
Senior Director, Digital Development
Sony Music
New York, NYThis is a Full Time Job
The Senior Director, Digital Development builds the viral foundation for projects before they scale. Where the wider Viral Marketing team drives influencer campaigns at volume around established artists and priority singles, this role sits at the front end: developing artists, first singles, early-stage projects, and catalog titles showing early signals of movement.
The work is diagnostic, strategic, and hands-on. Read the audience quickly, map the niches that matter, find and test the content that actually works inside them, and run point on the seeding that puts it in front of the right communities. Once a project has traction and a proven approach, it transitions to a Viral Marketing lead to scale further. The role sits within the Viral Marketing team and works alongside Marketing, Audience and Social teams from project kickoff.
What you'll do:
• Own the viral strategy for developing artists and early-stage projects, from pre-release through the first signs of traction, before campaigns move into scaled execution.
• Build a fast, accurate read on each project's audience: who they are, where they sit online, what they already engage with, and what the artist's credible entry point is.
• Map and pressure-test the niches and creator communities around a project (subcultures, formats, sounds, references) and identify where the artist has real cultural permission to land.
• Identify and test content angles inside those niches at low cost and high frequency. Prove what works before budget scales.
• Run point on seeding strategy and execution for early-stage projects: set the seeding plan, choose the communities and accounts, brief the content, and place it. This is hands-on work, not oversight.
• Build and maintain the seeding infrastructure the front end of a campaign depends on: page networks, community accounts, creator relationships, and the process for moving content through them quickly.
• Establish the creative foundation each campaign scales from: the hook, the format, the angle, the seeding logic, documented clearly enough for the wider Viral team to run with it.
• Work closely with the Catalog and Legacy divisions to surface titles showing early signals of growth, and build viral strategies around them fast enough to catch the moment.
• Monitor catalog and recent releases for emergent movement (UGC velocity, sound usage, search and DSP behavior, playlist and platform signals) and flag opportunities proactively rather than reactively.
• Partner with Marketing, Audience and Social from kickoff so viral strategy is built into the campaign, not bolted on afterward.
• Build early relationships with creators and micro-communities relevant to developing projects, where fit matters more than reach.
• Transition proven projects to the Viral Marketing leads with a clear strategy, evidence of what works, and the seeding and community groundwork in place.
• Report findings, tests, and results to senior staff, translating early signal into recommendations the wider team can act on.
Who you are:
• 7 years professional experience in influencer, social, or digital marketing, with significant time spent on early-stage artists, emerging brands, or projects built without an existing audience.
• Hands-on seeding experience: has personally built and run seeding operations, not only directed them. Familiar with page networks, community accounts, and the mechanics of placing content at speed.
• Track record of setting strategy that other teams execute, and of influencing senior stakeholders across departments without direct authority over them.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and build inside niche online communities, not only mainstream creator channels.
• Strong instinct for internet culture paired with the research discipline to back it up. Fluent across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and the adjacent platforms where subcultures form.
• Experience testing content and reading results quickly. Comfortable being wrong fast and adjusting.
• Working knowledge of streaming and consumption data, DSP behavior, and third-party trend tools.
• Genuine knowledge of music history and catalog, and real interest in why older records find new audiences.
• In-depth knowledge of music culture, trends, and creator communities.
• Clear written communication. This role produces the strategy that others scale.
• Self-directed and comfortable with ambiguity, able to move on projects that do not yet have structure around them.
• Experience mentoring or developing junior team members, with the judgment to build process where it is needed and leave it out where it is not.
• Experience with AI tools to accelerate research and streamline workflow where appropriate.
Salary/Benefits
$160,000 - $180,000 /year USD
The actual base salary offered depends on a variety of factors.
Benefits
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Short- and long-term disability
• 401(k) employer matching
• Voluntary benefits including identity theft protection, mental health resources, and fertility coverage
• Paid leave for childbirth or bonding
• Paid leave for caregivers
• Programs for loved ones with developmental disabilities and neurodiversity
• Subsidized back-up child and elder care
• Reimbursement for adoption, surrogacy, tuition, and student loans
Perks
• Inclusive and collaborative community
• Modern office environment designed for productivity and creativity
• Investment in professional growth and development
• Space to accelerate progress and create what happens next
• Time off for a winter recess
Additional Information
Sony Music is a global recorded music company with a roster of current artists that includes some of the most popular and influential musicians in the world. The company is home to a diverse array of music genres and styles, operating through various labels and divisions, including Columbia Records.