Director of Ad Operations

Job Description

Job Description

Director of Ad Operations

This is a full-time, in-person position located in New York, New York or Indianapolis, Indiana. Some travel will be required.

About Us

Audiochuck is a fast-growing, dynamic company driven by our mission to tell the right stories, in the right ways, for the right reasons. Our team is made up of immensely passionate people who love what we do and don’t stop until we’re proud. Excellence is required at Audiochuck. We have a responsibility and privilege to honor the voices of those whose stories we tell.

We approach our content with empathy, compassion, and a genuine desire to make a difference. Advocacy is an essential part of the Audiochuck culture as we strive to positively impact victims and their families through the use of our time, money, and resources.

Committed to developing our people and fostering a long-term team of talented media professionals, we are seeking a commercially minded advertising operations leader to own the performance and delivery of our advertising business.

About the Director of Ad Operations

The Director of Ad Operations is a senior, cross-functional role responsible for owning advertising performance and delivery across Audiochuck's portfolio of shows, including Crime Junkie, the #1 most-downloaded true crime podcast in the United States.

Reporting to the CEO, this role is the senior point of accountability for an advertising business that touches Revenue, Content, Production, Marketing, Finance, and our third-party sales partner. The Director owns the internal systems, processes, analytics, and cross-functional workflows behind our advertising, ensuring that what is sold can be delivered and that campaigns are executed flawlessly without compromising our editorial standards, audience trust, or mission.

Our third-party sales partner leads much of our advertising sales activity. While this role is not responsible for direct ad sales, it is a critical commercial role. The Director will be Audiochuck's senior operational and commercial counterpart to our sales partner, using data and a deep understanding of our business to identify opportunities, advocate for Audiochuck's interests, challenge constructively when needed, and help maximize revenue.

This role is ideal for someone who is equally comfortable in a revenue model and a cross-functional workflow, and who can balance commercial opportunity with brand, editorial, and audience considerations.

What You’ll Do

Campaign Operations & Execution

• Own the end-to-end internal advertising workflow, with clear processes, decision points, and handoffs from opportunity through approval, production, and completion

• Review opportunities from our sales partner to ensure they can be delivered without compromising quality, editorial standards, or the client experience

• Build visibility into campaign placement, flighting, delivery, and make-goods so Audiochuck always understands campaign status and performance

• Proactively identify risks, then escalate and resolve issues with our sales partner and internal teams

• Oversee and support the Senior Ad Ops Specialist and continuously improve the systems and controls behind ad delivery, including Salesforce and AdsWizz

Commercial Performance & Sales Partner Management

• Serve as Audiochuck's senior operational and commercial counterpart to our third-party sales partner, advocating for our interests and challenging constructively when appropriate

• Own deal-level pricing and CPM analysis, assessing each opportunity for financial value, brand fit, and operational feasibility

• Present opportunities to the CEO and relevant hosts for approval with a clear recommendation

• Act as the primary conduit between our sales partner and internal teams so information, decisions, and feedback move quickly in both directions

• Monitor the sales partner's monthly reporting and performance against contractual obligations, including impression delivery and decline percentages

Revenue Operations & Analytics

• Own the RevOps Scorecard, bottom-up revenue models, and forecasts, providing clear and actionable reporting for the CEO, executive team, and Board

• Improve forecast accuracy and clearly explain performance, trends, and drivers of variance

• Build visibility into inventory, demand, utilization, sell-through, advertiser and category mix, RPM and CPM trends, and placement performance

• Translate data into action, going beyond reporting what happened to recommend where Audiochuck should focus and where it can perform better

Editorial Standards & Brand Alignment

• Partner with Content and Production to protect the editorial standards, host considerations, and brand parameters that shape what Audiochuck will and will not accept

• Ensure advertisers, campaigns, and integrations move through the appropriate internal review and QC processes

• Surface advertiser expectations and editorial requirements early, and act as a senior escalation point when they need to be reconciled

Commercial Opportunities & Custom Solutions

• Develop a strong understanding of Audiochuck's audiences, brands, and capabilities to recognize new commercial opportunities

• Identify advertiser categories and prospective clients that Audiochuck and our sales partner should pursue

• Partner with Content, Production, and Marketing on custom treatments and sponsorships that are compelling, achievable, and true to our editorial standards

• Stay closely involved in customized campaigns where internal knowledge or coordination is critical to success

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Build strong relationships across Revenue, Content, Production, Marketing, Finance, and Operations, with clear ownership so work does not fall between teams

• Balance the needs of advertisers, our sales partner, and internal stakeholders to deliver an excellent client experience without compromising what makes Audiochuck distinctive

• Move quickly on shifting priorities while maintaining rigorous quality standards and strong communication

What Success Looks Like

• What we sell is right for Audiochuck, what we promise is achievable, and what we deliver is flawless

• Every step of the advertising workflow has a clear owner, and work moves smoothly between teams

• Audiochuck has clear, regular visibility into campaign delivery, inventory, and sell-through