Product Manager - Sponsorships

The posting, as Substack wrote it

ABOUT SUBSTACK

Substack helps independent writers, podcasters, artists, and other creators build businesses around their work. Creators retain ownership of what they publish and build direct relationships with the people who value it.

Our Sponsorships team is building another way for creators to earn, alongside paid subscriptions. We’re looking for a product manager to help brands connect with these communities while preserving publisher choice and reader trust.

THE ROLE

You’ll lead product for Substack Sponsorships, from new sponsorship formats and advertiser and publisher tools to the foundations of a scalable marketplace. You’ll partner with Engineering, Design, Data, Partnerships, and the Sponsorships business team to turn early campaign needs into products that serve the broader network.

This is a hands-on role with broad ownership. You’ll spend time with publishers and advertisers, write product requirements, work through design and technical decisions, and ship and iterate with engineers. You should be comfortable moving between business strategy and the details of a sign-up flow, campaign report, or publisher approval experience.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Set the product direction. Use conversations with publishers and advertisers, product data, and company priorities to build a roadmap across near-term experiments and longer-term platform work. Turn lessons from early campaigns into products that work across thousands of publications.
• Build distinctive sponsorship experiences. Develop formats that fit naturally into Substack across email, web, and app, including sponsorships that help readers discover writers, access paid work, and become subscribers.
• Own the advertiser experience. Make it easy for brands and agencies to discover relevant publications, plan and book campaigns, manage creative approvals, and understand results. Build the path from managed campaigns to self-service buying.
• Make sponsorships work for publishers. Create simple tools to opt in, set preferences, approve opportunities, manage placements, and track earnings. Preserve publishers’ control over which brands they work with and how sponsorships appear in their work.
• Build the marketplace and operating foundation. Partner with Engineering and Ad Operations on matching, inventory forecasting, campaign delivery, pacing, billing, and payouts. Decide what to build and where external technology or demand partners can accelerate progress.
• Prove advertiser value and product impact. Own the measurement roadmap across delivery, reach, engagement, brand lift, and conversion outcomes. Define success metrics, dashboards, and experiments with Data and measurement partners, while respecting reader privacy.
• Balance growth with trust. Partner with Policy, Legal, and core Product on advertiser eligibility, sponsorship disclosure, data use, and ad quality. Evaluate revenue opportunities alongside their effects on reader experience and subscription rete

[…]
ors and readers. You care about independent publishing and can explain how sponsorships can help creators build sustainable businesses while preserving their relationship with their audiences.

ESPECIALLY RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

Building an advertising business from its early stages; developing self-service buying or publisher monetization tools; working with creator, newsletter, podcast, or subscription businesses; and integrating measurement or programmatic demand partners.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

More publishers earning meaningful income from sponsorships they choose. Advertisers returning because they can demonstrate results. Campaigns launching with less manual work and reliable delivery and payouts. A growing sponsorship business that supports healthy reader engagement and paid subscriptions.

COMPENSATION

Substack's compensation package includes a market-competitive salary, equity for all full-time roles, and exceptional benefits. Our cash compensation range for this role is $185,000–$250,000. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience and expertise.

Substack is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or transgender status), age, national origin, veteran or disability status. We’re seeking people passionate about enabling independent expression and building a better business model for creators. If you want to see what media, communities, and content can become when unmoored from advertising models, and you have the skills and experience to contribute, we’d love to meet you.

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