New York City, New York, United States, January 2026 — Acast, the global podcast marketplace connecting advertisers with engaged audiences worldwide, has appointed Amanda Schmidt as Global Chief People Officer. In this role, Amanda will lead Acast’s global people and culture agenda as the company continues to scale its international operations and strengthen its position in the rapidly evolving podcast and digital audio ecosystem.
In her new position, Amanda is responsible for shaping Acast’s global people strategy, focusing on leadership development, organisational effectiveness, culture, and talent infrastructure across markets. Her appointment comes at a pivotal stage as Acast accelerates growth across its global network and continues to build a high-performance, people-first organisation.
Prior to joining Acast, Amanda served as Global Chief People Officer at Cision, where she was recruited by the CEO to lead a large-scale transformation for a private equity–owned global technology company. At Cision, she oversaw the People function along with Communications and Facilities, supporting a workforce of approximately 6,000 employees across 44 markets.
Before Cision, Amanda was Chief People Officer at Edelman, where she was hired as a successor by the Global CHRO. In this role, she led the People function for the world’s largest family-owned public relations firm, supporting a global workforce of 6,000 employees and contributing to the organisation’s continued growth and operational scale.
Earlier, she served as Global Chief People Officer at DEPT®, where she led HR and culture strategy during a critical IPO-readiness phase for the global digital agency. Her work focused on aligning people strategy with business growth for an organisation of more than 4,000 employees worldwide.
Amanda also held the role of Global Chief People Officer at Essence, where she played a key role in scaling the organisation during its integration with GroupM and WPP. During her tenure, Essence expanded rapidly in both revenue and global workforce, reinforcing its position as a leading data-driven media agency.
Earlier in her career, Amanda held senior leadership roles across workforce planning, people operations, and resource management at organisations including Havas Worldwide, Spring Studios, R/GA, and Interbrand, building deep expertise at the intersection of talent strategy, operational scale, and creative industries.
About Acast
Acast is a global podcast platform that connects advertisers with engaged audiences across its network of more than 140,000 podcasts. Founded in 2014, Acast has built one of the world’s largest podcast marketplaces, delivering over one billion quarterly listens monetised across any app or listening platform. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Acast operates worldwide and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (ACAST).
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