Senior Programmatic Trader (m/f/d)

Overview

Kayzen is a mobile demand-side platform (DSP) dedicated to democratizing programmatic advertising. We enable leading apps, agencies, media buyers, and brands to run programmatic customer acquisition, retargeting, and brand performance campaigns through our self-serve and managed service options. Built on the core pillars of performance, transparency, and control, Kayzen powers the world’s best mobile marketing teams with bespoke solutions that fuel business growth and deliver a competitive advantage. With an unprecedented scale of 300B+ daily ad requests from 1.6B+ unique users worldwide, we serve up to 1B+ ads per day in 180 countries. Kayzen is accessible through our APIs and user interface.

Location: Berlin, Bangalore, Remote. We are open to a remote setup; for optimal overlap with customers’ time zones, your main working location should preferably be close to the CET time zone.

The Team

The Trading team is responsible for creating growth through the management and optimization of mobile performance advertising campaigns for clients utilizing the managed service offering. The goal of the team is to deliver on the client’s objectives through established or new trading best practices and communicate account status regularly and effectively with their CSM counterparts.

Why this role

In this role, you will own and grow a portfolio of mobile programmatic campaigns (UA/RT) across verticals including gaming, fintech, betting, and CTV, delivering CPA/ROAS targets while scaling FCT and protecting contribution margin. You will combine deep trading skills with analytics (SQL required; Python desirable) and LLM-accelerated workflows to move faster than a traditional desk. You won’t just optimize campaigns—you’ll shape the tools, analytical frameworks, and trading playbooks the team uses to win.

What you’ll do

Trading excellence

• Own end-to-end campaign delivery across multiple advertisers; hit KPI targets (CPA, ROAS, retention) and scale when unit economics allow.
• Develop audience targeting strategies and supply-side optimization (audience, publisher selection, bid shading, dayparting) across ad formats (banner, video, native, CTV) to unlock incremental scale.
• Build and execute testing roadmaps (optimization models, bids, budgets, frequency, creatives, geos, etc.) to drive incremental lift.
• Manage pacing, budget allocation, and risk across an account book, proactively mitigating under-delivery.
• Understand mobile attribution dynamics (postback flows, attribution windows, deterministic vs probabilistic matching, iOS privacy frameworks) and how they shape bidding strategy, audience targeting, and performance interpretation across MMPs.
• Champion process improvements, author tools/queries, and mentor juniors to raise team throughput.

Analytics & automation

• Dive into log-level and aggregated data to diagnose performance; write production-grade SQL (joins, CTEs, window functions) and Python/pandas analyses (or sharp use of AI).
• Design and interpret tests, translating findings into the Trading Playbook.
• Leverage LLMs (GPT/Claude) to automate recurring analyses (bid curves, cohort reads, anomaly triage), create data briefs, and draft experiments.
• Contribute to internal dashboards and trading intelligence tools that accelerate decision-making across the team.

Cross-functional impact

• Partner with CSM/Sales on growth plans and QBRs; influence Product with crisp, quantified feedback; collaborate with Supply on inventory quality.
• Work with DS/DA on model inputs, new testing hypotheses or model improvements, and with Product Support to quickly unblock delivery.

Requirements

• 3–5 years of programmatic ad buying experience; mobile in-app DSP experience preferred.
• Hands-on with MMPs (AppsFlyer, Adjust, Singular), postback flows, fraud detection, and reporting tools.
• Data-driven decision making; comfortable building and modifying SQL queries (joins, CTEs, window functions a plus). Familiarity with BI tools. Familiarity with AI is a must.
• Nice-to-have: Python/pandas for ad-hoc analyses and light automation; experience is a plus but not required.
• Nice-to-have: CTV/OTT programmatic buying experience.
• Solution orientation and drive to succeed.
• Communication: crisp written analysis and cross-team collaboration. Client-facing confidence preferred.

What do we offer?

• Competitive compensation with a performance-based component
• Exceptional career growth. Shape trading playbooks, product, mentor junior traders, and influence the tools and analytical frameworks the team builds around you.
• A unique opportunity to be part of an experienced team of industry experts and entrepreneurs who bring massive change to the Adtech market
• A high degree of responsibility and independence
• Direct, day-to-day work with the management
• A fun, driven, and multinational team located across Germany, India, Argentina, Ukraine, Spain, the UK and many more countries
• A flexible work-from-home arrangement
• A 500-dollar home-office setup budget
• A 1000-dollar annual learning and development budget