Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has hired Mediacom’s global head of programmatic, Clare Ritchie, to take on a similar role.

In her new job as global senior vice-president of programmatic and in-housing, Ritchie will be responsible for overseeing OMG’s programmatic media offering at a global level. She is charged with expanding the way OMG works with clients who want in-house media operations.

Ritchie will lead a practice group that OMG said aims to improve accountability and transparency in programmatic trading.

This includes transparency and best practices in DSP and SSP contracts, a programmatic inventory graph tracking price, performance and compliance on 10 million ad unit placements across publishers and exchanges, and a custom algorithmic approach to bid and supply path improvement through OMG tools.

The holding group said Ritchie’s dual role reflects the importance of programmatic trading for clients, as a growing number look to in-house or adopt hybrid client-agency working models, where some media buying services are handled internally.

“Clare brings a proven track record in global programmatic development, experience both from agency and vendor sides, as well as a fresh perspective on our client engagement model,” OMG chief digital operations officer Matt Simpson said.

“As someone whose work in the industry has been focused on raising the floor of best practices through responsible and considered investment, she will take our already market-leading programmatic approach to the next level, while helping find the best and most flexible solutions for tomorrow’s advertiser.”

Ritchie, who joined this week and reports to Simpson, said: “OMG understands that combining this agility with flexibility is the model of the future. I am looking forward to helping take that model to the next level at OMG and continuing to learn, thrive and drive innovation in our industry.”