How to Add a Job Board to Your Substack Newsletter

Quick Answer

Run the job board on its own subdomain of a domain you own, such as jobs.yournewsletter.com. Add a Jobs item to your Substack navigation bar, and write a short block of job links into each issue, saved as a post template so you build it once. Substack's post editor supports no custom HTML or iframes, and its embed article describes no RSS option (checked October 2026), so those links are how the jobs reach the email. Most newsletters can finish all of it in an afternoon.

What Substack Handles and What the Board Handles

Substack is built to write, send and host a newsletter, and to charge for subscriptions. A job board does a different job: an employer submits a listing, pays for it and manages it, and each listing becomes a page that job seekers find on Google. We found no tool in Substack's help center for employers to submit and pay for listings (checked October 2026), so the board lives on its own site and Substack points to it.

Nothing here syncs on its own. The board does not send your issue, and Substack does not publish job pages. What you set up below is a few links and a template, which is also why none of it can break the newsletter you already send.

Step 1: Put the Board on a Domain You Own

Give the board its own hostname on a domain you own, such as jobs.yournewsletter.com. A hostname can only point to one place. If your Substack runs on a custom domain such as www.yournewsletter.com, the board needs a different hostname. If your publication is still at a substack.com address, any domain you own works for the board.

The board does not need Substack's custom domain feature. That is a separate setting for the newsletter itself, with a one time fee that Substack explains on its own page, and it has no effect on where the board lives.

In your Kardow dashboard, open Settings > Custom Domain, enter the subdomain, and add the CNAME and TXT records it shows you at your DNS provider. Custom domains are included on every plan. Until the domain is connected, the board runs on a Kardow address that is kept out of Google, so connect it before you send readers there.

Step 2: Link the Board From Your Navigation Bar

Substack's help center describes the navigation bar as the place to add links that lead to pages on and off Substack, and gives the example of a shop run through another service. A job board is the same kind of link.

1. Open your publication's Settings page and scroll to the Website section.
2. In the Navigation bar section, select Add item.
3. Under Title, enter Jobs. Enter https://jobs.yournewsletter.com as the link URL and select Add.
4. Drag the item where you want it. To edit or delete it later, select the three dots on its right.

Built in items such as Podcast and About cannot be reordered, but items you add can. Custom pages and tags you create in Settings can also be added to the navigation bar, which is useful if you later write a page for employers.

Step 3: Add a Homepage Link With a Short Pitch

The navigation bar says Jobs. A homepage link can say more. Substack lets you add any link with a title, a subtitle and a group on your publication's homepage.

1. Go to your publication's Settings page and click Website.
2. Next to Homepage links, select Edit.
3. Add the board's address as the link, a title such as Open jobs, and a subtitle that says who the jobs are for, for example roles from employers who hire in your field or your town.
4. Choose a group, then drag the link into order.

Step 4: Put the Jobs in Each Issue as Links

Because a Substack post accepts no custom HTML or iframes, and Substack's embed article describes only rich media pasted as a URL, the jobs in an issue are links you write. It is one short block of three to six jobs, and Step 5 saves it so you build it once.

1. Open the board and pick the jobs for this issue, the featured and paid ones first.
2. Copy each job's short link: in Kardow, open All jobs, click the three dots on the job, and choose Copy short link.
3. Write one line per job: the job title as a link, then the company and the location.
4. End the block with one link to the full board.

Paid mentions work the same way. When a sponsor buys a post plus an issue mention, write that mention yourself, the way you write a sponsorship. The board has an RSS feed at /rss.xml, but Substack has nowhere to put it, so do not spend time looking for the setting.

Step 5: Save the Jobs Block as a Template

Substack post templates let you pre-load reusable text without copying and pasting every time. Build the jobs block once, with a heading such as Jobs this week, example links and a final link to the full board.

1. Click Create and choose an article, then click Template in the post editor toolbar and + New template.
2. In the template composer, enter a title and the block. To keep templates tidy, add a slash after a group name, for example Jobs/Weekly block.
3. Select Save. The template is saved automatically and sits under the Template button in the toolbar.
4. In the next issue, click Template, choose the group, and pick the template to insert it. Then swap in this week's links.
5. To edit or delete it, click Template and select the three dots next to it.

Templates are only available on posts on the web, not in Notes or the Substack app, so build each issue in the web editor. Insert the template into a draft once after you save it, to check that it looks the way you want.

Step 6: Grow the List in Both Directions

Readers move both ways. Newsletter readers click through to the board from each issue, your navigation bar and your homepage. Job seekers find the board through Google and sign up for job alerts.

Kardow sends those job alerts itself, from the board, matched to each person's keywords, categories and locations. That is separate from your Substack issue, so someone who only wants alerts gets alerts and is not mailed your newsletter.

To bring alert subscribers into the newsletter, export them from Users in your Kardow dashboard (set the Job alerts filter to Subscribed, then click Export CSV). In Substack, click the Dashboard icon, open Subscribers, select Add subscribers, scroll to Add subscribers by upload, and choose your file. Substack accepts .csv, .xlsx and .ods files of email addresses, skips duplicates, and may skip addresses with an invalid domain.

Substack asks you to confirm that the people you upload have opted in to receiving emails. Someone who signed up for job alerts agreed to job alerts. Upload only the people who have also agreed to your newsletter, for example by inviting them from the board to your newsletter's own sign up page, so they join on their own. The route Substack documents is the file upload, so plan on exporting and uploading rather than an automatic sync.

What Does Not Work on Substack

These are the things people try first. Knowing them saves an evening.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

All Substack pages below were read in October 2026. Substack changes its menus often, so check the current screen before you start.

• How do I organize the navigation bar on my Substack publication?, Substack help center.
• How do I add links to my Substack homepage?, Substack help center.
• Can I edit the CSS or HTML on Substack?, Substack help center. No custom HTML or iframes in the post editor.
• How do I embed media in my post?, Substack help center.
• How can I add a template into my Substack post?, Substack help center.
• How do I embed a code block in a Substack post?, Substack help center.
• How do I import my mailing list from another platform?, Substack help center. The upload steps and the opt in confirmation.
• How do I set up my custom domain on Substack?, Substack help center.
• Kardow: the board's feed, short links, custom domain and job alert export, from the product and its dashboard, checked October 2026.