About Oxford Road

Oxford Road is the world's largest podcast advertising agency. We unite brands and creators through strategy and technology for outcomes only we can deliver.

Since the beginning of podcasting, we've been here building the playbook, setting the standards, and scaling brands through the power of audio and creator-driven media. Today, we manage campaigns across podcasts, radio, streaming audio, YouTube, and emerging creator platforms for clients that include half of the top advertisers in podcasting.

Our thought leadership defines the conversation. Our newsletter reaches thousands of industry decision-makers every week. Our podcast, The Media Roundtable, convenes the most influential voices in audio advertising. Our annual Chief Audio Officer Summit is the premier gathering for marketers, platforms, and creators shaping the future of the medium. Our research becomes industry standard. We don't wait for the market to tell us what's next. We build it.

The Role

The Executive Creative Director is Oxford Road's most senior creative leader, accountable for the quality, performance, and culture of everything the Creative department produces across host-read, pre-produced audio, and bespoke 360-degree campaigns. This role owns the creative standard across every client account and is responsible for ensuring that standard is consistently met, measurably tied to results, and strengthened by every test the team runs.

This is a leadership role built around three commitments: quality on everything that ships, creative tied to performance, and testing built in as a standard practice rather than an afterthought.

Scope of Ownership

• •Owns creative quality end-to-end across all client accounts: reviewing work in flight before it ships, closing the feedback loop to writers directly, and maintaining a consistent standard across host-read and pre-produced disciplines
• •Owns how Audiolytics is used across the department: as a benchmark and coaching tool integrated with compliance and performance data, not as a checkbox exercise
• •Owns the talent onboarding, briefing, and feedback process: ensuring every host receives a clear creative jumping-off point, product familiarity, and structured ongoing feedback
• •Owns the connection between creative output and market performance: working with Analytics and account teams to establish performance baselines and translate results into creative direction
• •Owns a test-and-learn culture in partnership with Analytics: bringing creative hypotheses and ensuring what the team learns shapes the next round of work
• •Owns the full creative team: leading and developing writers across Bespoke and Format tiers and producers across host-read and pre-produced disciplines
• •Owns key client and talent relationships at the senior creative level: these relationships stay direct, not delegated
• •Owns the department's presence in new business pitches: concept development, pitch decks, and demo work, including a repeatable three-ways-in approach
• •Owns creative support for bespoke, creator-first partnerships and 360-degree campaigns
• •Does not own test design, statistical analysis, or tracking infrastructure
• •Does not own production cost, change-order pricing, or P&L

Decision Rights

• •Final decision-maker on creative quality: what ships and what does not, across all accounts and both production disciplines
• •Owns how Audiolytics is applied, evolved, and integrated with compliance and performance data
• •Authority to direct the creative team across writing and production in service of quality and performance outcomes
• •Owns casting, talent direction, and host feedback structures
• •Owns creative concept and approach for new business pitches
• •Escalates resource, capacity, and structural gaps to the Chief Executive Officer with recommendations
• •Does not make unilateral commitments on media plans, client contracts, or agency pricing

What You'll Do

Pillar 1: Quality on Everything That Ships

• •Own QC across all creative that ships; review work in flight against a clear quality bar before it reaches a client
• •Close the feedback loop so direction reaches writers directly
• •Hold host-read and pre-produced work to the distinct craft standards each discipline requires
• •Own how Audiolytics is used and where it goes next; prevent the score from becoming the goal
• •Integrate Audiolytics with compliance and performance data to produce real insight and drive automation that lets it scale
• •Own how talent is onboarded, briefed, and coached; ensure every host receives a clear creative jumping-off point and structured ongoing feedback

Pillar 2: Creative Tied to Performance

• •Own the connection between what ships and how it performs
• •Work with Analytics and account teams to establish performance baselines
• •Translate performance and Audiolytics data into creative direction so outcomes shape decisions on every account
• •Ensure what the team learns in market changes how they write, cast, and coach

Pillar 3: Testing Built In

• •Foster a team that is curious about what is working, what is not, and why
• •Bring creative hypotheses and ensure what the team learns shapes the next brief
• •Make a clear hypothesis and planned variants a standard part of how briefs are written

