As a Senior Product Manager on Audible’s MarTech team, James Oyedele is helping to deliver ultra-personalized experiences for customers, such as emails about new releases in their favorite genres, and relevant, timely recommendations in Audible’s app and desktop browsing experiences. Find out what he loves about working at the intersection of customer experience, storytelling, and cutting-edge technology.

What’s life like at the hub you are aligned to?

I divide my time between two locations: our Midtown Manhattan office and our headquarters in Newark, New Jersey. This arrangement effectively minimizes commute time while maximizing in-person collaboration with colleagues across multiple teams.

When in Newark, I've set a personal goal to support our local vendors by dining at every restaurant and food truck covered by the Lunch Out community investment stipend. Additionally, I serve as an intern manager for local high school students, guiding them through GenAI-related projects.

How does the work you do affect listeners or your colleagues across different markets worldwide?

My role has significant global reach. Our marketing initiatives do not stop at borders, and the systems I build need to work seamlessly wherever our listeners live. When I'm designing a new feature or optimizing, I need to think about how it will perform across different languages, cultural contexts, and regional preferences. For listeners worldwide, this means the marketing experiences they receive are tailored to their local market while maintaining the quality and personalization Audible is known for.

What was your first Audible listen? What inspired you to check it out?  

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I was inspired by our founder, Don Katz, who listed it as one of his favorite listens. Immediately you can tell why it’s a great recommendation. The narrator, Joe Morton, provides a variety of characters with unique voices and tones. A book I’d read before was transformed into a whole new experience through the audio medium. I highly recommend listening to the books you’ve read and loved in the past.

Can you share a bit about your career journey at Audible?

When I first joined Audible, my scope was narrower: managing technology related to our paid media investments. Very quickly though, my responsibilities expanded into various focus areas and projects, from localization to audience management tools. Roles change and develop often because we need to adjust our planning and development to rapidly evolving customer requirements.

Other than the people, what do you love most about the culture here?

For me, Audible's commitment to the local community is a real differentiator. While many companies treat community responsibility as an afterthought, it is embedded in one of Our People Principles, Activate Caring.

From sponsoring local commerce initiatives like Newark’s new retail hub, The Pillars, to welcoming dozens of local high school interns every year, Audible creates meaningful opportunities for employees to give back to the community. I've seen firsthand how these programs don't just benefit the community, they enrich Audible’s work culture and make us better in our day-to-day roles.

What advice would you have for a candidate considering Audible?

Our People Principles provide the best framework for understanding Audible’s expectations and ways of working. I encourage candidates to reflect honestly on their own experiences and work preferences, then consider how compatible they are with these principles.

We're not looking for robots who all work identically. Instead, the principles provide a shared cultural foundation that each person can apply and interpret in their own way. They ensure we're all working within a common framework while leaving room for individual approaches, diverse perspectives, and personal strengths. If these principles resonate with how you want to show up at work, you'll find a culture where you can thrive while staying true to yourself. 

How do you exemplify our People Principles in your day-to-day work?

In MarTech, we always begin with the customer (Customer Obsession). That means being constantly attuned to the marketing and customer experience challenges our teams face. Our listeners and the marketers who serve them provide the ‘voice of customer,’ which defines my work.

Very often, the challenges we need to solve are technically ambiguous or complex, so it’s crucial to translate them into requirements for developers and UX teams (Articulate the Possible and Move Fast to Make it Real).

Furthermore, GenAI has drastically expanded possibilities, and I have the tools to help teams invent and experiment to drive advancements at a rate we couldn’t have imagined a couple of years ago (to Imagine and Invent Before They Ask). We’re fortunate to have the tools and freedom to build and iterate on ideas in rapidly evolving ways.

What’s one quality people interested in working on the MarTech team need to be successful here?

I think a degree of comfort with change and ambiguity is essential for success. We operate in a space where there's rarely a very clear playbook or precedent; our work evolves rapidly in response to customer needs, regulatory mandates and, of course, technology innovations. Key skills are being able to synthesize incomplete information, make informed decisions without perfect data and iterate quickly based on what you learn.

What made you choose to work at Audible, what makes you want to stay?

Working on products that I personally use and enjoy was a big draw. I get to see the result of my team's efforts nearly every day. After joining the team, I realized the full impact of everything we do, providing stories that delight and entertain millions of people across the globe. It's rare to be at a company that has been the leader in defining a media category and has a vision to continue harnessing cutting-edge technology to push the boundaries of what's possible for our customers. I stay at Audible because every day, I'm excited by what we're inventing.

Lightning round!

Favorite genre? Satire and magical realism.

Listening from a speaker or headphones? Headphones!

Favorite activity while listening? Running.

Morning person or night owl? Morning person.

Favorite snack? Peanut M&Ms.

What is your favorite listen?

The Sellout by Paul Beatty. It’s a hilariously biting satire of modern America, told in a way that will make you laugh out loud. The narrator delivers a performance that transforms the novel into a comedy-set level of entertainment.

See open Technology roles at Audible