Full-Time
Partner Operations Manager
Updated on 9/3/2026
Smartly.io
1,001-5,000 employees
Automates social ads across platforms
Compensation Overview
$110k - $140k/yr
New York, NY, USA
In Person
 Business & Strategy (1) |
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- 3–5+ years of experience in Partner Operations, Business Operations, Program Management, Customer Success Operations, or a similar operational role within a SaaS or technology company.
- Exceptional organizational and project management skills with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.
- Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills, including pivot tables, formulas, reporting, and data analysis.
- Experience building and maintaining dashboards in Looker or similar business intelligence tools.
- Experience coordinating cross-functional teams and driving accountability across multiple stakeholders.
- Strong communication skills with the ability to simplify complex operational information for technical and non-technical audiences.
- Own and maintain critical operational trackers that keep partner initiatives on track, including marketing event planning, product build milestones, and other strategic initiatives.
- Coordinate updates across multiple stakeholders, identify risks and dependencies, and ensure teams remain aligned on priorities and timelines.
- Manage the intake, prioritization, and coordination of partner-related bugs and technical escalations, particularly those involving product integrations and platform partners. Work closely with Customer Success, Product, Engineering, and Partner Platform teams to ensure issues are communicated clearly, resolved efficiently, and tracked through completion.
- Perform operational analysis using Excel or Google Sheets to identify trends, monitor key initiatives, and support business decisions. Build and maintain dashboards in Looker that provide visibility into operational health, project progress, partner issues, and team performance.
- Continuously identify opportunities to improve workflows, documentation, reporting, and cross-functional collaboration. Develop scalable operational processes that enable the Partnerships organization to execute more efficiently as the business grows.
- Experience managing technical bugs, customer escalations, or operational support processes is highly preferred.
- A proactive, detail-oriented mindset with a passion for building scalable processes and improving operational efficiency.
- Experience working with advertising technology, marketing technology, APIs, or platform partnerships is a plus.
Smartly.io automates social media advertising for brands by handling media buying, creative production, and performance optimization across platforms like Facebook and Instagram. It combines software that automates campaign tasks with a managed services team that provides expert guidance to help brands scale efficiently and profitably. Its Creative Services unit designs, produces, and continually tests ad creatives to improve engagement and return on ad spend (ROAS). The goal is to help brands adapt to changing social media behavior and achieve scalable, profitable advertising across multiple platforms.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
Acquired
Total Funding
$2.8M
Headquarters
Helsinki, Finland
Founded
2013
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See people who can refer or advise you
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- OpenAI named Smartly its first creative adtech partner on April 1, 2026.
- Mexico City hub opened March 10, 2026, hiring engineering, AI, and commercial roles.
- Smartly reports 800+ brands and over $7 billion managed ad spend.
What critics are saying
- Meta, Google, and OpenAI can internalize Smartly’s automation layer, compressing margins by 2027.
- Conversational ads raise trust risk; user backlash can cut ChatGPT pilot adoption quickly.
- A bad AI ad disclosure scandal would trigger agency and brand defection from Smartly.
What makes Smartly.io unique
- Synapse orchestration layer unifies creative, media, and memory across channels, announced 2026.
- Horizon Media partnership activates Blu audiences inside Smartly workflows across social, CTV, and Google.
- Smartly’s ADVANCE platform convenes 750 leaders with Meta, TikTok, Google, and WPP.
