Title: Sr. Director of O&O Ad Product
Reporting to: SVP of Marketing Operations & Advertising Strategy
Location: NYC – HQ

“We must be alarmingly enterprising and startlingly original. We must be honest and fearless. And we must spark a revolution.”
— William Randolph Hearst, 1887

Hearst has quietly become one of the most profitable and diversified media and information companies in the U.S., with more than 360 businesses. Within the Hearst Newspapers (HNP) division, Hearst owns and operates a premier portfolio of 85+ local digital and print news/media brands reaching over 60M consumers each month, including SF Chronicle | SFGATE, Houston Chronicle | CHRON, Hearst Connecticut Media Group, San Antonio Express-News | mySA, Albany Times Union, and recent acquisitions including the Austin American-Statesman and The Dallas Morning News.

HNP has achieved record profit growth through award-winning journalism and innovative digital advertising solutions. A critical driver of this success is our owned-and-operated (O&O) digital advertising portfolio, spanning display, high-impact units, native, video, custom executions, and emerging ad formats supporting local, large regional, and national advertisers. We are seeking a Sr. Director of O&O Ad Product to own and evolve this portfolio end-to-end—setting strategy, defining the roadmap, and driving measurable revenue growth across our local markets.

Role Overview

Reporting to the SVP of Marketing Operations & Advertising Strategy, the Sr. Director of Ad Product is accountable for the vision, roadmap, execution, and monetization of Hearst Newspapers’ O&O advertising products. This role is directly responsible for driving direct O&O digital advertising revenue growth, with a primary focus on enhancing the current suite of products and launching new, proprietary, high-performing solutions.

This leader partners closely with product development, sales, product marketing, editorial, finance, and ad operations to ensure O&O offerings are market-driven, performant, scalable, and aligned with advertiser outcomes. The role combines product strategy, commercial rigor, and hands-on execution, with a mandate to turn data, feedback, and market insight into prioritized product investments.

Key Responsibilities

Own the O&O Ad Product Strategy & Roadmap

• Own and continuously evolve the O&O ad product roadmap, aligning investments to advertiser demand, market trends, and revenue opportunity.

• Lead cross-functional prioritization to balance revenue impact, operational feasibility, and long-term product strategy.

• Manage intake and evaluation of requests for new ad units, placements, custom executions, and digital advertising sections.

• Establish clear product management discipline, including MVP development, performance testing, iteration, and sunsetting of underperforming products.

Product Development & Cross-Functional Execution

• Partner with product development, sales and ad operations to define requirements, assess technical feasibility, and execute new O&O ad solutions.

• Collaborate with ad operations and product teams on availability tools, proposal automation, and reporting enhancements to improve speed-to-market and sales productivity.

• Serve as the primary O&O ad product voice across product, editorial, sales, ad operations, finance, and marketing.

Revenue Performance, Analytics & Optimization

• Own O&O ad product KPIs, including adoption, utilization, yield, CPM, and revenue performance.

• Analyze performance data to inform and pricing, packaging, and roadmap decisions.

• Partner with finance and ad operations to build and maintain dashboards that track O&O revenue by:

  • Product type

  • Market

  • Advertiser vertical

  • Utilization and CPM

• Participate in strategic decisions that drive continuous optimization across direct-sold, direct PMP and programmatic O&O inventory, informed by holistic yield management and advertiser outcomes.

Go-To-Market & Sales Enablement

• Partner with product marketing to translate O&O product strategy into clear, market-ready sales narratives, tools, and training.

• Own O&O product pricing and support development of packaging frameworks grounded in performance data, margin analysis, and advertiser value.

• Act as a strategic partner to sales leadership, incorporating frontline feedback into product evolution and roadmap decisions.

• Support change-management across markets to improve consistency, adoption, and execution of O&O offerings.

Industry Perspective & Thought Leadership

• Maintain a strong point of view on digital advertising trends, emerging formats, privacy and identity changes, and evolving advertiser needs.

• Translate external market insight into actionable product strategy and innovation.

• Monitor the competitive landscape across large publishers, ad networks, and major technology platforms to inform product differentiation, positioning, and investment decisions.

Success in This Role Looks Like

• A clearly defined, data-backed O&O roadmap informed by revenue opportunity, yield performance, and advertiser demand, and aligned through close partnership with sales, ad operations, product development, and editorial.

• Sustained growth in O&O digital advertising revenue, utilization, and yield.

• Launch of innovative, scalable O&O ad experiences that deliver meaningful advertiser outcomes.

• Faster, more consistent execution of both custom and repeatable ad solutions.

• Strong alignment between product strategy, sales execution, and revenue performance.

Requirements

• 8–12+ years of experience in digital advertising, ad product management, or media monetization (publisher-side strongly preferred).

• Proven experience owning a product roadmap with revenue accountability.

• Strong understanding of publisher ad tech and monetization ecosystems, including ad serving, direct-sold and programmatic workflows, and performance optimization.

• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional initiatives across product, editorial, sales, finance, and operations.

• High comfort with analytics, KPI development, and revenue reporting.

• Experience working with CRM and ad tech systems (Salesforce and related tools preferred).

• Ability to balance strategic vision with hands-on execution in a complex, multi-market environment.

• Excellent communication, influence, and stakeholder management skills.

• College degree required; MBA preferred.

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.

About HNP Headquarters

HNP Headquarters is a multi-faceted group that supports our network of newsrooms by fueling growth, driving innovative problem-solving, and building scalable solutions that serve our communities. We prioritize our readers' interests above all else and are deeply committed to the principles of truthfulness, fairness, and independence.

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 estimated salary range is $160,000–$190,000 and bonus eligible. 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.

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