Ex-Microsoft and Spotify execs join Roku’s advertising team

Streaming operator Roku has appointed Sarah Harms and Sal Candela as the company’s vice president of advertising marketing and vice president of global agency partnerships, respectively.

Sal Candela and Sarah Harms (Source: Roku)

The pair will be based in New York. Harms will report to Jay Askinasi, SVP, head of global media revenue & growth, and Candela will report to Kristina Shepard, VP, global advertising sales and partnerships.

Harms will be responsible for the overall strategy and execution of marketing and measurement efforts across Roku’s advertising business.

She joins the company after spending five years at Microsoft, mostly recently serving as senior director of sales. During her tenure at Microsoft, Harms oversaw national sales and account management for the buy-side ad technology business, formerly Xandr. She started her career at WPP, working in business development, partnerships, investment, and strategy in digital, video, and programmatic channels.

In his new role, Candela will be tasked with hoisting its partnerships with Roku’s advertising clients across all markets. Candela was previously the head of agency development at music streaming giant Spotify. Prior to that, he was president of enterprise partnerships & US investment at Omnicom Media Group.

Roku said Candela’s experience from both the buy-side and sell-side make him instrumental in supporting the strategic direction and growth of Roku’s overall media and agency business.

Jay Askinasi, SVP, head of global media revenue & growth, Roku, said: “I have no doubt that Sarah will help take our business to new heights with her proven ability to deliver scalable, valuable solutions to advertisers. Sal’s deep industry knowledge and agency relationships will be advantageous to our business as media investments continue to shift towards TV streaming this Upfront season.”