Audience and Product Director

Job Description

Blue Ridge Public Radio Job Announcement 

Director of Audience and Product – Blue Ridge Public Radio 

Announcement 
Blue Ridge Public Radio, the public media company of Western North Carolina, is searching for a dynamic and experienced leader of Audience & Product to join the team.   

Who we are 
BPR is an independent, nonprofit news and media organization producing award-winning journalism, as well as arts and cultural programming and serving 650,000 people across 14 Appalachian counties in Western North Carolina through two broadcast services and aligned digital platforms.  We inspire, inform, connect, and reflect the people and places of Western North Carolina. BPR is an anchor of, and an established collaborator in, the Western North Carolina news ecosystem and is the largest NPR affiliate in the region.   
We believe that local journalism is critical for expanding civil society and sustaining a stronger community:  we seek to be the essential, independent source of news and cultural content that gives Western North Carolinians a deeper understanding of one another and the world.   

About Western North Carolina 
Regularly included as one of the most desirable places to live in the country, Asheville and the region offers a vibrant local food scene, incredibly diverse live-music landscape, and endless outdoor recreation. 

What you'll bring to BPR:
• Develop, implement and oversee all local and national broadcast content and schedules as well as cross-platform and cross platform initiatives/campaigns: podcasts, video, on-demand audio, newsletters, blogs, live events, social media, etc.
• Create and drive strategy for audience growth: reach, engagement and loyalty.
• Set goals for audience growth on BPR’s various products and platforms (broadcast, digital, newsletters, on-demand audio, in-person events and social media).
• Direct implementation (and/or implement) activities and tactics to meet audience retention and/or growth goals, including SEO and user experience.
• Plan and execute campaigns designed to achieve audience goals by leveraging owned platforms, social media, email, partnerships and paid media platforms.
• Use various analytics tools to define goals for and track the performance of our publishing platforms — including the website, mobile apps, social media accounts, pods, newsletters and third-party platforms — on key metrics of reach, engagement and loyalty.
• Evaluate broadcast audience metrics and implement changes to meet organizational goals.
• Promote innovation and smart risk-taking to grow audiences.
• Develop, manage and oversee $1m departmental expense budget (programming, engagement, marketing).
• Serve on Senior Leadership Team that implements the Board of Directors’ Strategic Plan.
• Staff Community Advisory Board.
• Collaborate with leadership on development and implementation of editorial and programming policies to achieve consistent, reliable quality and depth.
• Collaborate with News Director to increase reach and engagement of local and regional news.
• Oversee brand-building, marketing and audience growth campaigns that achieve positive audience and/or related revenue results; Ensure that creative, message, language and voice are consistent across all platforms.
• Raise the profile of all product and platform brands: increase awareness and heighten audience reach, engagement and loyalty for BPR News, BPR Classic and BPR Digital.
• Work closely with both editorial, business-side and development colleagues to identify key audiences for BPR’s journalism, audio storytelling and music programming; Develop strategies and implement tactics for reaching and retaining those audiences.
• Oversee team responsible for acquisition, scheduling, distribution and promotion of all broadcast news and music content.
• Oversee the development, growth and performance of editorial newsletters and podcasts.
• Manage team that works with newsroom colleagues to create compelling social storytelling and off-platform experiences for BPR’s journalism.
• Oversee all campaign activity to ensure timely delivery and measurable results.
• Build paid media plans that drive measurable audience growth from target segments.

Additional duties include: 
• Nurture an environment of inclusive, creative, collaborative and critical thinking.
• Organize and lead weekly meetings, review plans, ideation, goal setting.
• Meet with all staff in a group and individually to create an understanding of the current challenges and to provide mentoring and leadership development for talented staff.
• Expand partnerships and scale production for on-demand products.
• Participate in membership drives, advisory board meetings and other fundraising events in support of the mission of the stations.

The qualifications below are an example of skills that are key to this position, but we know there are great candidates who may not have all these qualities or who have important skills we haven't thought of. If that's you, don't hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.  And if this your first foray into public radio, we will provide radio host and audio training to candidates who bring strong skills from another profession. 

Location: This is a site-based position working out of the BPR studios in downtown Asheville, NC. All senior leadership staff have the option to work two days per week remotely.   

Compensation and benefits: 
Salary range is $90,000-$105,000 per year based on experience. In addition to salary and Worker’s Compensation Insurance, BPR offers a compensation package that includes the following benefits: 

• Employer Paid Health Insurance (BPR pays 80%, 20% pre-tax employee contribution)
• Vision and Dental coverage (BPR pays 80%, 20% pre-tax employee contribution)
• 403(b) Retirement Plan Match up to 5% after 90 days
• Smart/Mobile Phone Stipend
• Short-Term Disability
• Long-Term Disability
• Life and Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance
• 12 days Paid Vacation in Year One, 17 days in Years 2-5 and 20 days for Years 6+
• 10 days of Sick Leave per year
• 11 Paid Holidays per year

This job posting is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.  

How to apply: 
To apply for the Blue Ridge Public Radio Audience and Production Director position, please fill out an application at:  www.bpr.org/careers. 

Equal Employment Opportunity: Blue Ridge Public Radio is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions at Blue Ridge Public Radio are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, family or parental status, national origin, age, disability, military or veteran status, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. 

Blue Ridge Public Radio is actively working to implement diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at all levels of its operations – internally and externally - and is committed to equitable policies and practices. We strongly encourage members of traditionally underserved and underrepresented communities to apply for our open positions. 

Job Requirements

What we’ll provide: We’re looking for candidates with: 
• Significant relevant experience and a successful track record of growing and cultivating digital audiences and achieving measurable audience or subscriber goals, including growth and engagement targets through product and/or platform development.
• Experience building audiences for mission-driven public-interest work.
• Experience with testing and deep proficiency digesting and synthesizing data to turn it into actionable insights for stakeholders across the organization.
• SEO and email marketing expertise.
• A track record of building fruitful external partnerships with media and promotional partners, platforms, vendors and community groups.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and transparently across teams and job functions, with an eye toward solutions and building buy-in.
• Experience building media plans and owning budgets.
• Excellent judgment – leadership, brand creative, partnerships and messaging.
• Experience building and managing high-performing, collaborative teams.
• Demonstrated passion for learning and experimentation.
• Trusted advocate for the needs of diverse audiences in conversations about storytelling, design, platform and product development.
• A news background and VP/C-suite-level skills and experience.
• Excellent data presentation skills.
• Clear understanding of intersection of broadcast and digital content.
• Superior skills in direct management of employees, department, cross functional teams and/or vendor partners; passion for a coaching approach to supervision is a plus.
• Demonstrated project management skills.
• 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.
• Demonstrated ability to create and manage budgets and develop strategic plans.
• Experience in a broadcast content environment, (or a willingness to learn).
• High skills with some of the tools we use — including (but not limited to) NPR Analytics, Chartbeat, Drupal CMS, Google Analytics, Google Docs, Outlook—and has ideas about others we should be using.

What we’ll provide: 
• Investment in your professional growth through coaching, training and professional development.
• A design-thinking, people-centered, collaborative environment where risk, innovation and growth is fostered.
• A commitment to continue and build our diversity, equity and inclusion work in content, staffing, board representation, and community partnerships.
• State of the art broadcast facility remodeled in 2020.
 

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