The Opportunity

Join award-winning 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR News Station as its next News Director!  This is an outstanding opportunity for a news leader with a vision for excellence to join one of the largest and most listened-to radio news and information services in Pittsburgh. In addition to broadcast programming, we engage the community through our online and mobile services and in-person events, and we have a prominent voice in Pittsburgh’s civic and cultural affairs.  Honored with dozens of national and regional awards, our journalism plays a critical role in the continued growth and vitality of the City of Pittsburgh and the surrounding communities.

In this role, you will be responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the WESA Newsroom in editorial planning, assignments, newsgathering, production and multiplatform distribution of news content.  As the News Director, you will partner with the Vice President, News in developing and executing a vision for multiplatform journalism in Pittsburgh that provides comprehensive coverage of issues and events that connects with and serves our communities.

The Job

You will work with the Vice President, News to create a vision for journalism that best serves our community, then lead its daily execution.

You will be responsible for our journalism, from planning and assignments through production and distribution. We seek to be a primary source of news in Pittsburgh, at a time when other sources are declining.  Your experience and news acumen will assure we make great story selections and execute them well, always embracing high standards of journalistic standards and respecting our own Company standards and policies. 

You will be responsible for the hiring, training, scheduling, assignments, supervision and oversight of the work of the staff.  You will set their goals, monitor progress, provide coaching and do performance evaluations. 

You will be responsible for budget management and supervision of newsroom spending. Working with the Vice President, News, you will help to develop a budget for the department, then achieve our journalistic goals within the prescribed budget. You will oversee editors’ and reporters’ expenses, develop budgets for special projects, and work with the Revenue divisions to develop sources of funding for them. 

What We’re Hoping You’ll Bring

You have a strong and proven skill in leadership and management and the ability to exercise independent judgment in managing your daily news operation.

You take pride in your work and maintain a high level of personal responsibility, striving to achieve the best results and always assuming ownership and accountability for your work.

You possess sound news judgement and excellent decision-making skills, with the ability to stay calm under pressure and to handle non-routine situations with command and ease.

You have exceptional communication and organizational skills, with the ability to multitask and to establish effective timelines for accomplishing short and long-range goals.

You think strategically, setting clear goals for yourself and for your staff, and use metrics to track progress towards meeting those goals.

You are capable of leading journalism on multiple platforms using audio, video, digital and photography and understand FCC regulations.

Requirements & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• At least five years of progressive responsibility in management, supervision and leadership in a newsroom.
• 5 or more years of editing experience in a professional newsroom with multimedia news content training and experience (radio experience preferred).
• 8 or more years of experience as a journalist.
• Ability and willingness to work evenings, weekends and long shifts, as required during peak news cycles or breaking news events.
• Honesty and integrity in all dealings.
• Enthusiasm for the missions of PCBC and its stations.

Who Are We?

Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting is a team full of passionate and fun people dedicated to our crafts as well as our communities. Our organization plays a critical role in building connections across southwestern Pennsylvania and strengthening our communities – and WESA’s journalism and a relentless focus on the issues that matter are just two of the ways in which we work to inform and engage our communities. In recent years, WESA’s newsroom and its journalists have been honored with significant awards in national, state and regional competitions for journalism excellence, including Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards – among the most prestigious in broadcast and digital news.  In 2022, the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association named WESA their “Outstanding Large-Market Radio News Operation” for the third year in a row.

We operate two local public radio stations and a local newsroom that serves the community across radio, digital and event platforms. 90.5 WESA is Pittsburgh’s NPR News Station and WESA News is an award-winning, dynamic and ambitious newsroom serving southwestern Pennsylvania over-the-air, online and through our daily newsletter, Inbox Edition. 91.3 WYEP is one of the most highly regarded non-commercial Triple-A music stations in the country and has been a cultural institution in Pittsburgh for almost 50 years. 

What’s it like working at PCBC?

At Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting we work hard, do great things, and have fun doing them.  Our culture is collegial, and manager’s doors (if they even have one!) are always open.  We recognize that people do their best when they can keep a good balance between their work and personal lives and embrace flexibility as an asset.

Our compensation packages are generous.  We provide competitive base salaries in a very affordable city. The minimum compensation for the News Director’s position is $80,000, commensurate with experience and ability. Our full-time exempt employees also get access to an extensive benefits package, including a generous retirement plan (with a dollar-for-dollar match of up to 6% !), medical, dental and vision, three weeks of vacation, sick time, 10 company holidays and 8 weeks of paid new parent leave. We invest in the professional growth of our team, encouraging continuing education and participation in conferences and seminars.

We are committed to creating a diverse environment and are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

Want to know more?

We believe a strong organization includes employees from a broad range of backgrounds, with different skills, experiences, and passions. And if you don’t meet every position qualification, but you have a story to tell, we’d still like to hear it. Please apply and tell us more about yourself. Visit our careers page to get more details and to apply.