Attention Future Media Moguls: We Are Looking For A Killer COO

Erick Schonfeld

Erick Schonfeld is a technology journalist and the executive producer of DEMO. He is also a partner at bMuse, a product incubator in New York City. Schonfeld is the former Editor in Chief of TechCrunch. At TechCrunch, he oversaw the editorial content of the site, helped to program the Disrupt conferences and CrunchUps, produced TCTV shows, and wrote daily... → Learn More

Friday, January 13th, 2012
techcrunchjet

One of the best jobs in media just opened up: running TechCrunch’s business and AOL’s other technology properties (Engadget, Joystiq, and The Unofficial Apple Weblog). AOL is hiring a COO (apply here) to lead all of its technology properties, which collectively reach 30 million people a month and produce 250 million pageviews.

The job is in San Francisco, working out of TechCrunch’s offices. The COO will oversee the business side of all the tech sites, the conference business (which includes Disrupt, the Crunchies, and more), and other products such as CrunchBase.

It’s a big job with big shoes to fill (former TechCrunch CEO and AOL Tech GM Heather Harde‘s). The role requires the ability to manage across several disciplines: product management, sales, engineering, and events, while acting as a liaison between the editors of each site and the rest of AOL. It’s basically like being the CEO of a startup within a larger company.

The ideal candidates will have a combination of startup DNA and media company experience. They’ve grown businesses, managed large teams, and can easily orchestrate a dozen moving parts. But most importantly, they have the drive to take some of the best technology media brands on the Internet and build them into a substantially larger businesses than they already are today. What would you do to take TechCrunch, Engadget and AOL’s other tech sites to the next level? If you have a good answer, and the experience to back it up, you can read more about the position and apply here.

We have big plans for 2012, and are staffing up to make them happen. TechCrunch is also hiring a lead product manager, who will report to the COO and own the product roadmap for the TechCrunch site, Crunchbase, TechCrunch TV, and future mobile apps. Keep an eye on CrunchBoard for other positions in sales, engineering, events, and editorial (where we are continually adding to the writing staff).


Company: TechCrunch
Website: techcrunch.com
Launch Date: June 11, 2005

TechCrunch, founded on June 11, 2005 by Michael Arrington, is a network of technology-oriented blogs and other web properties.

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Company: AOL
Website: aol.com
Launch Date: May 24, 1985
IPO: April 12, 2009, NYSE:AOL

AOL is a global advertising-supported Web company, with display advertising network in the U.S., a substantial worldwide audience, and a suite of popular Web brands and products. The company’s strategy focuses on increasing the scale and sophistication of its advertising platform and growing the size and engagement of its global online audience through leading products and programming. History of Aol: AOL was founded in the early 1980’s as Control Video Corp, with an online service, Gameline, for the Atari 2600 console. ...

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