Growth Marketing Manager

Substack Inc.

Job Overview

Location

San Francisco (HQ)

Job Type

Full-time

Full Job Description

📋 Description

• Own end-to-end paid acquisition strategy and execution across Meta, Google UAC, YouTube, TikTok, podcast, and emerging channels to drive net-new, app-first user growth.
• Design and run rigorous experiments to optimize cost per acquisition (CAC) for users who have never been on Substack before.
• Build and manage mobile measurement platform (MMP) infrastructure including deferred deep linking, in-app event tracking, and ad platform integrations.
• Partner with creator partnerships team to develop first-party ad creative featuring Substack writers and establish the playbook for creator-led paid campaigns.
• Build and maintain lookalike audience pipelines by collaborating with the data team to turn high-quality install cohorts into scalable targeting seeds.
• Define optimal optimization signals at each stage of campaign maturity—from install volume during the learning phase to subscription starts at scale—and work with product and engineering to ensure accurate event instrumentation.
• Develop and evolve a framework for CPI targets and payback windows grounded in install-cohort lifetime value (LTV) data.
• Collaborate with product on improving the new user onboarding experience, particularly the deferred deep link personalization flow that connects ad creative to the first app experience.
• Own budget pacing and efficiency reporting, and communicate performance clearly to leadership with data-driven insights.
• Eventually hire and develop a small paid acquisition team as the function scales.
• Instrument and analyze attribution data to ensure accurate measurement of campaign performance across all channels.
• Test and iterate on ad creative concepts with clear frameworks, briefing creative teams and creators effectively without needing to design ads personally.
• Work cross-functionally with product, data, and creator partnerships teams to align paid acquisition strategy with broader company goals.
• Identify and evaluate new paid channels beyond current platforms, with an emphasis on scalable, efficient user acquisition.
• Maintain deep awareness of trends in media, writing, and the creator economy to inform acquisition strategy and creative direction.
• Perform unglamorous but critical tasks such as data pipeline setup, event schema design, and fraud prevention alongside high-leverage strategic work.
• Translate LTV modeling insights into actionable acquisition metrics, avoiding reliance on CPI as a primary KPI.
• Establish Substack’s first paid acquisition function from the ground up, defining the channels, metrics, frameworks, and team structure.

🎯 Requirements

• 5–8 years of experience in performance marketing or paid user acquisition, with meaningful time spent at a consumer subscription app or subscription media product
• Deep channel expertise across Meta and at least one other major channel (Google UAC, YouTube, TikTok); experience with podcast and influencer-driven acquisition is a plus
• Hands-on experience with an MMP (AppsFlyer strongly preferred) including attribution setup, deferred deep linking, event schema design, and fraud prevention
• Strong analytical foundation—comfortable in SQL, familiar with data warehouses, and able to build own cohort analyses without waiting for data team support
• Experience building lookalike audience pipelines and thinking rigorously about seed quality, audience overlap, and creative-audience fit
• Sharp instincts for creative—ability to brief creative teams and creators effectively, and have a framework for testing and iterating on ad concepts

🏖️ Benefits

• Market-competitive salary ranging from $170,000–$210,000
• Equity for all full-time roles
• Exceptional benefits package

Skills & Technologies

Onsite

$170k-210k

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Substack Inc.

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About Substack Inc.

Substack operates a publishing platform that lets writers send digital newsletters and charge subscription fees. Founded in 2017, the company provides email distribution, website hosting, payment processing, analytics and design tools, enabling independent journalists and subject experts to earn revenue directly from readers while retaining ownership of their content and subscriber lists.

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