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Benefits
Unlimited Paid Time Off
Paid Holidays
Paid Sick Leave
Health Insurance
Mental Health Support
401(k) Retirement Plan
401(k) Company Match
Company Equity
Life Insurance
Disability Insurance
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -1%1 year growth
↓ -1%2 year growth
↓ -2%Smartly's ADVANCE to Explore AI's Impact on Advertising. Published on: Sep 3, 2026 Smartly is bringing its ADVANCE industry event back to New York City on September 29, with music producer Timbaland set to join Smartly CEO Laura Desmond for a mainstage discussion on creativity, originality and artificial intelligence in advertising. The event at Spring Studios is expected to bring together more than 750 senior leaders from brands, agencies and technology platforms, according to Smartly. The agenda spans creative AI, commerce AI, media, agency transformation and the convergence of performance and brand marketing. Timbaland's participation puts the creative implications of generative AI at the center of the event. His discussion with Desmond is expected to examine how marketers can preserve distinctive creative perspectives as AI makes content production and experimentation more accessible. The broader agenda reflects a significant shift underway across advertising technology. Smartly's platform combines creative production, media management and intelligence, positioning AI as an orchestration layer across campaign workflows rather than simply a tool for generating advertising assets. Speakers listed for ADVANCE include executives from Accenture Song, DoorDash, Google, Horizon Media, Meta, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, The New York Times, WPP, Wpromote and YouTube. Their participation highlights how AI-driven advertising is becoming a cross-platform issue involving creative development, media buying, commerce and consumer discovery. The timing also aligns with broader industry investment in AI. The Interactive Advertising Bureau's 2026 outlook forecasts U.S. advertising spending to grow 9.5% year over year, while five of the six top buyer priorities identified in its research are centered on AI. Two-thirds of surveyed buyers are specifically focused on agentic AI for advertising buying and campaign execution. That transition creates a more complicated challenge for marketers. Greater automation can accelerate production and optimization, but it also raises questions about creative differentiation, brand consistency, measurement and consumer trust. IAB research published in January found that 82% of advertising executives believed Gen Z and millennial consumers feel positive about AI-generated advertising, compared with 45% of consumers who actually reported positive sentiment. The gap suggests that increasing AI adoption does not necessarily translate into greater consumer acceptance. ADVANCE's emphasis on human creativity alongside AI therefore reflects a broader industry debate: whether advertising organizations should use AI primarily to increase production efficiency or as a way to redesign how creative, media and commerce decisions are made. Market landscape. AI is moving from experimentation toward operational infrastructure across advertising. IAB's 2026 research shows buyers increasingly prioritizing agentic AI, cross-platform measurement and performance optimization. At the same time, the industry's growing dependence on automated creative systems introduces new challenges around quality and authenticity. IAB has developed an AI transparency and disclosure framework as marketers increasingly use generative AI in advertising production. Strategic outlook. Smartly's ADVANCE reflects the convergence of creative technology, advertising media and commerce infrastructure. The event's agenda suggests that the next phase of AI adoption will focus less on isolated content-generation tools and more on integrated systems capable of connecting creative decisions with media performance. For agencies and brands, the strategic question will be how to scale AI-enabled production without making advertising less distinctive. Human judgment, brand voice and measurement are likely to remain important differentiators as automated campaign execution expands. Top insights. * Smartly's ADVANCE takes place September 29 at Spring Studios in New York City. * Timbaland will discuss creativity and originality in the AI era with Smartly CEO Laura Desmond. * More than 750 industry leaders are expected, according to Smartly. * IAB forecasts 9.5% U.S. ad-spend growth in 2026. * Two-thirds of surveyed buyers are focused on agentic AI for ad buying and campaign execution. * Consumer attitudes toward AI-generated advertising remain less positive than advertiser expectations.
Smartly's ADVANCE returns to New York Sept. 29 at Spring Studios. * 1 hr ago Smartly's flagship event, ADVANCE, returns to New York City on Sept. 29, 2026, at Spring Studios. The event will bring together more than 750 senior marketing and advertising leaders from brands, agencies and leading technology platforms. As AI reshapes how brands are built and consumers discover products, creativity, media, and intelligence are becoming one connected system. ADVANCE will explore what this shift means for marketers, their teams, and the next generation of brand and business growth. The agenda features leaders from across the marketing ecosystem, including Accenture Song, DoorDash, Google, Horizon Media, Meta, NBCUniversal, The New York Times, Pinterest, Reddit, TikTok, WPP, Wpromote and YouTube, alongside opening remarks from Smartly CEO Laura Desmond. Additional speakers and special guests will be announced in the coming weeks. Closing the day, NBA Champion and New York Knicks forward Josh Hart will join Smartly CEO Laura Desmond in conversation alongside Matthew Hillman, CEO of PATH Talent. Together, Hart and Hillman co-host The Roommates Show, one of sports' fastest-growing