Leading the Department

• •Lead and develop the full creative team across writing tiers and production disciplines
• •Shepherd the process from brief through talent-facing direction and production
• •Serve as the senior creative point of contact for key clients and talent; these relationships remain direct, not delegated
• •Own the department's presence in every pitch: concept development, decks, and demo work
• •Develop and maintain a repeatable three-ways-in approach (functional, emotional, and host-story angles)
• •Own creative support for bespoke, creator-first campaigns linking show content, social, newsletters, and onsite activation
• •Surface new formats, offerings, and creative opportunities and bring them to leadership with a clear point of view

Operating Cadence

• •Weekly: QC review across active accounts; one-on-ones with writing leads and producers; cross-functional check-ins with Compliance and Analytics; pitch and new business support; ongoing talent feedback touchpoints
• •Monthly: Performance and test result review with Analytics; talent feedback loop assessment; pitch win rate and new business creative review
• •Quarterly: Creative department performance review with leadership; Audiolytics integration and automation progress; test-and-learn record review; team development and capacity assessment

What Success Looks Like

• •Consistent creative quality across every account, with in-market creative meeting the 90% Audiolytics target
• •A measurable shift away from Audiolytics-as-checkbox behavior without losing substantiation or compliance discipline
• •Fast turnaround on host-read work and fire drills without a drop in craft
• •Performance baselines established on priority accounts within the first 90 days
• •A growing share of active accounts with creative decisions informed by performance data and test results
• •Measurable performance lift on accounts where creative direction changed based on results
• •A meaningful share of active accounts running at least one creative test per quarter
• •A shared test-and-learn record that the team actively uses when briefing new work
• •Client and talent satisfaction with the department's creative involvement and responsiveness
• •Pitch win rate and the quality of creative options the team brings to new business
• •A creative team that is developing, retained, and clear on what great looks like

Key Performance Indicators

• •Audiolytics score compliance: percentage of in-market creative meeting the 90% target
• •QC turnaround: creative reviewed before client delivery with no material exceptions
• •Host-read turnaround speed on fire drills and standard requests within defined SLA
• •Share of active accounts with established performance baselines
• •Share of active accounts with creative decisions informed by performance or test data, growing quarter-over-quarter
• •Share of active accounts running at least one creative test per quarter
• •Test-and-learn record adoption: frequency with which the shared record informs new briefs
• •Pitch win rate on new business opportunities where Creative is involved
• •Creative team retention and development
• •Client and talent satisfaction with creative quality and responsiveness

What We're Looking For

• •10 or more years of experience in creative leadership, with a track record of owning creative quality across multiple accounts or productions simultaneously
• •Deep fluency in audio advertising: host-read, pre-produced, and bespoke formats; candidates with strong audio or podcast creative backgrounds are strongly preferred
• •Demonstrated ability to connect creative decisions to measurable performance outcomes; comfort working with data, analytics teams, and test-and-learn frameworks
• •Experience leading and developing creative teams across writing and production disciplines; a coach and standard-setter, not just a practitioner
• •Strong point of view on what makes audio creative work: clarity of message, authenticity of voice, structure that converts; able to articulate and transfer that standard to a team
• •Experience owning or contributing to new business pitches: concept development, creative presentation, and demo work in high-stakes settings
• •Comfort working directly with talent: onboarding hosts, providing structured feedback, and maintaining creative relationships at the senior level
• •A bias toward ownership: someone who runs toward gaps, raises the standard without being asked, and holds the quality bar even under deadline pressure

What This Role Is Not

• •Not a hands-on copywriting role for every account; the ECD sets the standard and steps in personally on the highest-stakes work
• •Not a testing infrastructure role; Analytics owns test design, statistical analysis, tracking, and reporting mechanics
• •Not a pricing or P&L role; Finance owns production cost, change-order pricing, and the margin conversation
• •Not a media strategy or buying role; those functions sit within Media

Key Relationships

• •Chief Executive Officer: direct reporting relationship; accountable for creative department quality, team performance, and strategic creative direction
• •President: coordinates on agency-wide creative positioning, new business strategy, and client escalations
• •Analytics Team: primary partner on performance data, Audiolytics integration, test design, and the test-and-learn record
• •Compliance Team: coordinates on script substantiation, IO requirements, and integration of compliance signal into creative coaching
• •Account and Client Growth Teams: partners on pitch creative, client QBRs, and performance-based creative direction conversations
• •Creator Partnerships: coordinates on bespoke, creator-first campaigns and 360-degree deal creative
• •Finance: coordinates on production resource needs

Compensation

$170,000 to $210,000 USD base salary plus incentive plan. This is a remote role based in the United States.