Role
Program Lead
Team Size
80+ Cross-Functional
Revenue Impact
$1.4B (2021 Portfolio)
Focus
Scale & Monetization
Context
As Spotify accelerated its investment in podcasting, enabling podcast advertising within Ad Studio—the self-serve ad platform—became a company priority and strategic growth driver.
Launching podcast advertising required integrating entirely new capabilities into an existing platform—including audio ad creation, brand safety controls, and reporting infrastructure—while maintaining a seamless experience for SMB and individual advertisers.
The Vision: Telling stories through Podcast Ads
The Objective
Frictionless Creation
Enable simple audio ad creation and booking flows aligned to advertiser workflows.
Brand Safety
Support robust safety controls and reporting infrastructure for podcast inventory.
Integrated Scaling
Ensure a scalable experience for SMB and growth advertisers within the existing Ad Studio ecosystem.
Revenue Growth
Connect technical delivery directly to monetization goals and podcast expansion bets.
Ad Set Configuration & Delivery Estimates
Contextual Placement & Brand Suitability Controls
My Role
As Program Lead, I was selected to drive end-to-end delivery across an 80+ person cross-functional team, owning the execution from strategic planning through to successful launch.
Core Execution
- Translated business goals into a clear operational roadmap in partnership with Product and Engineering.
- Defined ownership, milestones, risk tracking, and escalation paths across 80+ stakeholders.
- Led weekly cross-functional forums aligning Product, Engineering, Design, Insights, Sales, Marketing, and Legal.
- Built structured communication rituals (decision logs, risk registers) to maintain transparency and accountability.
- Partnered with Sales and Product Marketing to ensure launch readiness, positioning clarity, and enablement materials.
- Anticipated delivery risks early, implementing escalation paths and re-prioritizing engineering bandwidth to protect launch-critical components.
Impact & Results
Contributed to $1.4B in advertising revenue in 2021 (+68% YoY growth).
Drove $5M+ in revenue during the initial rollout phase.
Established scalable operational frameworks adopted across subsequent Ads initiatives.
Strengthened execution alignment across a massive, high-visibility cross-functional team.
Lessons Learned
"Strong program leadership requires both structured planning and real-time adaptability."
In large-scale launches, proactive risk management is critical. When launch-critical components were at risk due to unforeseen resource impacts, I re-prioritized engineering bandwidth and protected the timeline through transparent communication and swift re-allocation.