Production Manager
A position
Fully remote: working with a USA-based team at Ark Media.
Ark Media - (http://arkmedia.org) Location: Remote (preferably in EST or within one hour of EST) Employment: Full-time
About Ark Media Ark Media is a mission-driven audio and media company producing high-impact podcasts. Ark Media is home to the Call me Back podcast and a growing slate of original programming and editorial initiatives. We move fast, sweat the details, and care deeply about our audience experience.
About the Role We’re hiring a Production Manager to run the podcast production pipeline—from pitch/ideation through booking, recording, edits, QC, ad insertions, and publishing. You’ll be the air-traffic controller for our fast-paced, news-driven shows: setting the calendar, unblocking teammates, enforcing quality bars, and keeping tight ships under tight deadlines. High attention to detail and sharp situational awareness are non-negotiable.
Reports to: Executive Producer, Head of Operations Works with: Host, Editorial, Audio Engineering, Partnerships/Ad Ops, Social/Video, and External Contractors
What You’ll Do
- Own the master production calendar: map weekly milestones, holds, deadlines, and dependencies; keep everyone honest on dates.
- Run the daily standup & status cadence: capture risks/decisions, assign owners, escalate early, and close loops.
- Shepherd episodes end-to-end: briefs → booking → prep → record (remote/in-studio) → edits/mixes → QC → show notes/metadata → ad insertion → publish → socials.
- Quality control: enforce checklists, naming conventions, versioning, and asset hygiene; final ear/QC passes before release.
- Newsroom tempo: monitor the news cycle and guest movement; re-plan quickly for breaking items, cancellations, or late copy.
- Ad & promo coordination: traffic host reads, timing, tags, and placements with Partnerships; confirm delivery pre-publish.
- Source & manage contractors: schedule editors/engineers/transcribers; assign clear briefs and deadlines; review output.
- Docs & process: maintain playbooks, run-of-show templates, risk logs, and post-mortems; drive continual improvements.
- Publishing & platforms: push final assets, verify metadata, links, chapter markers, and artwork across hosting and podcast platforms.
- Analytics hygiene: confirm episode tracking and tags; surface simple performance readouts for the team.
Must-Have Skills & Experience
- 2–5 years in audio/podcast or news/production management with weekly or faster release cadence.
- Proven track record shipping on time in a high-pressure, news-driven environment.
- Exceptional attention to detail; you catch typos in show notes, mislabeled files, and off-by-one timestamps.
- High situational awareness and prioritization under changing conditions; strong escalation judgment.
- Hands-on with modern audio workflows (e.g., Riverside/DaVinci/Adobe/Descript).
- Fluent in PM and collaboration tools (Airtable/Asana/Notion, Google Workspace, Slack); comfortable running standups and retros.
- Clear, concise communicator—written status, verbal updates, and calm command on record days.
- Familiarity with RSS hosts (Megaphone/Libsyn/Simplecast) and basics of ad trafficking/host reads.
Nice to Have
- Current-affairs/newsroom experience; comfort prepping guests and writing tight briefs.
- Video/social packaging exposure (YouTube, clips, thumbnails).
- Basic audio editing chops to unblock small fixes in a pinch.
Working Conditions
- Fast, breaking-news environment; some evenings/weekends on a rotation when news or bookings require it.
Compensation & Benefits
- Competitive salary and professional development support; final package based on experience and market.
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