News & Public Affairs Director

Job Title : News & Public Affairs Director

Department : News Department

Reports To : Station Manager

FLSA Status : Exempt

Hours : FULL TIME, may include early mornings, evenings, weekends, or flexible hours

Positions Supervised : Associate News Producer / Host, Work-study Interns, volunteer news and public affairs producers, news department interns

Location : Based in Boulder, CO

Travel : Limited Regional, Frequent Local

Position Summary

The KGNU News & Public Affairs 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 coordinating and guiding 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, empathetic manager with excellent organizational and communication skills, as well as high journalistic standards. They bring an inspiring, social, and racial equity-centered editorial vision that addresses local news and information gaps, along 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.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities Include (but may not be limited to) :

Lead and Manage the overall direction of the KGNU News Department its employees, volunteers, and interns

Coordinate, Produce, and Host Morning News Programming

Coordinate, Develop, and Produce News and Public Affairs Programming

Support and Train Volunteers / Interns in the News Department

Develop Strategic News Partnerships and Community Engagement

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

Required Qualifications :

Minimum 3 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 of 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 community events

Preferred Qualifications :

Bilingual Spanish and EnglishFluency 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, Grove, 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)

57,500 – $63,500 Base Salary commensurate with experience

KGNU values its employees. This position comes with comprehensive health insurance with multiple plan options and optional add-ons, and a generous and flexible PTO policy, among other station benefits.

This full-time position is based at KGNU’s Boulder, CO studios.