Executive General Manager

University of Wisconsin Madison; Madison (WI); On-site; USD 184,500 - 225,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement plan (WRS)

Generous paid time off

Job summary

University of Wisconsin–Madison seeks an Executive General Manager to lead Wisconsin Public Media (WPM) and PBS Wisconsin through a transformative era. The EGM will align radio and TV structures under a shared vision, guiding content, audience development, technology, and operations to sustain innovation and financial health.

The role demands transformational leadership, editorial integrity, and collaboration with the ECB to advance public service across Wisconsin.

Qualifications

• Executive leadership in a complex media enterprise.
• Deep understanding of audience trends, technology, regulatory compliance, and public media structures.
• Experience developing and managing budgets, and directing resources effectively.
• Proven record of guiding organizations through major change.
• Ability to set strategic direction and align decisions with audience needs.
• Experience integrating multi‑unit operations and driving efficiency.
• Experience working across dual reporting lines, boards, and governance structures.
• Demonstrated success representing philanthropic needs and stewarding donors.

Responsibilities

• Develop the unit's budget and strategic investments across facilities, personnel and initiatives.
• Lead strategic planning and align priorities with the vision and values of the unit.
• Represent the unit with internal and external stakeholders to build partnerships.
• Oversee hiring, performance, and conduct across at least 2 FTEs.
• Collaborate on content delivery, public safety, and emergency alert systems.
• Ensure compliance with broadcast and related laws and regulations.
• Uphold editorial guidelines and protect the unit's reputation and independence.
• Support revenue goals and donor relations to fund unit initiatives.

Skills

Executive Leadership

Media Savvy

Resource Management

Change Management

Strategic Vision

Operational Excellence

Stakeholder Diplomacy

Philanthropic Disposition

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Job description

Job Summary

PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio seek an exceptional, visionary leader for a new Executive General Manager (EGM) position. The EGM will help lead Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) and PBS Wisconsin, two of our nation's most respected public media brands, through a period of significant transformation into an even more successful future. WPR and PBS Wisconsin are services of Wisconsin Public Media (WPM), a division of the University of Wisconsin‑Madison, and the Educational Communications Board (ECB), an independent State of Wisconsin agency. Our award‑winning services reach communities throughout Wisconsin with trusted journalism, educational resources, history, and cultural programming, community events, and public service.

A central responsibility of the Executive General Manager is leading WPM's ongoing evolution integrating distinct radio and television structures under a shared vision and leadership framework. The EGM leads the alignment and collaboration across content, audience development, technology, operations, and service delivery, ensuring WPM remains innovative, responsive, and financially sustainable in a rapidly evolving media environment. The EGM ensures WPM sets clear priorities centering the needs and interests of Wisconsin audiences.

The EGM champions a culture of accountability, transparency, innovation, and continuous improvement. They guide their leadership team through change while maintaining WPM's commitment to editorial integrity, public trust, regulatory compliance, and exceptional service to audiences.

The EGM operates within a complex public‑service environment reporting jointly to the Executive Director of WPM and the Executive Director of ECB to leverage the strengths of both institutions and advance public media service throughout the state.

Successful candidates for the position will be proven transformational leaders with experience driving decisive organizational change and building a unified culture to evolve a public service mission. They will be mission‑driven, committed to stewardship, innovation, editorial integrity, and meeting community needs. They will be adaptive, transparent, and skilled at fostering accountability, continuous improvement, and agility amid changing media and audience landscapes.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Develop the unit's budget for licensee review and approval, driving strategic investment in facilities, personnel, projects, and new initiatives
• Drive strategic planning, align operational priorities with strategic vision, evaluate programs against the unit mission, vision, and values, and build a sustainable and relevant unit and service
• Serve as a liaison to internal and external stakeholder groups representing interests of the unit and fostering community and educational partnerships
• Exercise supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full‑time equivalent (FTE) employees
• Collaborate with leadership on content delivery, public safety, and emergency alert systems for the state's communication infrastructure
• Ensure compliance with broadcast/digital standards, institutional policies, and relevant federal and state laws and regulations including broadcasting rules and regulations
• Communicate and sustain editorial guidelines and protect the unit's reputation, sustain editorial integrity and independence, and advance plans to enhance the unit's public profile and community support
• Support revenue goals and drive revenue generation across platforms, including priority development activities, solicit support, and steward relationships with high impact funders; support advocacy efforts, collaborate with donation and gifts board on budgeting, compliance, strategic investments, advocacy and community engagement

Required Qualifications

• Executive Leadership: Experience leading in a complex media enterprise, preferably a public media organization. *
• Media Savvy: Deep understanding of audience trends, technology, regulatory compliance, and public media structures. *
• Resource Management: Experience developing and working within budgets, managing human, financial and other resources thoughtfully. .*
• Change Management: Experience successfully leading teams through significant change.
• Strategic Vision: Experience building high level strategic vision and aligning decision making across the organization to best serve audiences.
• Operational Excellence: Experience aligning systems, workflows and talent across a complex media organization.
• Stakeholder Diplomacy: Comfort working across dual reporting lines, with boards and within university and state governance structures.
• Philanthropic Disposition: Proven success representing the philanthropic needs of an organization and stewarding donors.

Education

Bachelor's Degree Preferred Minimum

Compensation

The minimum salary for this position is $205,000. Actual pay will depend on experience and qualifications.

Benefits

This position offers a comprehensive benefits package, including generous paid time off, competitively priced health/dental/vision/life insurance, tax‑advantaged savings accounts, and participation in the nationally recognized Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension fund. For a summary of benefits, please see https://www.wisconsin.edu/ohrwd/benefits/download/fasl.pdf.

EEO Statement

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW‑Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals. The University of Wisconsin‑Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background. The University of Wisconsin‑Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

Contact Information

Fred Schulze
[e-mail]
[phone]