At Blue Ridge Public Radio, you’ll develop strategies and manage, oversee or collaborate with teams to advance activities that drive audience growth in broadcast, digital, social, and in-person. Risk will be encouraged along with mistakes.
Essential Duties:
Leadership (40%):
- Set strategic priorities and performance goals for audience growth on multiple platforms.
- Determine broadcast, social and digital audience growth strategies.
- Conceive of and drive brand-building marketing and/or audience campaigns (podcast, broadcast, digital/platform/app initiatives) that achieve positive audience and/or revenue results;
- Collaborate with the News Director to develop targeted content (news) for target audiences.
- Serve on senior leadership team to set organizational trajectories.
- Analyze and report on key audience metrics to inform content and audience development strategies aligned to advancing organizational goals.
- Lead multiplatform content strategy including podcasts, newsletters, on-demand programming, text etc.
Management (20%):
- Structure department to meet information and cultural needs of the audience.
- Develop and manage content, audience and engagement budget.
- Provide consistent feedback for on-air hosts and announcers.
- Manage the content and engagement budget.
- Recruit, retain, supervise and coach a diverse team of announcers, producers and hosts (approximately four); schedule announcements.
- Work with the Development Department to build strong cases to secure funding from major donors, foundations and grant applications for
- Work with business-side functions as appropriate to develop audiences.
- Serve as member of Community Forum’s steering committee and assist community participants with recruitment, working groups and related activities.
- Develop and manage the department budget.
Audience Development and Engagement (20%):
- Drive audience engagement by hosting listening sessions and researching the information needs of those underserved by journalism; Station lead in BPR’s Community Forum (aka Community Advisory Board) to assist in this work.
- Oversee strategy for on-air imaging and promotion.
- Work closely with the Director of Development’s staff to execute on-air fundraising plans.
- Work with team members to produce newsletters, align social distribution, and advance SEO strategy.
- In collaboration with the News Director, facilitate collaborative frameworks with other media organizations in the region and state to address news deserts in our area.
- Work with relevant staff to identify and build content and community-related partnerships and collaborations with other media and/or with community organizations.
- Oversee and/or directly manages BPR’s participation in such collaborations.
- Collaborate with NPR and other national outlets on news coverage as appropriate.
Content Development and Programming (20%):
- Create and ensure an inclusive, ongoing content development process that enables innovative ideas and inspires creative people.
- Lead editorial process, planning and execution, of all BPR original non-news content.
- Oversee acquisition, scheduling, distribution and promotion of all music and news content–including local, regional and national–for multiple platforms and audiences.
- Review all on-air copy for on-air fundraising and facilitate coordination of on-air promotions.
- Work closely with Business Sponsorship Director and Department on improving application of guidelines, workflows and processes; provide final edits of all business sponsorship copy.
- Negotiate external content partnerships and work with the full BPR management team to find business models to support content production.
- Serve as back up host/announcer.
We’re looking for candidates with:
- At least five years’ experience directing marketing or audience development in a media organization. A news background and director/C-suite-level skills or experience are helpful.
- Demonstrated ability to think critically about audience data and apply insights to advance organizational strategy.
- Clear understanding of intersection of broadcast and digital programming.
- Experience in direct management of department, cross functional teams and/or vendor partners.
- Experience in and/or passionate about a coaching approach to supervision.
- Demonstrated success in leading brand-building marketing or audience campaigns (podcast, broadcast, digital/platform/app initiatives) that achieved positive audience and/or revenue results.
- Experience in driving organizational change.
- Experience with data collection, analysis and presentation. Experience with design-thinking approach, or related (I.e. Table Stakes) is ideal.
- Understanding and experience with the audience characteristics of the many communities that make up Western North Carolina.
- Demonstrated project management skills.
- Superior skills at cross-team leadership and collaboration.
- The highest level of professional integrity.
- Experience with and commitment to the principles and work of diversity, equity and inclusion in content, staff and community partnerships.
- Excellent verbal and visualization skills, especially in the presentation of complicated data.
- Demonstrated ability to create and manage budgets and develop strategic plans.
- Experience in an on-air environment, (or a willingness to learn).
Salary range is $80,000-$95,000 per year based on experience.
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