YouTube Strategist & Retention Lead

Hammer Media; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Office in East Austin

Office in Dallas

Unlimited PTO

Health coverage

401(k) with company match

Lunch stipend

Team events

Job summary

Hammer Media is seeking a YouTube Strategist & Retention Lead to maximize the performance of the Financial Audit series. You will analyze audience retention, watch time, and engagement, and translate insights into repeatable growth strategies.

You’ll work with producers, editors, and leadership to optimize every stage of the viewer journey. You’ll develop best practices for hooks, pacing, and end-of-video retention, and build dashboards to communicate findings.

Qualifications

• Experience growing YouTube channels or optimizing long-form digital content.
• Strong understanding of YouTube Analytics and key growth metrics.
• Ability to interpret retention curves and explain viewer behavior.

Responsibilities

• Analyze audience retention graphs, watch time, and engagement to identify growth opportunities.
• Review every published video and provide actionable feedback to producers and editors.
• Develop best practices for hooks, intros, transitions, and end-of-video retention.
• Collaborate with editors to maximize audience engagement across post-production stages.
• Build dashboards and recurring reports highlighting key performance metrics.

Skills

YouTube growth

YouTube Analytics

Retention analysis

Watch time optimization

Analytical mindset

Storytelling pacing

Stakeholder communication

Self-starter

Tools

YouTube Studio

Excel

Job description

Hammer Media is the digital media company behind Caleb Hammer and his YouTube channels, including the hit show Financial Audit.

In just three years, we’ve grown to 3.5+ million subscribers and over 4 billion views, making Financial Audit one of the fastest-growing personal finance shows on the internet. Our content breaks down real financial situations, helping millions of people better understand their money and make smarter financial decisions. We’ve built an entire ecosystem around financial literacy—combining engaging media, real financial stories, and practical tools that help people create lasting change in their financial lives.

As we continue to grow, Hammer Media is expanding into new shows and formats, reaching wider audiences and creating more ways to educate.

About the Role

Hammer Media is looking for a YouTube Strategist & Retention Lead to help maximize the performance of Financial Audit, a long-form, unscripted YouTube series combining interviews, reality television, storytelling, and personal finance. This role is responsible for increasing audience retention, watch time, and overall channel growth by identifying what keeps viewers engaged and turning those insights into repeatable strategies.

You’ll work closely with producers, editors, thumbnail designers, and channel leadership to optimize every stage of the viewer journey—from title and thumbnail through the final seconds of every episode. You’ll analyze performance, identify trends, test new ideas, and continuously improve our content strategy for Financial Audit. Your work will directly impact guest selection and episode premise, episode structure, storytelling, as well as rough cuts and fine cuts.

If you obsess over audience behavior, love digging into analytics, and can confidently explain why a video succeeded or failed, this role is for you.

What You’ll Do:

• Help manage content and strategy for Financial Audit
• Analyze YouTube data including audience retention graphs, watch time, AVD, and engagement metrics to identify opportunities for improvement
• Review every published video and provide actionable feedback to producers and editors
• Identify where viewers drop off and recommend changes to pacing, storytelling, editing, scripting, graphics, music, and structure
• Develop best practices for hooks, intros, transitions, pattern interrupts, and end-of-video retention
• Collaborate with editors throughout post-production to maximize audience engagement
• Analyze title and thumbnail performance
• Build dashboards and recurring reports that highlight key performance metrics and insights
• Present findings and recommendations to leadership and creative teams
• Help establish repeatable frameworks and playbooks that improve performance across every channel
• Stay current on YouTube algorithm changes, platform updates, and emerging best practices

Who You Are:

• You live and breathe YouTube content. You have experience growing YouTube channels or optimizing long-form digital content
• Deep understanding of YouTube Analytics and the metrics that drive channel growth
• Strong ability to interpret retention curves and identify why viewers leave
• You know how to improve watch time and average view duration through data-driven decisions
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Strong understanding of storytelling, pacing, editing, and audience psychology
• Experience creating reports and communicating insights clearly to both creative and business stakeholders
• Self-starter who takes ownership and thrives in a fast-paced environment

Why Join Us? (The Perks):

We are an in-office team (we have offices in East Austin and Dallas) because we believe the best ideas happen when we’re in the same room. Our culture is high-energy, collaborative, and focused on radical accountability.

• Awesome Office & Team: Work remotely or work from our East Austin or Dallas office with a stocked snack bar, catered lunches, and a team that actually likes spending time together
• Unlimited PTO: We trust you to manage your time and your results
• Health & Wealth: 100% coverage for employee health, dental, and vision, plus a 401(k) with a company match
• Lunch & Events: Lunch stipend and quarterly team-building activities (we go big on our events)
• Pet-friendly: There’s a good chance you’ll be greeted by a few wagging tails when you walk through the door