Adtech salaries revealed: How much Roku, Xandr, and others pay employees, from software engineers to product managers
- The advertising-technology industry hires internationally for many technical roles including engineering and product management.
- The Trade Desk and Roku — two of the largest firms that employ adtech staff — have market caps that exceed ad agency holding companies Publicis, Omnicom, and Interpublic Group.
- Business Insider analyzed the US Office of Foreign Labor Certification's 2019 disclosure data for six big adtech firms: Xandr, MediaMath, Amobee, Magnite, Roku, and The Trade Desk to see how much companies pay for roles.
- High-paying jobs for a director of engineering and VP of product management paid, respectively, $237,000 and $200,000, while lower-paying roles like a revenue operations specialist paid $62,000.
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The adtech industry hires talent from all the world to create products and business models that help advertisers fine-tune their ad targeting.
Similar to tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Amazon, adtech firms particularly look for international talent to fill technical roles like engineering, data scientists, and product management.
Adtech firms have been facing growing pressure as advertisers slash spending during the coronavirus and investors' demand for solid returns has caused funding for some of the oldest firms like ad networks to dry up.
Some smaller firms have sold or adopted new business models, while The Trade Desk and Roku have gotten bigger — market caps for those two companies combined now exceed the combined market caps for advertising agency holding companies WPP, Omnicom, Publicis, and Interpublic Group.
Consolidation aside, some adtech firms continue to hire in areas like engineering and business development.
US-based adtech companies file paperwork when they hire international employees and are required to list base salary. The US Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification releases that information every year in one huge data dump.
Business Insider analyzed data for adtech roles from six large firms — Amobee, Magnite, MediaMath, Roku, The Trade Desk, and Xandr — to see what adtech companies paid employees.
The data is from the companies' fiscal year 2019 disclosure data for all foreign workers applying for both permanent green card visas and temporary H-1B, H1B1, and E-3 visas. The data does not include every type of visa, pay rates for US-born employees, or compensation beyond base salary.
The listed salaries are determined by "prevailing wages," or industry standards for similar jobs with similar qualifications, which are also listed in the OFLC data.
Here is a look at how adtech salaries break down by company and role. Spokespeople for the six companies either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.
Amobee paid an account executive $125,000
Singtel-owned Amobee has most recently focused on data-targeted TV ads and has ramped up adtech hiring as it has acquired companies like Turn and Videology to rival Facebook and Google's tech stack.
LinkedIn data shows that Amobee has 860 employees. According to OFLC data, the company filed for at least 49 visas in 2019.
Here are salaries and salary ranges for jobs at Amobee:
- Security engineer: $90,000
- Account executive: $125,000
- Senior account executive: $135,000
- Senior salesforce developer: $155,000
- Lead research engineer: $117,000 to $144,000
- Software developer, applications: $121,077 to $148,000
- Senior technical program manager: $150,000
- Senior software engineer: $125,000 to $180,000
- Principal software engineer: $200,000
Magnite paid a director of product management $196,000
Magnite is the product of a merger earlier this year of two longtime adtech firms, Rubicon Project and Telaria. The company laid off 8% of employees in May due to the coronavirus and decision to eliminate overlapping roles of the combined workforce. Magnite has about 280 employees, according to LinkedIn data.
OFLC data shows Magnite filed for about 16 visas in 2019.
Here are salaries and salary ranges for jobs at Rubicon Project last year before the merger:
- Revenue operations specialist: $62,000
- Analyst: $65,000
- Data scientist: $110,000
- Software development engineer: $107,000 to $140,000
- Software development engineering manager: $159,289
- Director of product management: $196,000
- Lead technical product manager: $138,000 to $198,000
MediaMath paid a client services lead $70,000
One of the oldest adtech firms, New York-based MediaMath has raised $607.5 million, including a $225 million round from private equity firm Searchlight Capital Partners in 2018.
The firm sells a demand-side platform that agencies and brands use to buy ads programmatically.
MediaMath has around 580 employees, as per LinkedIn. According to OFLC data, the company filed for at least 14 visas in 2019.
