SVP - Head of Audience and Growth

One big thing: Axios is hiring an SVP, Head of Audience & Growth to lead the company's multi-platform, multi-business audience strategy. 

• This role sits at the intersection of editorial, product, marketing, technology, and revenue — responsible for ensuring Axios understands its audiences and consistently reaches, engages, and grows them.

• This leader will develop and oversee an audience strategy that is data-driven, adaptive to shifts in distribution (including AI-powered channels, search, and social), and tailored to support Axios’ multiple lines of business.

• Existing teams that will roll into this new leader include: Marketing (including Growth and Brand, Paid Memberships, Insights) and Audience Development.

• This role reports into the COO of Axios.

Why it matters: Audience First is an original tenet of Axios. Focus on audience needs drives our product development, and understanding of audience drives all monetization. This role consolidates all of Axios’s critical audience functions under one leader for the first time.

Key Responsibilities

Audience strategy and partnerships

• Define and execute a strategy for audience expansion and enrichment across Axios’ portfolio of businesses

• Set targets for audience growth that align with company objectives and financials

  • Own definition of target audiences and their measurement

  • Manage scenario-planning and audience-based forecasting

  • Develop and drive KPIs relevant for each part of the business (e.g. ads, events, subscriptions)

• Lead our thinking on distribution, including anticipating and managing changes in the landscape

  • Stay ahead of how AI is shaping distribution and platforms

  • Define and execute our platform approach, including partnerships with existing and emerging players

• Own relationships with key partners, including licensing and syndication deals in collaboration with Revenue

Audience development, growth and retention

• Build and optimize acquisition, retention, and engagement programs that drive meaningful growth in reach, subscribers, and paying customers across target audiences

• Deploy both traditional audience development (e.g. social, SEO, discoverability) and Growth tactics (e.g. owned and earned channel optimization)

• Grow loyalty and reduce churn with tactics like onboarding, habit loops, personalization and engagement.

  • Lead the setting of audience strategy and KPIs while working with PDT as they execute the build-out of tactics like personalization and onboarding.

• Enhance what we know about our audiences to drive value, working against a comprehensive, shared data strategy with PDT

  • Specifically, work closely with the analytics team to evaluate data and set priorities 

Paid product development

• Build out suite of Axios-expert-centered paid memberships to be a meaningful driver of revenue

• Partner with Product on audience-facing monetization opportunities

• Develop a strategy to expand Axios’ network of expert-centered audiences, such as through partnerships or other means

Research and insights

• Partner with the data team to manage systems for gathering, analyzing, and sharing audience insights across the company

• Oversee audience members using a mix of methods including surveys/focus groups; sentiment analysis; and competitive benchmarking.

• Ensure audience research translates into actionable strategies 

Leadership & Management

• Build and lead a multidisciplinary audience team, which may include:

  • Audience development

  • Growth marketing and retention

  • SEO & platform strategy

  • Paid membership / consumer revenue

  • Audience research and insights

• Be a highly-effective cross-functional leader that works closely with editorial, product, revenue and technology to drive company goals

• Foster a culture built around automation, simplicity, and measurable impact

Starting salary for this role is in the range of $300,000 - $375,000 and is dependent on numerous factors, including but not limited to location, work experience, and skills. This range does not include other compensation and benefits. Axios' compensation philosophy takes into account cost of labor differentials across the country. Because this is a remote-optional job posting, this salary range takes into account all possible locations within the United States, but candidates will only be eligible for the salary range for their location.

What Axios brings to the table besides salary:

• 401(k) with employer match

• Robust PPO and High Deductible health insurance options on the Blue Cross Blue Shield network

• Employer Health Savings Account (HSA) contribution for the high deductible health plan option

• Dental and vision coverage

• Primary caregiver 12-week paid leave

• Generous vacation policy, plus holidays

• One mental health day per quarter

• Annual learning and development stipend

• $100 monthly work-from-home stipend

• Tele-mental health services through Headspace

• OneMedical membership, including tele-health services

• Personal health advocacy resources through HealthAdvocate

• Inclusive fertility, hormonal health and family forming benefits through Carrot Fertility

• Access to the Axios “Family Fund”, which was created to allow employees to request financial support when facing financial hardship or emergencies

• Increased work flexibility for parents and caretakers

• Virtual company-sponsored social events

• A strong and positive work environment

• A commitment to an open, inclusive, and diverse work culture

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Axios is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, age, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. Axios makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.