Sr. Director of O&O Ad Product

Overview

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.”

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 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 sun setting of underperforming products.

• 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.

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

• 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…