Some of our clients hire us for a year or two while they build their internal teams to take over the podcast management. In these cases, we can be an adviser in shaping roles and job descriptions to make sure they build a team optimal for their needs.

We like to talk about the “hats” to be worn in podcast creation and release. Some of these hats can be worn by the same person(s), while others can be full-time jobs. In some cases, multiple people may wear the same hat. Who wears which hat when depends on the show, the company, and the people. 

Here are the “hats” and their roles

• Executive Producer: The head of the show. Keeps everyone on the team focused and the work aligned with the show’s vision.  

• Coordinator: Responsible for keeping track of all assets—and for keeping the team on schedule. 

• Producer: Structures the show to achieve its objectives. That includes researching topics, identifying guests and scoping out episodes.

• Outreach Manager: In charge of booking guests—and may also book a show’s hosts onto other podcasts.

• Host: The “talent”—the show’s main voice.

• Writer: Drafts everything from the show description to episode names, descriptions and notes—and writes the show scripts. Can also contribute to the show’s blog and social media posts.

• Voice Artist: Records segments not voiced by the  host and guest, such ads, intros, closes.

• Graphic Designer: Creates a show’s visual art—including show branding, episode art, pull-quote cards, social media images, teaser videos.

• Audio Editor: This person takes the recording and makes it a show. That includes adjusting audio levels, rearranging the order of audio segments, adding music and ads, and—maybe most important—removes content to keep the final show continuously engaging.

• Video Editor: If the podcast comes with video, this person makes that recording into a show. 

• Engineer: Keeps the recording and editing equipment in good shape and manages the recording process

• Compliance: Reads the transcript of every episode to avoid liability issues.

• Quality Assurance: Listens to every episode before it launches to guard against any errors.

• Distribution Manager: Launches the podcast into the world and collects metrics.

• Social Media Manager: Promotes the podcast in all the right places, including getting the guests’ handles, creating share packages for each episode and guest, and tracking post performance. Also makes sure to engage with comments on the social media posts!

• Relationship Manager: Continues to engage with the guest post recording, building and maintaining the show’s network.

Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash