Day in the Life: Michelle Gershteyn, Senior Manager, Client Success Operations

Michelle, our senior manager of Client Success – Operations, takes us through a typical day in her life in Magnite’s New York office.

Magnite’s Day in the Life series dives into the various people and teams that make up the world’s largest independent sell-side ad company.

How would you explain what you do to someone outside the industry?

When explaining my job to someone outside the industry, I often start by asking them about their favorite show on a streaming service. Then, I mention that if they’ve seen an advertisement while watching that show, there’s a good chance that Magnite played a key role in delivering it. I go on to describe how our teams at Magnite, including my own team in Operations, work behind the scenes to ensure that ads are shown at the perfect moment to the right audience.

How does your team support Magnite? Who are your closest collaborators in other departments? 

The Operations team serves a diverse range of clients, including publishers, buyers, and vendors. My role focuses predominantly on vendors. I support the Strategic Partnerships team by ensuring the operational success of third-party vendors, including specialists in audience, measurement, contextual, and creative services. While I work closely with the Strategic Partnerships team, I’m also fortunate to collaborate with different departments throughout Magnite.

What does a typical day at Magnite look like for you?

My role involves providing end-to-end support for vendors, encompassing everything from onboarding and activation to backend financial workflows. Depending on the projects or deliverables, my work can vary widely, making each day unique and exciting. 

I am a key contributor to a partner’s life cycle at Magnite. This involves preliminary planning with Product and Strategic Partnerships, training and education with Operations, and billing reconciliation with Finance. Additionally, I allocate part of my day to long-term projects, which involve conducting in-depth analyses and tracking the performance of our partners to assess their overall impact. This is done in close collaboration with the Business Intelligence team.

Talk about a recent project that you’re proud of yourself and your team for accomplishing.

Over a year ago, we launched a project to develop a more comprehensive view of our audience vendor business by consolidating large datasets into a single source for broader insights. In the past quarter, thanks to exceptional support and collaboration with the Business Intelligence team, we successfully achieved this goal. I was able to combine my operational knowledge and team requirements with the Business Intelligence team’s expertise in developing extensive overviews that involve large volumes of data. This project enabled us to identify significant trends and actionable items that promote the adoption of our tools. We have been able to roll this out to the larger organization and are already gathering key insights and feedback to drive business growth. 

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I appreciate that every day brings a new challenge and the chance to collaborate cross-functionally at Magnite. My role enables me to be a creative problem solver, which I find incredibly fulfilling.  I see continuous opportunities to enhance my skills and expand my knowledge. I’m also grateful to work alongside exceptionally talented and motivated colleagues who consistently inspire me to reach new heights.

What’s your go-to hobby to unwind and recharge outside of the office?

I adopted my dog, Coco, last November, and taking her for a long walk has become my favorite way to wrap up the workday. Besides that, I enjoy reading, experimenting with new recipes, and going to Pilates classes.