About Hearst Newspapers

Hearst Newspapers operates one of the largest and most trusted portfolios of local news brands in the country, reaching tens of millions of readers each month across digital and print platforms. Our mission is to inform, engage, and serve our communities through independent journalism —and to build sustainable business models that support that mission.

Advertising plays a critical role in that sustainability. As Hearst continues to evolve its owned-and-operated (O&O) advertising strategy, we are investing in product management leadership to ensure our ad products are well-designed, scalable, data-informed, and alignedwith both advertiser outcomes and user trust.

About the Product Team

The Hearst Newspapers Product organization partners closely with Editorial, Revenue, Data, and Engineering to build products that balance audience experience, journalistic integrity, and business growth. We operate as a centralized product function supporting a complex, multi-market organization, with a strong emphasis on clarity, execution, and cross-functionalalignment.

Within this group, the O&O Ad Products function focuses on the design, development, and evolution of proprietary advertising products that power local and national revenue initiatives.

About the Role

The Director, O&O Ad Products is responsible for product management leadership across Hearst Newspapers’ owned-and-operated digital advertising products. This role partners closely with the Head of O&O Ad Product(Revenue), while remaining embedded within the Product organization to ensure strong product discovery, delivery discipline, and platform coherence.

This role owns:

• Product definition

• Roadmap execution

• Cross-functional delivery

• Performance learning and iteration

The Director will work closely with Product, Engineering, Data, Ad Operations, and Sales teams to optimize existing products and bring new O&O ad products to market — including first-party data–powered solutions, and emerging products and formats.

Key Responsibilities

O&O Ad Product Management & Execution

• Own product management for O&O advertising products, from discovery and definition through launch, iteration, and sunsetting.

• Translate commercial strategy and market needs (defined in partnership with the Head of O&O Ad Product and Sales teams) into clear product requirements and delivery plans.

• Maintain and evolve the O&O ad product roadmap within the Product organization, ensuring alignment with broader platform and data strategies.

New Product Development

• Lead product discovery and delivery for new O&O ad opportunities, including:

Self-serve advertising packages

• Sponsorship programs

• First-party data–enabled ad products and targeting capabilities

• Partner with Engineering, Data and Design to scope MVPs, test hypotheses, and iterate based on performance and feedback.

Data & Platform Partnership

• Work closely with the VP of Data and Data teams to:

Incorporate first-party data products into O&O ad experiences

• Ensure privacy-safe, compliant use of audience data

• Define measurement frameworks and success metrics for ad products

• Collaborate on product requirements related to data infrastructure, reporting, and insights surfaced to advertisers and internal teams.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as the primary Product counterpart to:

Programmatic

• Local Direct and National Sales

• Ad Operations

• Revenue Operations

• Support go-to-market readiness by partnering with Product Marketing and Revenue teams on product documentation, internal enablement, and launch coordination.

• Ensure consistent product behavior and expectations across markets, while allowing for controlled flexibility where needed.

Performance & Learning

• Define and track product-level KPIs (e.g., adoption, usability, performance indicators), in partnership with Revenue and Data teams.

• Use performance insights to inform backlog prioritization, iteration, and product decisions.

• Document learnings and patterns to improve future product development across the ad portfolio.

What Success Looks Like

• O&O ad products are clearly defined, well-documented, and consistently executed across markets.

• New ad products launch with strong cross-functional alignment and clear ownership.

• Product, Revenue, and Data teams operate with shared clarity on roles, handoffs, and decision-making.

• Engineering teams receive clear, prioritized requirements and can deliver efficiently.

• The Head of O&O Ad Product is supported by strong product execution and insight, enabling faster and more confident commercial decision-making.

Qualifications

• 7–10+ years of experience in product management, ad products, or digital media platforms.

• Experience working on advertising or monetization-related products within a publisher, media, or platform environment.

• Strong understanding of digital advertising fundamentals, including direct-sold and programmatic models (depth not required across all areas).

• Proven ability to lead cross-functional product initiatives without direct authority.

• Comfort working with data, metrics, and experimentation to inform product decisions.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Experience

• Exposure to first-party data products, audience segmentation, or privacy-aware ad solutions.

• Experience with self-serve platforms or scaled, repeatable commercial products.

• Familiarity working in complex, multi-market organizations.

Why This Role Matters

This role ensures that Hearst’s O&O advertising ambitions are backed by strong product thinking and execution. It is a critical connective role that allows Revenue leadership to move faster and with more confidence, while keeping ad products grounded in sound product and platform design.

HNP Overview

With 2,500 employees across the nation, Hearst Newspapers (HNP) represents a network of 28 daily and 50 weekly publications, including the Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News, San Francisco Chronicle, and Times Union (Albany). Our portfolio also includes several top digital-only news and lifestyle sites such as Chron, CT Insider, MySA, and SFGATE, along with marketing services businesses like Medium Giant and entertainment brands such as King Features Syndicate.

At HNP, we’re investing in new and innovative ways to tell stories — growing newsrooms, diversifying tools, and evolving platforms — to support the millions of people who trust us each month to help them make decisions, take action, and be inspired.

Be part of something bigger — your headline awaits.

In accordance with applicable law, Hearst is required to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role if hired in New York, NY. The reasonable estimate is $175,000 - $200,000. A final decision on the successful candidate’s starting salary will be based on a number of permissible, non-discriminatory factors, including but not limited to skills and experience, training, certifications, and education.

**This position does not provide sponsorship. **All applicants should have the right to work in the U.S. without immigration sponsorship.