---
title: 'Director of Product, Platforms & Operations at Semafor'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-product-platforms-operations-semafor-new-york-495pb5rdr0ej'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Director of Product, Platforms & Operations at Semafor

- **Company:** Semafor
- **Location:** New York, NY
- **Posted:** 2026-06-08
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/semafor/jobs/4703836005

## Job description

## Who we are

Semafor is a global news platform for an increasingly complex world in which consumers are overwhelmed by too many news sources and unsure what to trust. We are building Semafor to enable world-class journalists to deliver reporting and insights with rigor in journalistic forms that ensure a new level of transparency. Our editors and reporters distill the most important stories from all over in formats that uncover the forces shaping the stories, explain the interests behind polarizing narratives, and replenish the stock of shared facts. As a global platform, Semafor recognizes that smart people can disagree and that informed readers need to understand alternative points of view from competing centers of power and culture in a multi-polar world. Want to join us? Read on.

## Your Responsibilities

- Own product strategy and execution for Semafor's internal platforms, tools, and workflow infrastructure — identifying where systems are fragmented or manual and driving the right solutions.
- Lead discovery, architecture, and build of major systems initiatives, starting with a unified event operating system that creates a single source of truth for Semafor's most important relationships.
- Build and configure tools directly. This is not a role that delegates all execution. You'll be in Airtable, writing queries, testing APIs, and shipping workflows alongside the engineering team.
- Apply AI and automation strategically — identifying the specific operational pain points where LLMs, agents, or intelligent workflows can collapse complexity, and knowing where they can't
- Partner with engineering and data leads to translate complex operational pain points into clear, prioritized build requirements
- Collaborate across events, revenue, editorial, audience, and finance teams, earning trust quickly and translating competing needs into coherent system design

What Makes You Qualified

- 5+ years of product management experience with meaningful time on platforms, systems, or operations-focused products
- Demonstrated experience leading complex integrations across multiple tools and data systems
- Technical fluency to work credibly alongside engineers and make informed architecture decisions. You can prototype, debug, and get your hands dirty
- Hands-on experience applying AI tools (LLMs, agents, workflow automation) to real operational problems, not as side projects or experiments, but as shipped solutions that changed how a team works
- Ability to manage multiple workstreams, balancing immediate operational needs against strategic builds
- Experience in media, events, or a similarly fast-moving, relationship-driven industry a plus
- Working knowledge of no-code/low-code tools like Airtable

The base salary for this position ranges from $150,000 - $175,000 per year, plus performance-based bonus eligibility. Individual compensation varies based on job-related factors, including business needs, experience, level of responsibility, and qualifications.

Additional Job Details:

This position is based in our New York City office with a hybrid work arrangement (in-office Monday-Thursday, remote Friday).  Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. Additional job details

Semafor offers a Flexible Paid Time Off (PTO) policy to our full-time, salaried employees who may take paid time off as-needed without a prescribed limit or defined balance.

Semafor, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and enthusiastically encourages people from all backgrounds and experiences to apply. Semafor, Inc. will consider all applicants without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical and/or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

## About Semafor

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Semafor is an intelligent, transparent global news platform that delivers original reporting, analysis, and high-level live journalism convenings for global decision-makers.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Venture-backed)
- **Headquarters**: Washington, D.C., United States
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Ben Smith, Justin B. Smith

## Core Business
- **Industry**: Digital news media, live journalism events
- **Target Customers**: B2B primarily (C-suite executives, global leaders, policymakers) and B2C (curious, informed global audience)
- **Mission**: To provide an unparalleled level of journalistic transparency through innovative new forms, cutting through the noise of the news cycle with smart, distilled views and exploring competing perspectives across borders for a curious, new global audience. [Semafor About Page](https://www.semafor.com/about)

