Digital Ads and Community Manager

The Fairness Project; Arlington (VA); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

WETA in Arlington, VA is seeking a Digital Advertising and Community Manager to lead full-funnel digital advertising and cultivate PBS News communities. The role blends strategic planning with hands-on execution to drive awareness, engagement, and revenue through paid media and community initiatives.

The ideal candidate has 3-5 years in digital advertising, social media management, and data-driven optimization, with GA4/GTM proficiency and Google Ads certification preferred.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in marketing/advertising, communications, or related field.
• 3-5 years in digital advertising including paid search/SEM, native & programmatic display, and CTV/OTT with a track record of digital revenue growth.
• 3-5 years in social media and community management.
• Google Ads certification preferred.
• Strong writing, communication, and project management skills.
• Proficient in GA4 and GTM, with data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities

• Digital Advertising (50%): develop and execute full-funnel digital strategies and manage budgets.
• Lead paid media campaigns across Google, programmatic display, CTV/OTT with optimization.
• Collaborate with creative teams for data-driven ad direction and reporting.
• Digital Community Management (50%): grow and engage PBS News communities on social platforms.
• Develop community guidelines, moderation policies, and engagement protocols.
• Monitor sentiment and engagement metrics to inform content strategy.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: align advertising with membership, editorial, and development teams.

Skills

Digital advertising

Paid search/SEM

Native & programmatic display

CTV/OTT

Social media management

GA4

GTM

Google Ads certification

Education

Bachelor's degree in marketing/advertising, communications, or related field

Tools

GA4

GTM

Job description

POSITION OVERVIEW:

The Digital Advertising and Community Manager is an exciting new dual-focused position responsible for developing, leading and executing comprehensive, full funnel digital advertising strategies while crafting and building out cultivation and fundraising strategies across PBS News communities on major social platforms. This role requires a strategic mindset combined with hands‑on execution skills to drive awareness, engagement, audience growth, and revenue through paid media campaigns, authentic community building, and member benefit initiatives. The successful candidate will combine fundraising and analytical rigor with creative community stewardship on platforms like YouTube, Patreon, and other social media channels.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Digital Advertising (50%)

• Develop and execute comprehensive digital advertising strategies for WETA (and potentially PBS News) that align with organizational goals, including audience growth, engagement, membership, and revenue targets.
• Manage full‑funnel campaigns spanning awareness, consideration, and conversion phases across platforms including Google Search and Display Networks, programmatic display, CTV/OTT, and emerging channels.
• Plan, implement, and optimize paid media campaigns with rigorous A/B testing of creative assets, targeting parameters, and messaging strategies. Monitor campaign performance daily, analyzing key metrics such as CPM, CTR, CPA, ROAS, and engagement rates to inform optimization decisions and budget allocation.
• Collaborate with creative teams to develop compelling ad creative that resonates with target audiences while maintaining brand consistency. Provide data‑driven creative direction based on performance insights and audience research.
• Manage advertising budgets, ensuring efficient allocation of resources and maximum return on investment.
• Evaluate WETA (and potentially PBS News) digital advertising performance, in coordination with the Data Strategy and Development Services team. Provide regular detailed reporting on campaign performance, insights, and recommendations for optimization to leadership and stakeholders.
• Work in coordination with the Director of Digital Fundraising and lead the cross‑departmental Digital Ads advisory group.
• Stay current on digital advertising trends, platform updates, and best practices in the public media and news sectors. Identify new opportunities for audience reach and engagement through emerging platforms and innovative ad formats.

Digital Community Management (50%)

• Build, manage and grow a membership or subscription‑based community, from existing large PBS News audiences, creating exclusive content opportunities and member benefits that drive maximum fundraising revenue and retention while deepening supporter relationships.
• Develop and build out community engagement strategies to build, nurture, grow and manage communities on major social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Patreon for PBS News.
• Develop and implement PBS News community guidelines, moderation policies, and engagement protocols that create safe, inclusive spaces for dialogue while protecting organizational values and community members.
• Monitor and respond to comments, questions and feedback across platforms in a timely, authentic, and brand‑appropriate manner. Identify opportunities to elevate community voices and user‑generated content that strengthens relationships with PBS News digital audiences.
• Monitor and analyze community sentiment, engagement metrics, and feedback providing insights and recommendations to help inform content strategy, advertising approaches, messaging, and organizational decision‑making. Track and report on community health metrics including growth, engagement rates, sentiment, and retention.
• Collaborate with PBS News Digital Fundraising Manager, PBS News digital team, content creators, editors, and producers to facilitate community‑driven content opportunities.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with membership, editorial, production, development, and communications teams across both WETA and PBS News programs to ensure alignment between advertising campaigns, community initiatives, and organizational priorities.
• Coordinate with data and analytics teams to develop comprehensive measurement frameworks that track the supporter journey— from ad exposure through community engagement and conversion—and identify opportunities to optimize.

CORE COMPETENCIES:

• Bachelor's degree in marketing/advertising, communications, or related field.
• 3-5 years of experience and demonstrated expertise in digital advertising, including paid search/SEM, native and programmatic display, CTV/OTT, with a proven track record of increasing digital revenue. Google Ads certification preferred.
• 3-5 years of experience and demonstrated expertise in social media and community management.
• Exceptional writing and communication skills, with the ability to craft compelling and persuasive marketing and fundraising copy.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Proficiency with Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Google Tag Manager (GTM).
• Passion for public media and independent journalism.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team.

EDUCATION:

• Bachelor's degree in marketing/advertising, communications, or related field.

LOCATION:

WETA and NewsHour Productions are Washington, DC established media and news organizations. We are a largely local workforce based out of the Campbell Place office in Arlington, VA. WETA and NewsHour Productions value employee flexibility when possible. Most positions based in our Arlington, VA office will be onsite or hybrid, depending upon the role.

COMPANY OVERVIEW:

As the second-largest producing station for the public media system, WETA creates programming to explore history, arts, and culture, partnering with acclaimed filmmakers such as Ken Burns and Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. National WETA productions include The American Revolution and Finding Your Roots, among many others. WETA is also home to PBS News, the primary daily, breaking, and special news producer for PBS. Its broadcast productions include PBS News Hour, Washington Week with The Atlantic, Horizons from PBS News, and Compass Points from PBS News, as well as specials, documentaries, and a robust footprint across digital platforms.

Locally, WETA serves audiences across Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland, through television, radio, and digital platforms. Audiences access WETA on broadcast channels WETA PBS, WETA UK, WETA Metro, WETA World, and WETA PBS Kids, and digitally through the free streaming platform WETA+. Listeners tune into WETA Classical, the exclusive home for classical music in the Greater Washington area, via radio, online, and the WETA Classical app. Benefits | WETA

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY:

WETA and NewsHour Productions are equal opportunity employers committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and internships. WETA and NewsHour Productions make hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.