Substack is building a new economic engine for culture, giving the brightest, most interesting and creative people on the internet the power of their own publishing platform. Substack empowers creators with financial autonomy, ownership and a direct connection to their communities. Substack’s model, based on direct subscriptions, has fueled an explosion of independent publishing and is revolutionizing culture.
We're looking for an Events Lead to reimagine what events can do for creators and culture. You'll own the strategy, planning, and execution of Substack's brand events portfolio—from flagship brand moments to intimate creator gatherings—while leading a talented team of producers.
This isn't about executing someone else's playbook. You'll build a scalable events engine from the ground up, creating experiences that spark conversation, strengthen community, and demonstrate what's possible when creators have true independence. You'll work at the intersection of culture, technology, and media, partnering with some of the most interesting voices shaping our world.
This role reports to the Head of Communications & Brand and is based in New York or Los Angeles.
Responsibilities:
Shape the strategy. Develop a comprehensive events vision that advances Substack's brand and business goals across markets. Identify innovative opportunities to enhance our brand, drive cultural conversation, and attract new creators and subscribers.
Drive execution excellence. Lead teams through the full event lifecycle—from concept and promotion through on-the-ground coordination—ensuring every detail reflects the quality and creativity of the Substack brand.
Enable partnerships. Empower our Partnership Leads to bring market-specific event ideas to life, providing strategic guidance and operational support to ensure strong execution in key territories.
Manage resources strategically. Own the global events budget with clear goals, measurement frameworks, and ROI tracking. Build methodologies to demonstrate impact and communicate wins internally.
Build and lead teams. Coach and develop event producers, helping them grow professionally while delivering outstanding results for Substack.
Scale thoughtfully. Design events that can expand to reach key audiences across strategic territories and regions without losing their impact or authenticity.
Collaborate across functions. Partner with internal teams, agencies, and vendors to deliver high-impact experiences while maintaining fiscal discipline and operational excellence.
Requirements:
Significant leadership experience. 15+ years in experiential event marketing and production, with at least 5 years in a senior role overseeing global or multi-faceted events functions. You've built and scaled event strategies that delivered measurable business impact.
Strategic vision with operational rigor. You think big picture while obsessing over details. You're an exceptional communicator and organizer who can translate vision into flawless execution.
Relationship-builder. You cultivate strong cross-functional partnerships and inspire creative problem-solving.
Industry connections. You have a deep network of premier agencies and vendors across creative, production, and experiential disciplines.
People leadership skills. You're an inspiring leader who builds and empowers high-performing teams. People grow under your guidance.
Cultural fluency. You're familiar with Substack as a creator or subscriber, and you understand the evolving tech and media landscape.
Entrepreneurial drive. You thrive in startup environments where you're building from scratch.
Flexibility to travel. Available to travel globally to oversee on-site execution when needed.
Substack offers a competitive compensation package that includes salary, equity, and exceptional benefits. The salary range for this role is $175,000 – $190,000, with final offers based on experience and expertise.
Substack is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or transgender status), age, national origin, veteran or disability status. We’re seeking people passionate about enabling independent expression and building a better business model for creators. If you want to see what media, communities, and content can become when unmoored from advertising models, and you have the skills and experience to contribute, we’d love to meet you.
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What We Do
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 500,000 people pay to subscribe to writers across the Substack network, and the top writers make millions of dollars a year. Substack’s model depends on the success of writers using Substack – we only make money when they do.
“Substack makes it dead simple to start a newsletter and get paid for it.” – Judd Legum, author of Popular Information
"Substack gives me a way to connect with my audience on my own terms.” – Lyz Lenz, author of God Land and Men Yell At Me
Make something that matters
Great writing is valuable. It respects readers' time, their intelligence, and their trust. It helps us make sense of and change the culture we live in. At Substack, we're building a business model that enables great writing to thrive. Learn more about our opportunity and mission.
We are a small but growing team, and there is more to build than we could ever imagine. That’s why we need you.
We aim to take pragmatic approaches to problem solving while shipping high-quality products that allow the writing on Substack to take the spotlight.
Every person at the company participates in customer support. We do this to build empathy with our users and enable us to build better products.
We believe that a diverse team will help us build a product that best serves the needs of a wildly diverse ecosystem of writers. So whatever your background or perspective, we’d welcome your input to help build the best possible version of Substack.
