GTM Operations Lead at Substack (W18)
$190K - $225K  •  
A place for independent writing.
San Francisco, CA, US / Los Angeles, CA, US
Full-time
Will sponsor
6+ years
About Substack

Substack lets writers connect with their audience on their own terms and earn money doing it. We make it simple for writers to publish to an email list that they own, get discovered on the web, and charge for subscriptions.

More than 1 million people pay to subscribe to writers across the Substack network, and the top writers are making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Substack’s model depends on the success of writers using Substack – we only make money when they do.

We're a team of writers and builders from Kik, Instagram, and some of the worlds top publications. Our investors include Y Combinator, founders of Twitch and Zynga, and most recently Andreessen Horowitz.

About the role

Location: Los Angeles or San Francisco

Substack is building a new economic engine for culture, giving the most creative and interesting people on the internet the power of their own publishing platform. The terms of our culture shouldn’t be set by legacy media gatekeepers or chaos-fueling social platforms, but by the people who actively shape it. Substack’s model—based on direct subscriptions—has fueled an explosion of independent publishing. It empowers creators with economic autonomy, creative ownership, and a direct connection to their most engaged audiences.

We’re hiring a GTM Operations Leader to build the systems and data-informed workflows that drive creator success on Substack. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, analytics, and program management–owning the operational tools, insights, and frameworks that power acquisition, revenue growth, and world-class support for creators (and their communities). You’ll be the glue across teams to ensure seamless execution of key initiatives such as creator acquisition and retention programs, product adoption campaigns, and building AI-powered processes that help us build high-touch relationships at scale.

This is a highly cross-functional role—you’ll collaborate with the COO, Partnerships, Communications, Product, Support, and Data teams to support initiatives like lifecycle marketing, vertical launches, new feature rollouts, and experimentation with new GTM approaches. You’ll report directly to the COO. The ideal candidate is both a systems thinker and a hands-on operator who thrives in a fast-moving, high-growth environment.

Key Responsibilities

Creator Strategy, Analytics & Insights

  • Work with the COO to define the roadmap, set objectives, and establish creator growth and monetization KPIs.
  • Develop dashboards and accountability systems to track and optimize performance.
  • Analyze creator acquisition, retention, and ARR trends to identify actionable insights.

Tools & Systems

  • Select and implement tools (e.g., CRM, analytics platforms) to onboard and manage creators efficiently, using AI to drive efficiency across the board.
  • Ensure seamless data flow between CRM, analytics, support, and marketing systems.
  • Maintain clean, structured data to track creator activity and optimize growth levers.

Program & Process Management

  • Develop and manage high-impact programs to attract and activate top-tier creators.
  • Build tight feedback loops between Product, Partnerships, Support, and Marketing to drive iteration and innovation.
  • Help foster a test-and-learn culture, emphasizing measurability, repeatability, and scale.
  • Own cross-functional growth initiatives to accelerate creator adoption of video, live streaming, podcasts, and community engagement.

Customer Success & Support

  • Lead and scale a world-class customer success and support organization that enables creators to thrive on Substack.
  • Design a modern support system that uses AI and automation to handle common issues, deflect tickets, and proactively surface insights—freeing up human agents to focus on complex creator needs.
  • Build systematic pathways for customer feedback to flow into Product, Partnerships, and Marketing—ensuring real creator needs shape what we build.
  • Champion a mindset of service and excellence, while continuously pushing for innovation in how we support and engage with creators.

Requirements

  • 8+ years of experience in GTM operations, marketing operations, customer success, growth strategy, or a related role—ideally within a high-growth startup, media company, or creator-focused platform.
  • Deep expertise in CRM tools, analytics, support platforms, and data-driven decision-making.
  • Strong understanding of creator growth dynamics, including lifecycle marketing, paid acquisition, and product adoption.
  • Proven cross-functional project management skills—ability to coordinate across teams and drive initiatives forward.
  • Experience managing and mentoring a team, with a track record of developing talent and driving results.
  • Strong analytical mindset, with experience building dashboards, setting KPIs, and identifying growth opportunities.
  • Deep familiarity with the creator economy and how digital-first talent engages with video, audio, community features, and subscriptions.
  • Passion for Substack’s mission to empower creators with ownership, independence, and financial success.

Compensation

Substack offers a competitive compensation package that includes salary, equity, and exceptional benefits. The salary range for this role is $190,000–$225,000, with final offers based on experience and expertise.

Technology

We use Node, Express, and Postgres on top of Heroku. React for frontend, Stripe for payments.

We keep our tech stack simple and effective to maximize the how much impact each engineer can have. That way, we can focus on solving the problems that matter for our users - great writers and avid readers.

Two of our three founders are technical, and we're looking for folks to work along side us, shipping things that touch thousands of writers and millions of readers.

Other jobs at Substack

fulltimeSan Francisco, CA, US / Los Angeles, CA, US$190K - $225K6+ years

fulltimeSan Francisco, CA, USEngineering manager$225K - $265K3+ years

Hundreds of YC startups are hiring on Work at a Startup.

Sign up to see more ›