Events Lead

Substack is building a new economic engine for culture, giving the brightest, most interesting and creative people on the internet the power of their own publishing platform. Substack empowers creators with financial autonomy, ownership and a direct connection to their communities. Substack’s model, based on direct subscriptions, has fueled an explosion of independent publishing and is revolutionizing culture.

We're looking for an Events Lead to create and execute an exceptional year-round programme of events in the UK in service of our creators and our mission to be a new home of culture, and oversee the delivery of our growing calendar of events internationally too. This means you’ll devise the strategy, planning, and execution of Substack's brand events portfolio in the UK whilst simultaneously building the framework for our growing international activity, from flagship brand moments in London to intimate creator gatherings in Sydney.

You’ll create meaningful brand and creator events that are genuinely creative, unique and fun to attend, help foster our community of bestsellers and attract more people to join Substack, and show people they are part of something truly special by being part of our platform. You'll work at the intersection of culture, technology, and media, partnering with some of the most interesting voices shaping our world, across the ideological spectrum.

This role reports to the Head of Communications & Brand and is based in London.

Responsibilities:

• Shape the strategy. Develop and execute a UK events strategy that advances Substack's brand and business goals in the UK, and ideate and oversee events in key territories internationally with the Head of International and country leads. Identify innovative opportunities to enhance our brand, drive cultural conversation, and attract new creators and subscribers.

• Drive execution excellence. Manage the full event lifecycle in the UK—from concept and promotion through on-the-ground coordination —ensuring every detail reflects the quality and creativity of the Substack brand. You will also be responsible for ensuring that your events travel far and wide on social and in the press, as a key pillar of our brand marketing strategy.

• Enable partnerships. Empower our Partnership Leads to bring market-specific event ideas to life, providing strategic guidance and operational support to ensure strong execution in key territories.

• Manage resources strategically. Manage a UK events budget with clear goals, measurement frameworks, and ROI tracking, and build effective processes internationally. This includes building methodologies to demonstrate impact and communicate wins internally.

• Recruit and lead freelancers. Leverage your exceptional network of freelancers and contractors to deliver outstanding results for Substack and support international partnership leads to source the best talent for their markets.

• Scale thoughtfully. Design events that can be replicated to reach key audiences across strategic territories and regions without losing their impact or authenticity.

• Collaborate across functions. Partner with internal teams, UK and international agencies, and vendors to deliver high-impact experiences while maintaining fiscal discipline and operational excellence.

About You:

• Significant managerial experience. 8+ years in experiential event marketing and production. You've built and scaled event strategies that delivered measurable business impact.

• Strategic vision with an operational can-do attitude. You think big picture while obsessing over details. You're an exceptional communicator and organizer who will translate vision into flawless execution.

• Creative flair. You’re a natural storyteller and ideas person who loves conceiving ideas that are unexpected and brilliant.

• Industry connections. You have a deep network of premier agencies and vendors across creative, production, and experiential disciplines.

• Relationship-builder. You cultivate strong cross-functional partnerships and inspire creative problem-solving.

• Cultural fluency. You're familiar with Substack as a creator or subscriber, and you’re excited to help champion our mission.

• Entrepreneurial drive. You thrive in startup environments where you're building from scratch.

• Flexibility to travel. Available to travel globally to oversee on-site execution when needed.

Substack offers a competitive compensation package that includes salary, equity, and exceptional benefits. The salary range for this role is £75,000-£95,000 with final offers based on experience and expertise.

Substack is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or transgender status), age, national origin, veteran or disability status. We’re seeking people passionate about enabling independent expression and building a better business model for creators. If you want to see what media, communities, and content can become when unmoored from advertising models, and you have the skills and experience to contribute, we’d love to meet you.

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