Job opportunity | YouTube Strategy and Audience Lead – Mako Studios

by | Oct 30, 2026 | Jobs, News

Location: London hybrid
Team: Mako Studios
Reporting to: Founder and CEO

About Mako Studios

Mako Studios is a digital entertainment studio creating original formats, developing YouTube and social audiences, and producing entertainment for brands, talent and media partners. We bring audience strategy, development and production together to make content people choose to watch and formats that can grow beyond one campaign.

The role

Lead the audience thinking behind channels and entertainment formats developed by Mako Studios. Understand why people watch, discover and return to content, then use that understanding to shape programming, creative decisions and channel growth. You will connect audience evidence with practical recommendations that clients and production teams can act on.

What you will own

  • Build YouTube strategies with defined audiences, channel positioning, content pillars and programming priorities.
  • Audit channels, competitors and viewing patterns to identify the most credible opportunities for growth.
  • Interpret YouTube Analytics including audience retention, watch time, click through rate, traffic sources and returning viewers.
  • Work with development and production teams to shape repeatable formats around viewer needs and viewing behaviour.
  • Recommend programming schedules, video packaging, titles, thumbnails and structured tests with publishing teams.
  • Create performance reports that clearly explain what happened, why it matters and which decisions should change.
  • Connect audience growth to relevant commercial objectives, including sponsorship, partnerships and monetisation.
  • Track material platform and creator developments and explain which changes require action for each channel.

What you will bring

Essential experience and capabilities

  • Evidence of developing or improving YouTube strategies, programming or channel performance.
  • Confident analysis of audience and video level metrics beyond headline view counts.
  • Examples of recommendations that influenced content, packaging, retention, discovery or sustainable growth.
  • A clear understanding of YouTube discovery, audience behaviour and the relationship between format and distribution.
  • Ability to turn data into understandable strategy, practical tests and persuasive client communication.
  • Experience working productively with creative, editorial, production and client facing teams.

Helpful additional experience

  • Experience with creator led entertainment, comedy, competition or branded YouTube channels.
  • Experience launching a channel or improving an established one.
  • Understanding of revenue, sponsorship integration and wider social video distribution.

Priorities in the first three months

  • Establish a performance and audience baseline for each priority channel.
  • Recommend a focused roadmap for programming, packaging, experiments and reporting.
  • Introduce a review rhythm where audience insights influence future commissions and uploads.

What success looks like

  • Priority channels have a defined audience, programming logic and meaningful measures of progress.
  • Recommendations are supported by evidence and improve through deliberate experimentation.
  • Clients understand performance and how next steps connect to their objectives.
  • Audience value strengthens over time through relevant measures, not views alone.

How we review applications

We will look for channel strategy ownership, analytical judgement, audience growth decisions, programming and packaging improvements, and evidence behind stated outcomes. We will consider the context and size of channels when comparing examples.

We value relevant achievements, transferable experience and potential. A specific degree is not required where practical experience demonstrates the capabilities needed for the role.

How to apply

Upload your CV and complete the assessment on assessment.makostudios.co.uk

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