Head of Podcasts, talkSPORT

Reporting to: Head of talkSPORT

talkSPORT is the world’s biggest sports radio station. From World Cups and European Championships to the Premier League and the Champions League, through to Test cricket and world class boxing, the talkSPORT network is at the heart of the world’s major sporting events.

Your role:

talkSPORT is seeking a strategic and creative Head of Podcasts to drive the expansion and commercial success of the talkSPORT podcast portfolio.

You’ll serve as the chief architect of talkSPORT’s podcast strategy, ensuring all audio and visual output meets world-class editorial standards, delivers compelling content to a diverse range of listeners, and achieves ambitious revenue and audience growth targets.

Sitting within the newsroom, the role requires maximising our editorial talent and collaborating across commercial and digital teams to position talkSPORT as the leading voice in sports on-demand content.

Day to day you will:

• Develop and execute an ambitious, innovative podcast strategy that aligns with talkSPORT’s overall editorial and business objectives, positioning our content as best-in-class.
• Commission new podcast titles driven by emerging market trends and commercial insight, continually refining the portfolio for maximum audience growth.
• Be a chief editorial decision-maker for the entire podcast portfolio, ensuring all shows maintain the highest standards of quality, compliance, and distinctiveness.
• Oversee the creative and operational output of all titles, from original commissions to maximised on-demand audio from live broadcasts.
• Lead the strategy to visualise podcasts where possible, driving video production and leveraging short-form video content on social media to maximise reach and discoverability.
• Manage, mentor, and lead a small team of producers, overseeing staffing, recruitment, and performance management to build a high-performing audio team.
• Work closely with high-profile on-air talent to develop new podcast concepts and enhance existing show performance.
• Partner with the Commercial team to identify, propose, and deliver new sponsorship opportunities and commercial partnerships for the portfolio.
• Ensure the strategy takes advantage of latest platform and industry developments to maximise digital revenues and commercial appeal.
• Analyse performance metrics, audience insights, and market trends to continuously refine content, formats, and scheduling for optimal growth.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Marketing and Communications teams to create visibility plans that drive audience numbers in line with projected marketing goals.

Key Skills and Experience:

• Demonstrable experience in devising, launching, and managing a portfolio of multiple successful, high-performing podcasts within a major media organisation.
• Proven track record of driving and delivering commercial revenue growth through podcasting, including developing sponsor-friendly content formats.
• Exceptional editorial judgment and strong audio storytelling skills, with an ability to create content that is compelling, illuminating, and entertain
• Great contacts within sports and entertainment, relevant for podcasts.
• Highly analytical, with expertise in leveraging audience data, performance metrics, and market trends to define, articulate, and execute a clear growth strategy.
• Strong understanding of editorial compliance, media law, and regulatory issues for on-demand audio content.
• Experience in successfully leading initiatives within a matrixed organisational structure, collaborating effectively with senior stakeholders in Commercial, Marketing, and Editorial teams.
• Demonstrates an innovative approach to growing the audience and commercial footprint.
• An inspiring leader, adept at nurturing both production and high-profile editorial talent to achieve their full potential.
• Exceptional ability to build strong, productive partnerships across different business units, particularly bridging the gap between editorial creativity and commercial goals.
• Agile and adaptable, able to react to new technology, platform developments and evolving digital consumption patterns to maintain a competitive edge.

News UK is one of the leading media businesses in the UK and Ireland. Our newsbrands include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, The Sun on Sunday and The TLS. Our national broadcast brands include talkSPORT, Times Radio and Virgin Radio UK, and we have market-leading local stations across Ireland. Our world-famous brands provide news, analysis, opinion and entertainment to almost 40 million people each month. Spanning print and pixel, audio and video, events and experiences, our multi-format brands are home to a plurality of opinion, representing the diverse communities we serve. Driven by passion, guided by principles and acting with purpose, we exist to promote a fair society, freedom of speech and a little bit of fun. Rethinking continually the business of storytelling, we represent, reflect and reach the nation, telling the stories that matter.

Life at News

Driven by passion, guided by principles and acting with purpose. We represent, reflect and reach the nation, telling the stories that matter. We inform our audiences so that they can make decisions based on trusted information.

We represent, reflect and reach the nation, telling the stories that matter most. To ensure these stories resonate with as broad an audience as possible, it is essential that our organisation reflects the diversity of the people we reach. Whether through age, gender, ethnicity, disability, social class or sexuality, we are committed to representing the rich variety of voices that make up our society. And we champion a culture where everyone has the opportunity to contribute and thrive as we continue to innovate and drive long term sustainable growth. This is done through our Diversity Strategy.

At News UK, we take pride in our exceptional employee-led networks that bring together individuals with shared interests and create a vibrant sense of community. We believe our networks play a vital role in fostering a collaborative and supportive work culture at News UK. Groups that we support include the African & Caribbean Network, Parents and Carers, and LGBTQ+ group News Is Out, and the Apprentice Society.

Benefits

Some of our benefits include:

• Maternity leave up to 18 weeks full basic salary & paternity leave up to 2 weeks
• Wide range of training available, plus full LinkedIn Learning access
• Private medical insurance including coverage for pre-existing conditions
• Discounted gym memberships, free ClassPass at Home, weekly virtual yoga classes
• ‘Bikes for Work’ and ‘Electric Car’ scheme
• Up to 60% discount on Harper Collins books
• Access to exclusive events and competitions with exciting brands such as talkSPORT, Virgin Radio UK & The Times. Weekly virtual panel chats with top journalists and celebrities
• Access to wellbeing benefits such as EAP, physio/massage and counselling
• A generous pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 5%
• 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays and up to 4 volunteering days per year

We want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to perform to their best when applying for a role. If you would like to receive any information in a different way or for us to do anything differently to support you apply for any of our roles please contact us on careers@news.co.uk.