podcasts. Drawing on their experience building loyal communities on and off the court, they'll explore what it takes to create authentic cultural relevance, build enduring brands and turn defining moments into lasting impact. "As access to AI becomes universal, competitive advantage shifts somewhere new," said Laura Desmond, CEO of Smartly. "It will belong to the companies and marketing leaders who turn abundant data into intelligence that compounds. Making every decision, campaign, creative asset, and every outcome better than the last. ADVANCE is where the conversation takes place, where the connections are made, and where marketers uncover their competitive advantage in the intelligence era." Complementing the mainstage program, ADVANCE features two tracks: Creative AI and Commerce AI. The Creative AI track explores how brands can build enduring creative systems in the age of AI, while the Commerce AI track explores how marketers are driving growth through cross-channel orchestration, measurement and responsible automation. Across both tracks, conversations will explore the evolving role of marketing teams, platform strategy, trust, authenticity and the practical application of AI. ADVANCE is made possible with support from partners including Google, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Roku, Snapchat and TikTok, whose collaboration helps shape programming and experiences throughout the event. Registration is now open. Qualified attendees from brands and advertising organizations may be eligible for complimentary admission. About Smartly Smartly is the AI-powered advertising technology company ranked as the leader in The Forrester Wave(TM): Creative Advertising Technologies. Its platform unifies creative and media to produce intelligent creative, dynamic, data-driven image and video assets optimized for seamless activation across channels. Brands manage, optimize, and scale high-performance campaigns in one place, achieving PwC-validated results, including a 5.5x return on ad spend (ROAS) and 42 minutes saved every hour. True North Radio Network support 800+ brands and manage over $7 billion in ad spend globally. With strategic partnerships across major media platforms, including Amazon, Google, Meta, Pinterest, Reddit, Snap, Spotify, and TikTok, True North Radio Network help Fortune 500 companies deliver relevant advertising at speed and scale. Backed by deep media expertise and best-in-class customer support, True North Radio Network empower brands to maximize performance and drive real business outcomes. Visit Smartly.io to learn more. Media gallery
Smartly's ADVANCE returns to New York Sept. 29 at Spring Studios. Smartly's flagship event will convene more than 750 senior leaders from brands, agencies and technology platforms to explore how AI, creative, commerce and intelligence are converging to reshape modern marketing NEW YORK - August 6, 2026 - Smartly's flagship event, ADVANCE, returns to New York City on Sept. 29, 2026, at Spring Studios. The event will bring together more than 750 senior marketing and advertising leaders from brands, agencies and leading technology platforms. As AI reshapes how brands are built and consumers discover products, creativity, media, and intelligence are becoming one connected system. ADVANCE will explore what this shift means for marketers, their teams, and the next generation of brand and business growth. The agenda features leaders from across the marketing ecosystem, including Accenture Song, DoorDash, Google, Horizon Media, Meta, NBCUniversal, The New York Times, Pinterest, Reddit, TikTok, WPP, Wpromote and YouTube, alongside opening remarks from Smartly CEO Laura Desmond. Additional speakers and special guests will be announced in the coming weeks. Closing the day, NBA Champion and New York Knicks forward Josh Hart will join Smartly CEO Laura Desmond in conversation alongside Matthew Hillman, CEO of PATH Talent. Together, Hart and Hillman co-host The Roommates Show, one of sports' fastest-growing podcasts. Drawing on their experience building loyal communities on and off the court, they'll explore what it takes to create authentic cultural relevance, build enduring brands and turn defining moments into lasting impact. "As access to AI becomes universal, competitive advantage shifts somewhere new," said Laura Desmond, CEO of Smartly. "It will belong to the companies and marketing leaders who turn abundant data into intelligence that compounds. Making every decision, campaign, creative asset, and every outcome better than the last. ADVANCE is where the conversation takes place, where the connections are made, and where marketers uncover their competitive advantage in the intelligence era." Complementing the mainstage program, ADVANCE features two tracks: Creative AI and Commerce AI. The Creative AI track explores how brands can build enduring creative systems in the age of AI, while the Commerce AI track explores how marketers are driving growth through cross-channel orchestration, measurement and responsible automation. Across both tracks, conversations will explore the evolving role of marketing teams, platform strategy, trust, authenticity and the practical application of AI. ADVANCE is made possible with support from partners including Google, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Roku, Snapchat and TikTok, whose collaboration helps shape programming and experiences throughout the event. Registration is now open. Qualified attendees from brands and advertising organizations may be eligible for complimentary admission. About Smartly Smartly is the AI-powered advertising technology company ranked as the leader in The Forrester Wave(TM): Creative Advertising Technologies. Its platform unifies creative and media to produce intelligent creative, dynamic, data-driven image and video assets optimized for seamless activation across channels. Brands manage, optimize, and scale high-performance campaigns in one place, achieving PwC-validated results, including a 5.5x return on ad spend (ROAS) and 42 minutes saved every hour. Smartly support 800+ brands and manage over $7 billion in ad spend globally. With strategic partnerships across major media platforms, including Amazon, Google, Meta, Pinterest, Reddit, Snap, Spotify, and TikTok, Smartly help Fortune 500 companies deliver relevant advertising at speed and scale. Backed by deep media expertise and best-in-class customer support, Smartly empower brands to maximize performance and drive real business outcomes. Visit Smartly.io to learn more. Media Contact Joseph J. Nuñez Senior Director, Global Communications Get in touch. Have a question? Reach out to its communications team. Joseph Nuñez [email protected] [email protected]
