Head Operations- West- Media House

Role & responsibilities

The Head West Zone will be responsible for driving the overall business growth, revenue generation, market expansion, circulation, distribution, and operational performance of the media house across the Western region. The role requires a seasoned media professional with strong commercial acumen, regional market knowledge, and the ability to lead cross-functional teams across advertising sales, circulation, marketing, distribution, and editorial coordination.

The incumbent will be responsible for strengthening the organisation’s market presence, building strategic relationships with advertisers and agencies, improving readership and circulation, identifying new business opportunities, and ensuring profitable growth across the assigned markets.

2. Key Responsibilities

A. Business Strategy and Regional Leadership

• Develop and implement the overall business strategy for the West Zone in alignment with the organisation’s growth objectives.
• Drive revenue, profitability, market share, and operational performance across assigned states and cities.
• Identify emerging markets, new business opportunities, and expansion possibilities within the region.
• Prepare annual business plans, budgets, revenue forecasts, and market development strategies.
• Monitor regional performance against targets and implement corrective measures wherever required.

B. Advertising Sales and Revenue Growth

• Drive advertising revenue across print, digital, events, branded content, and other media platforms, as applicable.
• Build and strengthen relationships with key advertisers, advertising agencies, media planners, corporate clients, and government departments.
• Develop strategic partnerships with large regional and national advertisers.
• Identify new revenue streams, improve client penetration, and increase share of wallet from existing clients.
• Lead the regional sales team in achieving revenue targets, improving yield, and ensuring timely collection of outstanding dues.
• Develop customised advertising solutions and integrated media packages to meet client requirements.

C. Circulation, Distribution and Market Development

• Drive circulation growth, readership expansion, and distribution effectiveness across the West Zone.
• Oversee distributor, dealer, agent, hawker, and retail distribution networks.
• Identify untapped markets, improve market penetration, and expand the publication's geographical reach.
• Monitor circulation performance, subscription trends, sales returns, and distribution costs.
• Conduct periodic market assessments and competitor analysis to identify opportunities for improving circulation and market share.
• Strengthen relationships with local distribution partners and ensure efficient last-mile delivery.

D. Marketing, Branding and Audience Engagement

• Lead regional marketing initiatives to strengthen brand visibility, readership, and audience engagement.
• Develop local market activation campaigns, reader engagement programmes, promotional activities, and events.
• Work closely with the marketing and digital teams to execute integrated campaigns.
• Identify opportunities for sponsorships, partnerships, special editions, and regional initiatives.
• Leverage local insights and audience data to improve market positioning and brand relevance.

E. Team Leadership and Performance Management

• Lead, mentor, and motivate regional teams across sales, circulation, marketing, and operations.
• Establish clear business targets, performance metrics, and accountability frameworks.
• Build a high-performance culture focused on revenue growth, customer relationships, operational efficiency, and market expansion.
• Identify talent development needs and strengthen succession planning for key regional positions.
• Ensure effective coordination between regional teams and corporate functions.

F. Editorial and Corporate Coordination

• Coordinate with editorial leadership to align regional market priorities, readership needs, and local content opportunities, while maintaining editorial independence.
• Facilitate collaboration between editorial, sales, marketing, circulation, and digital teams.
• Identify significant regional developments, events, and local interests that can enhance audience engagement.
• Ensure adherence to organisational policies, brand standards, ethical practices, and applicable regulatory requirements.

G. Market Intelligence and Business Reporting

• Monitor competitor activities, pricing strategies, circulation trends, advertising rates, and market developments.
• Analyse regional business performance through periodic MIS, dashboards, and management reports.
• Provide actionable insights to senior management on revenue opportunities, market risks, customer trends, and competitive positioning.
• Track key performance indicators and recommend strategies to improve business productivity and profitability.

3. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The incumbent will be evaluated on the following parameters:

• Achievement of regional advertising and overall revenue targets.
• Growth in circulation, readership, and market share.
• Improvement in operating profitability and cost efficiency.
• Expansion into new markets and acquisition of new advertisers.
• Growth in digital revenue and integrated media solutions, wherever applicable.
• Effectiveness of distribution networks and reduction in unsold returns.
• Client retention, collections, and advertiser satisfaction.
• Team productivity, talent retention, and leadership effectiveness.
• Accuracy of business forecasting and timely reporting.

4. Candidate Profile

Educational Qualification

- Graduate in any discipline; an MBA or postgraduate qualification in Management, Marketing, Sales, or Business Administration would be preferred.

Experience

• Typically 15–20 years of relevant professional experience, with substantial exposure to the media, newspaper, publishing, broadcasting, or digital media industry.
• Demonstrated experience in regional business leadership, revenue generation, and team management.
• Experience handling multi-city or multi-state business operations would be strongly preferred.
• Prior experience in a senior regional leadership role, such as Regional Head, General Manager, Business Head, or Zonal Head, would be desirable.

Core Competencies

• Strong understanding of the Western Indian media market, particularly Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, and other assigned territories.
• Proven track record in advertising sales, circulation growth, and regional business development.
• Strong relationships with advertisers, media agencies, distributors, and regional business stakeholders.
• Excellent commercial, financial, and analytical capabilities.
• Strategic thinking combined with strong execution and operational discipline.
• Demonstrated ability to lead large, geographically dispersed teams.
• Strong negotiation, stakeholder management, and communication skills.
• Ability to operate effectively in a competitive, fast-paced media environment.

5. Reporting and Role Structure

Particular

Details

Designation

Head – West Zone

Department

Regional Business / Sales & Operations

Industry

Media, Publishing and News

Location

Mumbai

Reporting To

Chief Operating Officer / Chief Business Officer / CEO

Geographic Coverage

Western India, as defined by the organisation

Team

Regional Sales, Circulation, Marketing and Operations teams, as applicable

6. Leadership Expectations

The Head – West Zone is expected to function as the business leader for the region, taking end-to-end ownership of growth, revenue, market development, and profitability. The role requires a leader who can combine strong advertiser relationships and commercial expertise with an understanding of circulation, distribution, audience behaviour, and the evolving media landscape.

The ideal candidate will be entrepreneurial, data-driven, commercially astute, and capable of translating organisational strategy into measurable regional business outcomes.

Preferred candidate profile