Here are salaries and salary ranges for jobs at MediaMath:
- Associate, supply analytics: $65,000 to $80,000
- Client services lead: $70,000
- Product management manager: $71,000
- Senior analyst of revenue analytics and insights: $66,000 to $86,000
- Senior software engineer: $135,000
- Software engineer: $108,000 to $137,000
- Director of engineering: $160,000 to $180,000
- VP of product management, intelligence: $200,000 to $250,000
Roku paid a senior software designer for its ad platform up to $350,000
Roku became the earliest entry in the streaming video player space when CEO and future Netflix VP Anthony Wood launched the company in 2002. It was later incorporated in 2008 after he left Netflix to get Roku's streaming platforms or "sticks" into more homes and, eventually, turning the company into an ad giant.
Roku went public after building an ad infrastructure and selling placements on its homescreen and remote control, launched a self-serve ad platform, and acquired DSP dataxu for $150 million in 2019.
The company reported a recent boost in revenue thanks to growth in its ad business, and it has also begun licensing its operating system to smart TV makers. But it also faces challenges from the rise of smart TVs that do not use hardware or software from Roku or prime competitor Amazon, according to a recent report by The Information.
Roku employs 1,100 people, according to its most recent financial results. Per OFLC data, the company filed for at least 96 visas in 2019.
Here are some salaries and salary ranges for jobs across the company:
- Analyst of inventory management: $95,000 to $110,000
- Senior quality assurance engineer of new products: $130,000
- Software engineer in test of advertising platform: $150,000
- Senior software data engineer of advertising platform: $178,500
- Senior software engineer of new products for Roku TV: $235,000
- Data research analyst: $225,000 to $246,500
- Senior data engineer: $167,200 to $250,098
- Senior software engineer of advertising platform: $154,669 to $350,000
The Trade Desk paid a senior software engineer up to $265,000
Demand-side platform The Trade Desk has become the biggest and most valuable player in its space by cozying up to the ad agencies that serve as middlemen between clients and media companies. According to its most recent annual summary, The Trade Desk employs around 1,300 people.
The Trade Desk hasn't been immune to the effects of the pandemic; shares plummeted nearly one-third in March as advertisers slashed budgets.
But on an August 6 earnings call, CEO Jeff Green said his company is positioned to benefit from a rapidly changing TV landscape as more consumers stream their entertainment and news and advertising that might normally go to cable networks increasingly finds its way to connected TV.
The Trade Desk filed for approximately 16 temporary US visas in 2019, according to the OFLC data set. These are salaries and salary ranges for jobs across the company:
- Data support analyst: $48,600 to $72,900
- Senior associate of learning and development: $75,355
- Senior account manager: $79,200
- Director of business development: $120,000 to $150,000
- Senior technical account manager: $138,000 to $155,250
- Software engineer: $117,800 to $176,700
- Senior software engineer: $233,000 to $265,000
Xandr paid a director of engineering $237,000
Xandr is AT&T's advertising business that was recently combined into WarnerMedia and is led by chief business officer Kirk McDonald. Xandr has more than 1,400 employees, according to LinkedIn data.
Before AT&T formed Xandr in 2018, the telecom company acquired adtech firm AppNexus for a reported $1.6 billion to build up its adtech stack. Xandr is building a so-called advanced advertising business that uses telecom and TV data to target audiences across devices. The company made $362 million in the second quarter. According to DoL data, Xandr applied for about 46 US visas in 2019.
Here are salaries and salary ranges for jobs at Xandr:
- Associate director of product management: $129,000 to $185,000
- Software engineer: $134,000 to $175,000
- Senior monetization analyst: $140,000
- Senior salesforce developer: $150,000
- Senior systems administrator: $149,000
- Director of engineering: $237,000
Read more of Business Insider's coverage of adtech companies:
- Meet 18 firms solving companies' giant problems selling and advertising on Amazon
- Walmart is pushing harder into advertising with a new tool that shows if people buy a product after seeing an ad for it
- Funding is drying up for digital ad firms. 2 founders turned investors who weathered the 2008 crash say what adtech companies can do to survive.
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