Director, Global Audience Strategy - GQ

Condé Nast Germany•New York, NY

2d•$145,000 - $165,000

About The Position

GQ is seeking an experienced strategist to advise its global executive and editorial leadership on audience trends, performance, and monetization opportunities. Reporting directly to the Global Director of Content Strategy, the Director will inform editorial strategy and connect it to revenue opportunities, including subscriptions, brand extensions, and new editorial offerings. The role will develop global frameworks and platform best practices for audience growth, with a primary focus on growing GQ’s direct, paying subscriber base and expanding its presence across video and audio. Using the US market as a testbed, the Director will pilot and validate growth models for adaptation across GQ’s international network. The position will provide performance insights and reports, coordinate growth initiatives across platforms, and work with local teams to identify market-specific opportunities. The successful candidate will bring strategic business acumen and strong communication skills, build trust across global editorial, video, product, creative, and revenue teams, and develop modern audience strategies suited to changing search, social, and distribution environments.

Requirements

At least 8 years of progressive leadership experience in digital media, publishing, or entertainment, combining editorial strategy, business intelligence, and audience strategy.
Proven experience operating within a multi-market global media enterprise, with the cross-cultural judgment to adapt US-tested strategies for international markets.
Superior communication and presentation skills, including the ability to synthesize complex data into concise insights for senior executives, editorial directors, and commercial stakeholders.
Ability to deliver feedback and insights to writers, editors, and producers with diplomacy and professional maturity.
Deep understanding of consumer revenue, paid subscription funnels, and membership mechanics, as well as modern digital advertising models.
Strong strategic familiarity with video and audio ecosystems, audience-retention metrics, and algorithmic distribution across major global multimedia platforms.
Experience overseeing a media metrics ecosystem, such as Google Analytics, Parse.ly, Adobe Analytics, or Snowplow, and translating data models into actionable business strategies.
Proficiency with Excel, Snowplow, and SQL queries.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary audience strategist to GQ’s global editor-in-chief, global editorial directors, and executive leadership, providing performance briefings, revenue-impact models, and strategic recommendations.
Design and oversee a US-based experimental framework for audience acquisition and monetization, developing data-backed playbooks that can be adapted and scaled internationally.
Implement consistent analytics reporting, model revenue and traffic, and deliver regular actionable insights to editorial and video leadership.
Collaborate with international market leads to address audience shifts, identify growth channels, and deploy best practices across regions.
Respond to global reporting challenges and work with local leadership to address traffic shortages and recommend growth opportunities.
Develop and present audience growth strategies for owned and operated properties, newsletters, social media, video and audio platforms, messaging apps, and referral sources.
Provide ongoing guidance and training to editorial, social, video, and creative leadership, and identify audience-engagement opportunities aligned with GQ’s editorial vision.
Lead macro audience growth strategies across owned and third-party video and audio channels, including YouTube, original series, podcasts, and emerging audio formats.
Maintain and regularly share a library of global audience-growth best practices covering SEO, social, social video, email newsletters, audio and video, packaging, and headlines.
Develop strategies to protect the brand from changes in algorithms and distribution, emphasizing audience retention, direct-to-consumer touchpoints, high-value referrals, and high-intent engagement.
Lead global audience strategy for GQ’s direct, paying subscriber and member ecosystem, collaborating with Consumer Marketing and Product on paywalls, conversion funnels, retention, and premium digital products.
Keep leadership informed on daily performance and prepare reports for major events and new brand initiatives.
Manage growth strategy projects across platforms including newsletters, messaging platforms, and audio and video podcasts.