The Role
Lead Inc42’s unified brand and audience marketing engine, including editorial amplification, newsletters, social, audience growth, Datalabs, performance marketing, and martech attribution. Own campaigns and recurring event IP, strengthen Inc42’s cultural authority, establish metrics-driven operating rhythms, and lead audience marketing, social, brand, and IP teams. The role requires close editorial collaboration, practical AI fluency, and leadership of a 6–12+ person organization.
Summary Generated by Built In
Inc42 is looking for a Head of Brand & Marketing — someone who is a senior operator with real brand-building instinct to own both the unified audience engine and the back-to-back IP cadence, and build Inc42's brand into a cultural force. Someone who can inherit a mature, metrics-driven operating system, and compound it while raising the brand's ambition.
About Inc42 Media
Inc42 is India's #1 startup media & intelligence platform that informs, educates and empowers startup & business leaders through its incisive reporting, insightful reports, curated events & communities, and industry-leading executive courses & programs.
Since launching in January 2015, and having risen to become the authoritative voice on India's startup economy, we've moved markets, gotten the early scoop on billions of dollars of transactions and told you what's happening deep inside some of the fastest growing startups & industries alike. Our stories have been followed by the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, TechCrunch and other major outlets hundreds of times.
We also track over 50,000+ startups and provide market research and intelligence through our in-depth research reports, and we organise some of the most sought-after conferences and events for startup & business leaders across India.
The Inc42 Impact
- Inc42 stories reach over 50 Mn+ people monthly
- Published more than 55,000 stories
- Successfully conducted 150+ events
- Launched 100+ research reports
- Receives 500+ startup applications monthly
- Worked with 350+ brands
Why This Role Exists
Inc42's marketing has matured into one operating unit – Inc42 Media, Datalabs, and our IP portfolio now share one audience engine and one operating rhythm. But running the engine is only half the mandate. The other half is bigger: making Inc42 the defining cultural voice of India's startup economy, not just where the ecosystem gets its news, but the brand that sets the conversation. We're hiring a senior operator with real brand-building instinct to own both, drive the unified audience engine and the back-to-back IP cadence, and build Inc42's brand into a cultural force. You inherit a mature, metrics-driven operating system. Your job is to compound it and raise the brand's ambition.
What You'll Own
- Inc42 as a cultural voice: Brand campaigns, the brand film and franchises, and the work that shifts how India's startup ecosystem sees Inc42, from "startup news" to the authority. You build the brand around the journalism; you don't rewrite the journalism.
- The unified Inc42 audience engine: Editorial amplification, newsletters, social, audience growth, and Datalabs — one engine, not separate workstreams.
- IP campaign delivery across back-to-back events: AI Summit, D2C & Retail Summit, D2C Retreat, FAST42, and more.
- Operating rhythm and team leadership: A clear, metrics-driven cadence, and two functional pods (audience marketing + social, plus the IP/BrandLabs pod) you lead and level up.
- BrandLabs amplification and performance marketing: Sponsor-funded campaign delivery, performance discipline across paid channels, martech and attribution.
Who You Are
- A brand-minded operator with content-led DNA: you've run an audience/marketing function to real metrics and shaped how a brand shows up in the world. Most people do one, you do both.
- Operating-rhythm native: you've owned a marketing function with north-star metrics, scorecards, and a weekly operating cadence. You execute against systems, not vibes. (This is the floor, not the ceiling.)
- A brand builder, not just an amplifier: you've led campaigns or cultural moments that moved perception, not just funnels.
- Comfortable across audience marketing AND IP/event campaigns: you can run an always-on engine and a back-to-back event cadence. Both modes are native to you.
- Strong on team leadership: you've managed 6–12+ people across multiple functions, you develop juniors into leaders, and you raise the bar of execution around you.
- AI-fluent in practice, not theory: you use AI tools daily, you've shipped or seriously experimented with AI-led marketing programs, and you can think in prompts, agents, and workflows.
- Calibrated with editorial: Inc42's editorial voice is anchored by our EIC + Co-founder. You build the brand around it; you don't claim the newsroom.
- Open background: culturally-led consumer/fintech brands (CRED, Zomato, Swiggy, boAt, Zerodha, cult.fit, Groww), content-led startup/growth media or audience products, content-led B2B SaaS (Postman, HubSpot, GitLab, Atlassian), or ex-founder/operator. We care about brand instinct + operating chops + content DNA + AI fluency, not pedigree.
What We Offer
- Function-head ownership of Inc42's unified marketing engine and the mandate to build Inc42 into a cultural force — a rare combination of operating canvas and brand ambition
- A direct line to the CMO and a close working relationship with the EIC + Co-founder for editorial alignment
- A documented goal architecture, a mature operating system to compound, and a team of two functional pods
- Senior compensation, plus meaningful ESOPs
- Delhi-based, in-person
Skills Required
- Experience running an audience or marketing function against measurable metrics
- Brand-building experience, including campaigns or cultural moments that changed perception
- Experience owning a metrics-driven marketing operating rhythm with north-star metrics, scorecards, and weekly cadence
- Experience managing both audience marketing and IP or event campaigns
- Experience leading teams of 6–12 or more people across multiple functions
- Ability to develop junior employees into leaders and raise execution standards
- Practical daily use of AI tools and experience shipping or seriously experimenting with AI-led marketing programs
- Ability to work effectively with editorial leadership without claiming newsroom ownership
- Brand instinct, operating expertise, content-led experience, and AI fluency
- Background in culturally led consumer or fintech brands, content-led startup or growth media, audience products, content-led B2B SaaS, or as a founder/operator
- Ability to work in person in Delhi
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The Company
What We Do
Inc42 is India’s startup media and intelligence platform, serving tech leaders and business decision-makers with incisive reporting, startup and technology news, research, market intelligence, and industry insights. Its broader offering includes Inc42 Plus membership, conferences and events, BrandLabs branded content, Datalabs reports and deal data, and executive courses for founders, investors, and operators, helping inform and connect India’s technology and startup ecosystem.
