systems. 
• Exposure to working with external media sales partners or third-party vendors. 

KNOWLEDGE: 

• Solid understanding of ad trafficking, tagging, creative QA, and reporting processes. 
• Knowledge of programmatic ecosystems (SSP/DSP, PMP, and Open Exchange). 
• Strong analytical skills and proficiency in campaign performance metrics (CPM, CTR, VTR, Fill Rate). 
• Ability to consolidate data from multiple ad tech platforms for actionable insights. 
• High attention to detail, accuracy, and adherence to compliance standards. 
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across internal teams and partner organisations. 
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, multi-platform broadcast environment.