## Products & Services
- **Semafor Daily News Briefings**: A suite of paid and free email-first publications covering key verticals, including:
    - **Semafor DC**: A daily guide to power and policy in Washington (publishing twice daily starting March 2026).
    - **Semafor Business**: A daily first-read for global business leaders.
    - **Semafor Gulf**: A daily first-read covering the Gulf region.
    - **CEO Signal**: An invitation-only newsletter with 75% of Fortune 500 company CEOs as engaged subscribers.
    - **Flagship News Website**: Original reporting, analysis, and features from global reporting hubs.
- **Semafor Live Journalism & Events**: High-level global convenings connecting public and private sector leaders, including:
    - **Semafor World Economy Summit**: The largest annual gathering of CEOs in the United States.
    - **The Next Three Billion**: A platform focused on emerging economies.
- **Future Products**: Semafor plans to launch a new **CEO-focused China news briefing** and new **audio and video products** in 2026. [Semafor Press Release](https://www.semafor.com/article/01/07/2026/semafor-marks-record-growth-and-profitability-for-global-news-media-launches-major-editorial-and-live-journalism-expansion)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly available
- **Key Metric**: **Annual Revenue of $40 million** (2025), achieving full-year **profitability** with **$2 million in EBITDA**.
- **Total Funding**: **$74 million** across 3 rounds (Pre-Seed, Seed, and a recent Venture round closed in early 2026).
    - Pre-Seed Round (June 2022): $25 million from 7 investors.
    - Seed Round (May 2023): $19 million from 6 investors.
    - Venture Round (January 2026): $30 million from 5 investors.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not explicitly named in public sources, but backed by venture capital.
- **Growth Signals**:
    - **Workforce**: 129 employees (+37.3% year-over-year). [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/semaformedia)
    - **Subscribers**: Over 1 million email subscriptions, heavily concentrated among C-suite leaders.
    - **Recognition**: Named to Fast Company’s Annual List of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in 2024 for "rewriting the story" on international reporting.
    - **Geographic Expansion**: Reporting hubs in Washington DC, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Gulf. Plans to expand into Asia in 2026.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Innovative "Semaform" Format**: The platform’s journalistic structure explicitly separates facts, analysis, opinion, and counter-narratives to rebuild trust with audiences. [Semafor About Page](https://www.semafor.com/about)
- **High-Value Audience**: A highly concentrated, engaged subscriber base of global C-suite leaders and policymakers, creating a premium B2B brand for both news and events.
- **Founding Team**: Led by two veteran media executives: Justin B. Smith (ex-CEO of Bloomberg Media, co-founder of Quartz) and Ben Smith (ex-Editor-in-Chief of BuzzFeed News, media columnist for The New York Times).
- **Profitable Business Model in Digital Media**: Achieving profitability within three years is a significant differentiator in the current media landscape.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale Editorial Operations**: Expanding the frequency of key newsletters (Semafor DC, Business, Gulf) and launching new ones (China briefing).
- **Expand Live Journalism**: Growing flagship events (World Economy Summit from 3 days to 5) and scaling global convenings in new markets (Asia, Gulf, Africa).
- **Product Expansion**: Developing new audio and video products for decision-makers.
- **Hiring for Growth**: Actively adding to its team of beat-defining journalists and commercial staff in key markets globally.

## Why Work Here
- **High-Impact, High-Profile Work**: Opportunity to build a next-generation global news platform from a growth-stage startup that is already profitable.
- **Growth Trajectory**: The company is aggressively expanding its editorial team, events, and product lines, offering significant career growth potential.
- **Culture of Transparency**: The company’s entire product mission is built on journalistic transparency and rebuilding trust, which likely permeates the internal culture.
- **Workplace Policy**: The company has a hybrid presence with offices in New York, Washington D.C., and London, as well as staff in hubs like the Gulf and Africa.
- **Notable Perks**: Working with a high-caliber team of journalists and a strong leadership team with deep media industry experience. The company appears to have a high-performance culture focused on results and growth.

## Sources
1. [Semafor About Page](https://www.semafor.com/about)
2. [Semafor Press Release (Record Growth)](https://www.semafor.com/article/01/07/2026/semafor-marks-record-growth-and-profitability-for-global-news-media-launches-major-editorial-and-live-journalism-expansion)
3. [Semafor LinkedIn Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/semaformedia)
4. [Semafor Careers Page (Greenhouse)](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/semafor)
5. [Semafor Website](https://www.semafor.com/)

## Other roles at Semafor

- [Event Coordinator, Live Journalism](https://feeny.ai/job/event-coordinator-live-journalism-semafor-washington-ansm654chhzj) — Washington, DC
- [Editorial Event Producer - Contract Opportunity](https://feeny.ai/job/editorial-event-producer-contract-opportunity-semafor-remote-q5m4xeqk7xgf)
- [Spend Management Lead (Accounts Payable & T&E)](https://feeny.ai/job/spend-management-lead-accounts-payable-t-e-semafor-new-york-sndvfc5x2v49) — New York, NY
- [Flagship Lead Editor](https://feeny.ai/job/flagship-lead-editor-semafor-london-england-xgb08txz375q) — London England, United Kingdom
- [Digital & Social Platform Editor](https://feeny.ai/job/digital-social-platform-editor-semafor-new-york-0307tzhkmskg) — New York, NY
- [Video Producer Fellowship](https://feeny.ai/job/video-producer-fellowship-semafor-new-york-8tnvtw2vq57w) — New York, NY
- [Senior Producer, Video & Live Journalism](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-producer-video-live-journalism-semafor-new-york-2b149xkn4thq) — New York, NY / Washington, DC
- [Senior Manager, HR Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manager-hr-operations-semafor-new-york-03wa01wbtz2a) — New York, NY
- [Senior Accountant](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-accountant-semafor-new-york-b05tph3d63tv) — New York, NY
- [Senior Product Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-product-designer-semafor-new-york-vm2s8fnfhnjn) — New York, NY