Head of Business Development - Audio

Location: New York, NY (Hybrid) Type: Full-time, Individual Contributor with headcount to build Compensation: $300,000 - $350,000 OTE, plus equity

About Our Client

Our client is building the future of Performance Audio. Audio consumption is massive, on demand audio streams and podcast listening continue to grow at scale, yet investment has not kept pace. Search and social spend dwarfs audio spend combined. The gap is not reach, it is proof. Audio has been positioned as a branding channel because performance has been hard to measure, hard to optimize in flight and hard to scale across fragmented platforms.

Our client closes that gap. They make audio addressable at scale, measurable through credible third-party methodologies, and optimizable with the rigor performance-minded marketers expect. They do not resell individual shows or inventory. They operate above the major audio platforms, using AI, contextual understanding and years of performance signals to qualify, customize, activate and optimize campaigns across the leading audio ecosystems.

The Role

This is a founding, supply-side seat. The commercial team sells Performance Audio to advertisers, you build the thing they sell. You will win and onboard podcast publishers, take their catalogs from signed to earning, assemble those publishers into a network with real coverage, and negotiate the third-party measurement partnerships that let audio be held accountable to conversion, footfall and brand lift. You will start as an individual contributor and build a team behind you once the network is proven.

What You Will Do

Publisher Onboarding

• Own the end-to-end business development cycle with podcast publishers and networks: sourcing, first contact, discovery, commercial negotiation, technical validation and launch
• Target both the concentrated top of the market and the structurally undersold long tail
• Negotiate the full range of supply agreements: SaaS and platform terms, revenue share, minimum guarantees, exclusivity and category carve-outs
• Build the ROI and forecasting models that let a publisher see the value of joining before they sign

Podcast Onboarding

• Own the operational path from executed agreement to live, earning inventory: catalog ingestion, feed and API integration, data onboarding, content analysis and QA
• Work with Product and Solutions Engineering to make sure new supply arrives in a state the platform can actually use

Network Building

• Build the network deliberately, mapping coverage against genre, format, market and audience, and prioritizing the partners who close the gaps
• Identify and close strategic channel and platform partnerships that unlock supply at scale
• Own network health post-launch: usage and revenue KPIs, quarterly business reviews, account planning, expansion and executive relationships

Measurement Partnerships

• Source, negotiate and manage relationships with third-party measurement providers across online conversion, drive-to-store and brand lift
• Drive the industry shift from downloads to actual audience consumption

Cross-Functional

• Be the market signal into Product, bringing publisher objections, integration friction, competitive terms and measurement gaps back to leadership with clear go-to-market recommendations
• Define what the supply and partnerships function should look like at scale, then hire and lead it

What You Bring

• 10+ years in business development, partnerships or platform sales, including significant time in digital audio, podcasting or ad technology
• A documented record of winning top-tier podcast publishers or media partners as net-new logos, with the timeline it took
• Deep experience negotiating complex commercial structures: SaaS and platform agreements, revenue share, minimum guarantees, licensing and exclusivity
• Technical credibility, having run sales and onboarding cycles involving API deployment, data onboarding and technical validation
• Command of audio and podcast measurement, attribution methodology, incrementality, brand lift, drive-to-store and the download vs consumption debate
• A history of turning market signal into product direction, with go-to-market recommendations that leadership acted on
• Executive presence with publisher and platform leadership, and the account management discipline to keep those relationships healthy
• Consistent quota or target attainment

Nice to Have

• Experience at an audio ad technology platform, ad serving, hosting or programmatic, such as AdsWizz, SPAN, Triton Digital or an equivalent
• Direct experience onboarding podcast publishers at scale, including catalog ingestion and monetization operations
• Video podcast monetization experience
• Experience through a consolidation or M&A cycle in podcast hosting, ad serving or publisher roll-ups
• IP, content or licensing negotiation background from media, music or gaming
• International or multi-market publisher experience across EMEA, APAC or LATAM
• Experience as an early or founding commercial hire, building a function before there was a team to run it

Sphere Digital Recruitment currently have a variety of job opportunities across digital so feel free to get in touch with us to find out how we can help you. Please take a look at our website.

Sphere is an equal opportunities employer. We encourage applications regardless of ethnic origin, race, religious beliefs, age, disability, gender or sexual orientation, and any other protected status as required by applicable law.

If you require any adjustments or additional support during the recruitment process for any reason whatsoever, please let us know.