News Director

Description:

KGNU News Director Position Summary

KGNU is hiring a News Director.  Help shape the future of local news along the Colorado Front Range.  The KGNU News Director is a dynamic, energetic, creative, team-oriented, and talented individual responsible for leading KGNU’s award-winning News Department.  The News Director is responsible for overseeing the editorial agenda, overall direction, and day-to-day operations of the KGNU News Department. The News Director must excel in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented, collaborative environment.

The ideal candidate is a superb journalist and experienced manager with superior organizational skills and high journalistic standards who brings an inspiring, social and racial equity-centered editorial vision that will address local news and information gaps with the skills to implement a strategy to achieve it. Our newsroom prioritizes community relevance and engagement.

The News Director leads KGNU’s daily local news coverage across all platforms: radio, podcast, web, social media, and multimedia. The News Director will drive the daily reporting with a combination of energy and calm, creativity and consistency.  The News Director will ensure that news coverage and public affairs programming reflect the highest standards of journalistic ethics, audio production, and public service to the KGNU audience and the communities we serve.

The News Director manages our small but mighty team of staff reporters and producers; while providing journalistic guidance, coordination, training, and management of our volunteer reporters, producers, hosts and interns. Fluent Bilingual (Spanish-English) candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

A full job description, details and application instructions can be found on the KGNU website.  Applications due October 30, 2020.

The Qualifications listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and / or ability required.

Required Qualifications:

• Minimum 5 years of related newsroom experience (reporting, editorial, production)
• Minimum 3 years experience in broadcast media production (producing, hosting, reporting, editing)
• Extraordinary interviewing skills, with positive, inquisitive and personable presence
• Superb verbal and written communication skills
• Superb editorial integrity and skills

• Demonstrated Excellence in digital audio editing (Audition, Soundforge, Audacity, Hindenburg…)
• High proficiency in office suites; excel, word, Google docs/drive,
• Proficiency in project management suites (Asana, Airtable, Coda, Trello, etc)

• Demonstrated experience developing strategies to meet local news and information needs
• Proven history implementing or managing online and Social Media news distribution strategies
• Proficiency in tracking goals & results, generating accurate reports and recommending direction
   
• Exceptional organizational skills with attention to detail
• Ability to efficiently carry out multiple activities and responsibilities in one job
• Proven Project Management experience

• Proven track record working effectively and enthusiastically in collaboration with and managing  a wide variety of people of all ages and backgrounds, both in group settings and one-to-one
• Available to work outside of regular hours during required special news coverage cycles, fundraising campaigns and for community events

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bilingual Spanish and English Fluency is an extremely valued skill for this role
• Demonstrated commitment to independent media
• Prior experience working in and passion for community or public radio & broadcasting
   
• Experience developing and editing multimedia, photos, graphics, or video with multimedia software (Photoshop, Premier) for digital publication
• Experience publishing to podcast platforms and proven podcast distribution strategies
• Prior experience publishing to Wordpress and online platforms (CorePublisher, Joomla)
• Experience using MailChimp or similar electronic newsletter interfaces
   
• Demonstrated experience working with and coordinating volunteers.
• Prior experience with conflict resolution
• Prior experience developing training resources for media-makers
• Knowledge and understanding of the Colorado media landscape and local issues

Related Experience: On-air public broadcasting, news collection, reporting, general management (community or public media)

Hours, Compensation and Benefits (Full Time)

• Full Time - including early weekday mornings, some evenings and weekends (requiring flexibility)
• $45,000 – $49,000 Base Salary commensurate with experience
• KGNU values its employees. This position comes with comprehensive health insurance with multiple plan options and optional add-on’s, a generous and flexible vacation policy, among other station benefits.
• This full-time position is based at KGNU’s Boulder, CO studios.

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE APPLYING:

Please submit a cover letter, a current up to date resume, links to three (3) audio samples of related past on-air hosting work, links to two (2) written samples, and contact information for three professional references (relevant to this job opening). 

In your cover letter please address how the skills, experience and qualifications that you possess: make you qualified for the demands of this leadership position; how you would contribute to creating a culturally inclusive environment in the role for which you are applying; your strategic approach to ensure KGNU fills the gaps of the local news and informational needs of the growing and diverse communities we serve; and your vision for taking the KGNU News Department into a new era.

All Submissions should be made by email ONLY to job@kgnu.org and directed to the KGNU News Director Search Committee. No phone calls please.

Application Deadline: 

October 30, 2020

11:59 PM