News Director

Job Description

Nexstar Media Inc.'s KRON 4 is seeking a news director to lead a team of top-notch journalists in San Francisco, DMA #6 – a world class city and the 10th best place to live in the country, according to U. S. News & World Report. The Bay Area's Local News Station delivers the most news coverage in our DMA – over 120 live hours – across KRON 4, kron4.com and KRONon, our 24/7 local news app.

The news director will lead daily on-air and on-line news coverage; hire, train, and mentor producers, reporters and anchors; oversee special projects and execute day-to-day operations in the newsroom. Excellent time management skills, the ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and working within a defined budget are key. Must be able to lead and motivate both experienced, seasoned pros and those who are new to the media industry. The news director must have a track record of successful collaboration with department head peers and value the importance of community involvement. A degree in journalism, mass communications, or a related field is preferred. Prior newsroom leadership experience is required.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Manages all aspects of the News Department
• Plans and manages staffing, training, and performance evaluations for the News Department.
• Makes decisions regarding hiring, evaluation, promotion and termination of employees.
• Develops news coverage strategy for the station and its website.
• Critiques newscasts daily to correct errors, improve coverage and provide mentoring feedback to news staff.
• Assigns projects to staff and verifies that deadlines are being met.
• Ensures achievement of viewer rating goals.
• Determines programming and evaluation of equipment needs to produce quality programming.
• Responds to coverage questions.
• Works with other senior station leaders to establish and reach station goals.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

REQUIREMENTS & SKILLS:
• Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and work-related experience.
• Fluency in English.
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written.
• Minimum five years' experience in news programming production, with at least two years' experience in a leadership role. (More or less depending on market size.)
• Experience guiding, directing and motivating subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.
• Experience establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
• Ability to identify the developmental needs of others and to coach, mentor or otherwise help others to improve their knowledge or skills.
• Experience preparing and maintaining departmental budgets.
• Proficiency with computers, telephones, copiers, scanners, fax machines and other office equipment.
• Ability to meet deadlines, prioritize assignments and handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Ability to effectively listen to fully understand employee needs and communicate with a team to shape a solution.
• Prior experience as news director or assistant news director in a medium or large market.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-gx7bzz-18-218-38-125-42 in your application.