Producer, The Indicator Podcast

Job Description

Producer, The Indicator from Planet Money, Temporary
OVERVIEW

Across our organization, we're building a workplace where collaboration is essential, diverse voices are heard, and inclusion is the key to our success.

SUMMARY

The Indicator is one of the biggest daily podcasts around, reaching more than a million people each week. We're hiring for a critical Producer role at a critical time in The Indicator's short history.

We're expanding and changing the sound of the show. In this temporary role, over the next six months, the Producer will help establish the voice of the show, editorial priorities, and have a chance to leave a mark by helping to build our new systems, charting a path to reach new audiences. It's a chance to try something new, dream big, pitch a series, create recurring segments, build long term relationships, it's wide open.

We're a small, tight-knit team that moves fast, has fun, values creative, unconventional approaches to storytelling and rigorous analytical thinking. Producers have the chance to pitch and report stories and occasionally voice them on air. Everyone is also expected to pitch stories for the host(s) execute. Producers will book guests, conduct interviews, gather tape, assist in field reporting, plan logistics of projects, collaborations, trips and generally whatever needs doing as well as mix episodes on very tight deadlines. And mix episodes.

PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITIES
• Assist host(s) as needed.
• Independently edit, cut, mix and produce episodes from raw materials gathered by host/reporters, with only minimal guidance.
• Find stories and original angles on tight deadlines, even just a few hours, and be able to turn them into episodes that help our audience understand the economy better and its impact on all of America and beyond.
• Coordinate production of other producers, offering guidance and mentoring.
• Edit episodes occasionally.
• Push the team to be more ambitious in all areas.
• Mentor and otherwise contribute to the development of junior staff.
• Coordinate coverage choices with editor and others at NPR
• Creatively infuse episodes with music or other sonic elements
• Gather field tape and ''found sound'' from online and other sources.
• Find the right guests to book guests for interviews
• Conduct research on show topics.
• Collaborate with other producers to find creative new ways to tell stories and explain complicated ideas in creative ways.
• Travel, when it is safe to do so.
• Produce content for digital media, including, potentially, scheduling social media posts, writing web copy and newsletters
• Assist with live events as needed.
• Along with the entire team, constantly work to ensure we are representing all of America in the stories we tell and the voices we feature each week and each episode.
• Contribute to the overall journalism of the team generally.
• Fact checking.
• Complete other tasks as needed.

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION: Bachelors' degree or equivalent desired – however we place more value on your relevant experience and knowledge level

REQUIRED SKILLS
• Experience in an audio news environment
• Ability to edit audio decisively, on deadline, ideally in Pro Tools
• Strong storytelling sensibilities.
• Demonstrated ability to work quickly and efficiently under deadline pressure.
• Ability to handle more than one assignment at a time; ability to prioritize, anticipate and communicate effectively.
• Ability and willingness to work varied shifts.
• Proven ability to consistently work well with others, demonstrating, at all times, respect for the diverse constituencies at NPR and within the public radio system.
• Ability and willingness to relocate. In the future, NPR may choose to transfer employees to other geographic locations. Severance provisions of the AFTRA collective bargaining agreement will apply should you choose not to accept a transfer.

PREFERRED SKILLS
• Ability to use recording equipment to gather field sound.
• A natural interest in news.
• An economics background, or eagerness to learn about economics.
• Ambition and interest in improving every aspect of the show, from writing and newsgathering, to inclusion, to web and social presence, to audio quality, to workflow and processes.

HOW TO APPLY

All applications must include a resume and cover letter to be considered.
• It's OK to be casual and conversational in your cover letter, that's how we are on the show, that's how we are with each other. Overall, your application should answer the question: how will hiring you change The Indicator for the better. Tell us what you want to see us change, and why you are the person to help us.
• Please tell us what you think we should stop doing, and what you think we should start doing, or do more of, and how you would help us do that.
• Please choose a recent episode you might have approached differently and tell us how you would have improved it. Be concise, and brutally honest. We appreciate that. And please do it as you might if you were on the team giving feedback to a colleague. I.e. constructively with kindness, empathy and precision.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-rv4jpm-3-145-206-169-42 in your application.