News Director

Job Description

Rockford News Director

The Rockford Region is just a stone's throw from Chicago, settled along the banks of the Rock River and the serene rolling green hills of Northern Illinois. We have all the amenities of a Big City, but with a Small-Town easy feel.

Looking for stuff to do? Well we got tons. Check it out right here: things to do.

From our Downtown City Market to Food Truck Tuesday, it's pretty tough to beat Rockford for unique eating venues and top-notch local restaurants.

We're a welcoming community, a great place to live life with plenty of room to grow. And without all the hassles of big city congestion. Welcome to the real heart of America, the Rockford Region.

Our brand is Your Home Team. And we live it every day with the most tenured news team, Eyewitness News!

We offer more news and locally produced programming than any other station in the market as well as unmatched digital delivery on https://www.mystateline.com/.

The News Director leads and supervises all aspects of news, weather and sports programming production.
• Manages all aspects of the News Department (other than Production)
• 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.
• 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.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-rz3q73-18-191-135-224-42 in your application.