Program Manager, WP Studios

Join the future of news We’re on a mission to deliver riveting storytelling for all of America. At The Washington Post, you’ll help reinvent news. Our work is driven by a deep investigative spirit and enhanced by innovation to bring audiences closer to the stories that matter most. About Our Team The Washington Post is powered by the passion and talent of our people. It takes all of us to reinvent news. Beyond our award-winning News and Opinions teams, we work across many departments, including Brand & Events, Communications, Customer Care, Engineering & Product, Finance, Human Resources, Legal, Marketing & Advertising, Print Operations, and Sales. Why This Role Matters   The Washington Post’s WP Studios team is seeking a highly organized and strategic Program Manager to lead the execution and delivery of custom advertising programs, branded content initiatives, and event-based sponsorships across digital, experiential, live, and emerging platforms. This client-facing role serves as the primary owner of program execution and fulfillment, overseeing production timelines, creative development, event logistics, stakeholder alignment, operational workflows, and delivery from kickoff through launch, live execution, and post-campaign wrap-up. With a particular focus on event-based programs, the Program Manager will serve as a trusted partner to sponsors while coordinating across internal teams, venues, production partners, and external vendors to bring complex campaigns and experiences to life. The ideal candidate combines strong program and production management expertise with operational judgment, cross-functional leadership, and creative problem-solving. This individual thrives in fast-paced environments, independently manages complex initiatives, proactively identifies risks and opportunities, and continuously looks for ways to improve the quality, efficiency, and scalability of WP Studios programs. What Motivates You Bringing complex, multi-platform ideas and live experiences to life through strong execution and collaboration. Leading high-impact programs independently while balancing multiple priorities, stakeholders, and deadlines. Building trusted relationships with clients, sponsors, agencies, and cross-functional partners. Solving operational, creative, and event-production challenges proactively and with confidence. Delivering innovative, high-quality advertising campaigns, branded content, and live or virtual experiences. Anticipating risks, removing blockers, and keeping complex programs and activations on track. Working collaboratively across creative, editorial, technical, event, and operational teams. Continuously improving processes and identifying scalable solutions that support efficiency, consistency, and business growth. Using data, automation, and AI-enabled tools thoughtfully to improve workflows and execution while maintaining strong human judgment and oversight. How You'll Support the Mission Program & Production Leadership Lead the end-to-end execution of custom advertising programs, branded content campaigns, and event activations across digital, experiential, live, and virtual platforms. Independently manage programs from kickoff and planning through production, launch, live execution, optimization, and post-campaign wrap-up. Translate sold programs into clear execution plans that align stakeholders, resources, timelines, deliverables, event logistics, and client expectations. Evaluate operational feasibility, resourcing needs, and executional tradeoffs and recommend solutions that balance quality, scalability, and business priorities. Event & Sponsorship Execution Serve as the primary production point of contact for event and program sponsors, guiding them through onboarding, asset collection, approvals, fulfillment, and execution. Manage sponsor deliverables and branded integrations, including logos, speaking briefs, digital assets, event signage, marketing materials, and on-site or virtual activations. Partner with Events, Editorial, Marketing, Creative, Production, venues, and external vendors to deliver engaging live and virtual experiences. Manage event-related timelines, logistics, dependencies, and sponsor requirements to ensure activations are delivered on time and according to specifications. Project Management & Operational Excellence Serve as a central point of coordination across Creative, Events, Editorial, Design, Development, Video, Audio, Ad Operations, Product, Marketing, and external partners. Develop and maintain detailed project timelines, workflows, status reporting, and delivery documentation across multiple concurrent programs. Proactively identify risks, dependencies, and executional gaps and implement mitigation plans to keep programs on track. Navigate competing priorities, evolving stakeholder needs, and shifting timelines while maintaining delivery quality and accountability. Identify and implement process improvements that increase operational efficiency, scalability, consistency, and program quality. Client & Stakeholder Management Lead day-to-day client and sponsor communication related to production timelines, deliverables, approvals, requirements, and execution strategy in partnership with Sales and Account Management. Independently facilitate meetings and discussions with clients, agencies, sponsors, and internal stakeholders. Manage feedback and approval processes to maintain alignment between client expectations and execution realities. Serve as a trusted operational partner by communicating updates, risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations clearly and proactively. Custom Product, Performance & Optimization Collaborate with Ad Operations and Product teams to implement custom advertising solutions and event programs across platforms, ensuring custom elements are built, tested, quality-checked, and launched according to specifications. Support social media, content distributio