Company Description
The Dink is the leading media brand in pickleball. We launched as a newsletter publishing to a loyal audience of mostly grandparents. But pickleball isn't geriatric anymore (at least not exclusively). And neither are we. We've evolved...quite a lot. You can think of us like ESPN meets Barstool Sports, publishing daily via newsletters, web, social, podcasts, and YouTube reaching over 30 million people monthly.
We also do other cool stuff, e.g. host celebrity pro-ams and amateur tournaments, teach Kevin Durant how to dink, giveaway pickleball stuff with Katy Perry, churn out viral content like it's our job (it is), broadcast and livestream big events, go head-to-head with the top pickleball players on the planet...and much more.
Our content engine fuels all of it, and we're looking for a seasoned media leader to help us systemize, sharpen and scale it as we continue to build the #1 brand in the fastest growing sport in the world.
This Role
We’re hiring a Head of Content to run The Dink’s content engine day to day.
This is a true leadership role for the person who will own content strategy, editorial planning, content operations, packaging, distribution, quality control, audience growth and team leadership across newsletters, web, social, podcasts, YouTube, and emerging formats.
You’ll partner closely with the Founder/CEO, who will remain involved in editorial voice, priorities and vision, but you will own planning, execution, distribution and the content operating system.
Compensation:
- Annual Salary ranging $120,000-150,000
- Performance-Based Bonus
Location:
NYC preferred, open to hybrid or remote for strong candidates.
Qualifications
- Define and own the content strategy and core content pillars across newsletters, web, social, podcasts, YouTube, and new formats.
- Build and oversee The Dink’s editorial calendar and planning cadence to shift from reactive publishing to smart, data-driven content deployments to fuel reach, engagement and audience growth.
- Lead day-to-day content operations: assignments, topic selection, prioritization, deadlines, approvals, publishing, QA, and postmortems.
- Raise the quality of The Dink’s editorial and written products by improving topic selection, framing, copy, structure, voice, and editorial standards.
- Create editorial and publishing playbooks, voice guidelines, and “anatomy” frameworks for recurring products and formats to repeatedly publish best-in-class content that continuously raises the bar.
- Manage and develop in-house content talent plus contractors, freelancers, contributors, hosts, and producers.
- Build and scale repeatable franchises, tentpoles, and new IP that grows audience and strengthens the brand.
- Own packaging and distribution across channels so the same story is being told the right way on the right platform.
- Partner with sales and partnerships on sponsor-aligned content concepts and branded deliverables without compromising editorial quality or credibility.
- Coordinate with partnerships to deploy branded content activations that drive ROI for advertisers and partners, and increase renewals.
- Work with marketing and content teams to develop and execute strategies that build and grow important content consumption metrics such as views, CTRs, podcast downloads, social engagement, programmatic revenue and more.
- Monitor and analyze analytics across all platforms, drive decisions to ensure audience growth and brand development, leverage key metrics to build data-driven content strategies.
- Develop social strategy to optimize daily posting of long form and short form content, news graphics, videos, memes and viral posts to meaningfully increase followers and engagement.
The First Six Months
- The Dink has a clear content strategy, defined content pillars, and editorial calendar.
- Audience and growth targets established and communicated to the team, with clearly defined content roadmap to hit and exceed goals
- The content machine runs with consistency and quality without requiring the Founder/CEO to be in the weeds every day.
- Newsletter, site, social, podcast, and video each have clear roles, standards, and operating rhythms.
- The quality of editorial materially improves, with stronger packaging, sharper writing, better topic selection, and less fluff.
- The internal team and contractor bench have clearer ownership, stronger feedback loops, and more accountability.
- The company launches or sharpens a handful of repeatable franchises and tentpoles that can scale.
- Content performance improves across key metrics, and content more clearly supports audience growth, sponsorship value, and revenue.
Qualifications
- 10+ years of experience in digital media, editorial, content strategy, newsletter media, sports media, creator-led media, or a similarly fast-moving content business.
- Proven experience leading a multi-platform content operation, not just writing or producing in one lane.
- Experience molding raw content initiatives into a scalable, calendared system balancing both volume and best-in-class quality.
- Strong editorial judgment and taste. You know what makes a story, episode, post, or issue worth someone’s attention.
- Strong operator. You can build calendars, systems, workflows, standards, and accountability, not just ideate.
- Excellent copy instincts across headlines, hooks, CTAs, packaging, and story framing.
- Deep familiarity with how newsletters, websites, social platforms, YouTube, and podcasts each play different roles in growth and monetization.
- Comfortable reading the numbers and turning analytics into better editorial decisions.
- Experience managing and developing writers, editors, social talent, producers, and freelancers.
- Able to thrive in a fast-moving environment with high standards, quick turnarounds, and imperfect information.
- Commercially aware. You understand how content supports sponsorships and revenue without turning the brand into a glorified ad unit.
Hiring Contact: thedinkteam@heydink.com
thedinkpickleball.com