Beyond StackAdapt: the growing ecosystem around ChatGPT ads. StackAdapt's leaked playbook offers a glimpse into how ads for ChatGPT might work, but it's just one piece of a much larger and rapidly evolving ecosystem. ChatGPT ads crossed $100M in annualized revenue within six weeks of launch, with 600+ active advertisers. OpenAI is not building this advertising channel alone - it is building a network of DSPs, agencies, brands and adtech platforms to scale monetization fast. The first Wave of adtech partners. StackAdapt may be the most visible partner at the moment, but they are not the only one. The confirmed technology partner roster includes Adobe, Criteo, Kargo, Pacvue, and StackAdapt.Criteo is among the first adtech partners to be confirmed as part of ChatGPT's advertising pilot integration, helping connect brands to conversational ad placements. Smartly is partnering with OpenAI to create interactive, conversational ad formats, ads that operate more like chatbots than banners. This suggests a clear strategy: "OpenAI is not reinventing the wheel, but rather tapping into the existing programmatic ecosystem. Agencies and holding companies are already in. The major holding networks secured early access before the channel matured - activating clients across retail, travel, and CPG with structured testing frameworks and budget mandates. This is how every major digital channel has scaled: * Agencies test early * Show Return on Investment * then unlock the broader brand adoption The brands testing out ads on ChatGPT. The types of brands that are part of early pilots are very telling. They tend to be premium, intent-driven, and utility-focused. Some of the favorite names are: * Target: finding products based on what users ask for * Adobe is pushing AI tools like Firefly. * Getting people to sign up and find new content * HelloFresh is a meal planning solution. HelloFresh CMO framed it as moving from a "search and click" world to an "ask and converse" world * Williams-Sonoma sells home and kitchen goods. These aren't ads that make you want to buy right away. They are brands that gain from: Journeys based on research * Purchases that need a lot of thought * Recommendations based on context * That fits perfectly with ChatGPT's "decision layer" position. A shift in media power: from platforms to interfaces. What makes this moment interesting is how it changes the way people compete. ChatGPT isn't just competing with one channel; it overlaps with a few: * Search (intent capture, which Google has always been good at) * Social (discovery, with Meta in charge) * Retail media (conversion, mostly Amazon) ChatGPT makes a new kind of media surface by combining conversation, intent, and personalization. This is a place where: * Language, not cookies, drives targeting. * Creative becomes flexible and dynamic * Ads can change into things you can do. The emerging format wars: Static vs conversational ads. Not everyone agrees on how ChatGPT ads should look. There are already two directions that are competing with each other: 1. Native, Static Placements (Right Now) * Paid listings in answers * Matching based on prompts in context * Like search ads, but part of a conversation 2. Ads that talk to you (Next Wave) * Smartly and other players are in charge. * Ads that respond, ask questions, and guide decisions * Basically, ChatGPT has branded AI agents. This second model could change advertising in a big way, from how messages are sent to how people interact with them. Not everyone is on board. It's worth noting that not all AI companies are advertising For instance, as OpenAI launched ads, Anthropic was simultaneously running Super Bowl ads positioning itself as the ad-free alternative - a genuine strategic fork worth noting without editorializing. This shows a main conflict in the area: * Making money vs. being neutral * Personalization versus privacy * Usefulness vs. making money What this means for the media landscape. The fact that more than one media player is involved means that this is more than just the launch of one ad product. It means that: * AI interfaces are turning into full-fledged media channels. * Programmatic pipes will reach into places where people talk to each other. * Agencies and DSPs will fight to "own" AI demand. Conclusion: StackAdapt's playbook may have shown the "how," but the bigger picture shows the "who," and it's a who's who of the advertising world. As more people, from DSPs to holding companies to global brands, get involved, ChatGPT is quickly changing from an experimental ad surface into something much bigger: A new media channel that is made for AI and has its own rules, formats, and power dynamics.
Smartly introduces Smartly Synapse, the intelligent AI orchestration layer powering its advertising platform. Smartly Synapse powers Smartly's agentic orchestration, providing marketers a faster, more intelligent way to plan, execute, and optimize millions of signals for better results NEW YORK - Smartly today introduced Smartly Synapse, the intelligent AI orchestration and memory layer behind every Smartly AI Agent. Built on years of cross-channel creative, media and performance intelligence and...