YouTube is no longer just another platform. It’s the most-watched streaming service on TVs, the backbone of the creator economy, and a massive growth and revenue opportunity we’ve barely scratched.
NJ Advance Media/NJ.com is looking for a YouTube Innovation Lead to change that.
This position will own YouTube end-to-end, from strategy and creative ideation to production, publishing, audience growth, and monetization. You’ll take an established digital media brand and help reinvent how it shows up on the world’s biggest video platform.
This role is equal parts strategist, creative producer, growth hacker, and operator. You won’t just optimize what exists, you’ll build what should exist. This is a job on the Content team of the NJ Advance Media/NJ.com newsroom, and the candidate will report to the Senior Director of Content Innovation.
This is a rare chance to define YouTube for a media company, not inherit a playbook. You’ll have executive visibility, creative freedom, and the mandate to experiment, fail fast, and scale what works.
The base salary range is $85,000 - $90,000 per year.
What you'll be doing:
- Develop and own a YouTube strategy across all key content verticals, such as food, sports, entertainment, news, shopping, politics and general Jersey culture
- Define channel strategy, content mix, publishing cadence, and growth targets
- Develop, test, and scale original YouTube-native content formats (long-form, Shorts, live, series)
- Collaborate with editorial, social and video teams to translate stories into compelling video
- Lead publishing, packaging, and optimization (titles, thumbnails, metadata, timing)
- Drive audience growth using analytics, experimentation, and trend awareness
- Build monetization strategies to grow revenue across ads, sponsorships, affiliates, and partnerships
- Identify and test new formats, franchises, and creator-led concepts
- Track performance, set KPIs, and clearly communicate wins and learnings
- Act as the internal YouTube expert and evangelist across the company
Our ideal candidate will have the following:
- A minimum of 4 years' experience in digital video, YouTube, or creator-driven media, especially in news, sports, entertainment, or culture-driven media environments
- Deep understanding of YouTube as a platform—not just posting clips - with a proven track record of YouTube growth or channel management
- Familiarity with YouTube Shorts strategy
- Understanding of how YouTube fits into a broader ecosystem (social, web, affiliate, newsletters, podcasts)
- Experience launching and growing channels or series (professional, creator, or media brand)
- Proven experience with YouTube monetization models and sponsorship integrations
- Comfort working with analytics (YouTube Studio, audience retention, CTR, RPM)
- Experience creating metrics reports and analyzing their implications with actionable insight
- Ability to work independently with a proven track record of successfully developing and overseeing projects through launch
- Strong instincts for storytelling, pacing, and audience retention
- Strong communication skills to align teams around a vision
- Experience building or scaling a YouTube channel is a strong advantage
- Experience overseeing freelancers, creators, or production workflows is a plus
When applying, please include links to past projects, successes or YouTube content and channels you’ve worked on. A cover letter is optional, but the more detail you can provide us, the better.
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What We Do
Advance Local, one of the largest media groups in the United States, operates the leading news and information companies in more than 20 cities, reaching more than 50 million people monthly with its quality journalism and community engagement.
