Director of Innovation

Job Description

At NEWSWELL, we help newsrooms become nonprofit and for-community. We provide strategic guidance, innovative solutions and wrap-around operations so local journalists can focus on local news and newsrooms can thrive. We partner with Arizona State University, the nation’s most innovative nine years in a row, to offer game-changing ideas, tools and research. We transform local news to support local communities and bolster democracy. 

NEWSWELL seeks applications for the new position of Director of Innovation. This inaugural director will be an experienced leader who can serve as a key thought partner to the executive director and the senior leadership team in a role that supports an innovative approach to growth and strategy across the organization. This forward-thinking leader will combine market and consumer insights with business analysis and industry needs to identify market and newsroom gaps, efficiencies and expansion opportunities as well as create new products and revenue streams for local newsrooms.

As a member of the senior leadership team, this director will work with other directors and NEWSWELL properties on strategies to continually improve our journalism, grow audience, drive business plans so properties become or remain self-sustaining, and connect with and serve our communities. The director will motivate staff at all levels, providing direction, vision and clarity on priorities. The ideal candidate brings deep knowledge of and passion for advancing local journalism, success in change management, proven financial acumen, and a belief that local journalism can be a positive force in our communities and democracy.

As we create a new model for transforming local news, we have identified four key drivers of our success:

• Listening: Our organizational culture of listening enables NEWSWELL to more deeply understand barriers to trust and consumption of local news and help newsrooms build stronger relationships within their communities.
• Learning: Our relentless drive to strengthen our expertise and knowledge in all areas of community concerns, local journalism and audience needs enables our newsrooms to create engaging content and products in a complex and evolving field.
• Empowerment: Our commitment to innovation and inclusion maximizes the talent and potential of all team members while building success and a sense of belonging.
• Passion: Our unwavering belief in the promise of local journalism and its ability to help communities and democracy thrive fuels our desire to reinvent its future.

**This position can be based in CA or AZ. If based in AZ, both hybrid and fully remote options are available.**

What you'll do:

• Balance the need for immediate market or industry solutions with the visionary creation of products and strategic positioning.
• Validate and propose new products and scalable business expansions, emphasizing product-market fit, and demonstrating potential for both incremental and transformative ROI.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and maintain a forward-thinking roadmap of opportunities and threats to ensure long-term growth.
• Conduct or oversee comprehensive research to identify media threats and opportunities, emerging trends, and industry efficiency, audience and revenue growth opportunities. 
• Identify and/or evaluate potential partnerships, acquisitions, and new market/product opportunities that can drive growth and expand NEWSWELL’s impact and scale. 
• Collaborate with local editorial, marketing, technology and sales teams to ensure cohesive product development and successful market introduction. 
• Define and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of initiatives, including user engagement, revenue growth and market penetration. 
• Prepare and present regular performance reports to senior leadership, partners and funders highlighting achievements, challenges and strategic recommendations. 
• Foster a culture of innovation within the team by encouraging creative thinking and the exploration of new ideas and technologies while staying abreast of industry developments and emerging technologies. 
• Collaborate with various ASU faculty, institute/center directors and unit-based leadership to initiate or leverage partnerships to advance growth and success for all.
• Serve as a project manager for complex, multilayered projects aimed at advancing the goals of NEWSWELL and its properties.
• Travel as needed to local properties or external partners/collaborators.
• Create an inclusive work environment that values diversity, fosters belonging, empowers others and nourishes a culture that pushes for and celebrates wins.

What you'll need:

• Exceptional news judgment and ethics.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to interact effectively with NEWSWELL leadership and colleagues, local editors, industry and university partners, and/or funders and supporters in a wide range of roles.
• Experience leading or coordinating the ideation process for new products and services to meet evolving market or local news demands and overseeing the product development lifecycle from concept to launch. 
• Experience conducting, analyzing and presenting media or journalism-related research.
• Ability to use analytics and user feedback to continuously optimize product offerings and identify areas for improvement. 
• Complex problem-solving skills.
• Experience managing business models that require cost-benefit analysis and well-considered plans for increasing market or philanthropic revenue.
• Strong leadership skills: ability to organize, motivate and lead a team to achieve desired result.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to present effectively to small and large groups.

Job Requirements

Relevant qualifications:

• Must be based in AZ or CA
• Bachelor’s degree.
• Ten plus years of successful leadership and change management in innovation, journalism or related field.
• Proven track record of innovation, change management and product/process development. Experience in AI development a plus.
• Demonstrated organizational skills such as project management, strategic planning, developing KPIs and evaluating progress.
• Any equivalent combination of education and experience from which comparable knowledge, skills and abilities have been achieved.

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