Casting Director

Pocket FM is redefining audio entertainment for the streaming era. With hundreds of millions of listeners globally, we produce high-quality, serialized audio dramas across genres including romance, fantasy, thriller, and sci-fi. Our US Originals slate continues to expand rapidly, and we are building the next generation of audio storytelling powered by creative excellence and smart systems.

We are looking for a Creative Lead to own and elevate our casting, talent strategy, and voice ecosystem.

Role overview

This is not a coordination role. This is a creative leadership role.

As Creative Lead for Casting & Talent Strategy, you will own the end-to-end casting and voice talent ecosystem for Pocket FM's US Originals. You will lead proactive casting for new shows, expand and nurture a high-quality artist pool primarily based in the US, manage contracts and negotiations, and partner closely with Creative Directors, Producers, and Creative Design Leads to ensure every show is cast for performance and scalability.

You will operate at the intersection of creative direction, talent strategy, and commercial discipline.

You must be deeply proactive, highly organized, creatively sharp, and comfortable working across US time zones while being based in India. This is a work from home position.

What you'll own:

Casting leadership

Lead casting for new and ongoing US shows across genres

Develop strong voice maps for characters in collaboration with Creative Directors and Producers

Run auditions, callbacks, and casting evaluations

Make data-informed casting decisions balancing quality, scalability, and cost

Ensure quick turnaround without compromising performance quality

Talent ecosystem & artist pool expansion

Continuously expand and diversify the voice artist pool across accents, age ranges, and performance styles

Build relationships with top-tier and emerging voice talent

Identify and nurture B-tier talent into A-tier performers

Create structured talent pipelines to reduce casting dependency risks

Maintain updated talent databases with performance notes, genre strengths, availability, and rates

Contracts & negotiations

Lead rate negotiations with artists while maintaining long-term relationships

Structure contracts aligned with show economics and performance metrics

Work closely with internal finance and legal teams to ensure compliance and documentation

Develop scalable compensation frameworks (tiered models, performance-based incentives, etc.)

Creative & directorial alignment

Conduct directorial calls with Producers, Artists, and CDLs

Ensure artists clearly understand tone, character arcs, and emotional beats

Step in creatively when performance quality dips

Align casting decisions with broader show strategy and listener feedback insights

Cross-functional collaboration

Partner closely with US Creative Directors

Align with Production Leads to forecast casting needs

Work with analytics teams to identify performance-based talent insights

Ensure strong communication across India and US teams

What we're looking for

5+ years in casting, talent management, audio/video production, or creative operations

Strong negotiation and contract management experience

Deep understanding of voice performance, character development, and storytelling

Ability to assess voice talent quickly and accurately

Comfort operating in a fast-scale, high-output environment

Experience managing multiple shows simultaneously

Strong relationship-building skills

Highly proactive mindset anticipates problems before they arise

Comfortable working overlap hours with US time zones

Strong documentation and systems thinking ability

Bonus if you have:

Experience in long-form audio drama or podcast production

Exposure to US market voice talent

Experience building compensation frameworks

Experience using performance data to inform creative decisions

What success looks like

Faster, sharper casting cycles

Stronger bench of voice talent across genres

Improved performance quality across shows

Sustainable and scalable artist relationships

Smarter cost structures without compromising creative excellence