Growth Lead, Newsletter Division (Tech Media / Audience Development)

Mediabistro; Phoenix (AZ); On-site; USD 77,000 - 94,000; Full time

Job summary

Mediabistro is seeking a Growth Lead to own newsletter subscriber growth end to end. You will run paid social campaigns, manage referrals, and test new channels, reporting clear analytics for every dollar spent.

The role starts contract or fractional and scales to full-time as spend grows, with a strong emphasis on data-driven decision making. You will coordinate with editorial to align growth and content strategy, defend open rates, and build CAC/LTV models.

Qualifications

• 5+ years growing a newsletter, subscription, or DTC product through paid social.
• Hands-on Meta ads experience with real attribution, not vanity metrics.
• Track record of managing and scaling an ad budget profitably.
• Referral or viral-growth program experience.
• Strong analytics skills with the ability to build CAC and LTV models from scratch.

Responsibilities

• Run and scale paid social acquisition from creative briefs to targeting to daily optimization.
• Manage the daily ad budget and grow it as profitable subscriber acquisition is proven.
• Own and optimize referral programs across both newsletters, including incentives and spend.
• Invent new growth plays through lead magnets, partnerships, cross-promotions, and landing-page tests.
• Build CAC, LTV, and payback math by channel with clean attribution and dashboards.
• Report weekly on growth and waste, cutting underperformers fast.
• Coordinate with editorial so growth and content strategy stay aligned.

Skills

Newsletter growth

Paid social advertising

Analytics & measurement

A/B testing mindset

Strategic thinking

Tools

Meta Ads platform

Beehiiv

Analytics dashboards

Job description

Phoenix, AZ | Full-Time (Contract/Fractional to Start) | On-Site | Up to $85,000/yr + Performance Bonus

About the Role

A nationally recognized tech media brand reaching millions through a top-rated radio show, podcasts, YouTube, and a high-traffic website is hiring a Growth Lead to own newsletter subscriber growth end to end. The brand's two newsletters are read by nearly 1.1 million people daily, with significant room to scale.

The Growth Lead runs paid social acquisition, manages the referral engine, tests new subscriber channels, and puts real analytics behind every dollar spent. The role reports directly to the brand's founder and coordinates with editorial. This starts as a contract or fractional position and moves to full-time as spend scales. The daily ad budget is already in the thousands with room to grow fast when the numbers prove out.

What the Role Covers

• Running and scaling paid social acquisition (Meta, Instagram, and beyond) from creative briefs to targeting to daily optimization
• Managing the daily ad budget and growing it as profitable subscriber acquisition is proven
• Owning and optimizing referral programs across both newsletters, including incentives, mechanics, and spend
• Inventing new growth plays through lead magnets, partnerships, cross-promotions, viral loops, landing-page tests, and other tactics that move the subscriber number
• Building CAC, LTV, and payback math by channel and standing up clean attribution with UTMs, pixels, and dashboards
• Reporting weekly on what's growing the list and what's wasting money, cutting underperformers fast
• Defending open rates as the list grows, ensuring subscribers are real and engaged
• Coordinating with editorial so growth and content strategy stay aligned

Qualifications

• 5+ years growing a newsletter, subscription, or DTC product through paid social
• Hands‑on Meta ads experience with real attribution, not vanity metrics
• Track record of managing and scaling an ad budget profitably
• Referral or viral‑growth program experience
• Strong analytics skills with the ability to build CAC and LTV models from scratch
• Scrappy, test‑everything mindset that brings new growth ideas, not just execution
• Discipline to pause what doesn't perform without hesitation

Bonus qualifications include familiarity with Beehiiv, affiliate or influencer‑growth background, experience with sweepstakes or contest‑based list growth, and having grown a newsletter past six figures in subscribers.