General Manager

Jobtailor; Madison (WI); On-site; USD 110,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor seeks an Executive Leader to guide a public media unit in Madison, WI, overseeing budgeting, strategic planning, and stakeholder engagement to advance editorial integrity and community partnerships.

The role requires experience in governance, revenue generation, and cross-functional leadership within a complex media organization.

The candidate will supervise multiple FTEs and collaborate with boards, university and state governance structures to achieve mission-driven outcomes.

Qualifications

• Executive leadership experience in a complex media enterprise, preferably public media.
• Deep understanding of audience trends, technology, regulatory compliance, and public media structures.
• Experience budgeting and managing human, financial and other resources.
• Proven ability to lead teams through significant change.
• Experience building high-level strategic vision and aligning organizational decisions.
• Experience aligning systems, workflows and talent across a complex media organization.
• Comfort working across dual-reporting lines with boards and governance structures.
• Proven success representing philanthropic needs and stewarding donors.

Responsibilities

• Develops the unit's budget for licensee review and approval, driving strategic investment in facilities, personnel, projects, and new initiatives.
• Drives strategic planning, aligns operational priorities with strategic vision, evaluates programs against the unit mission, vision, and values, and builds a sustainable and relevant unit and service.
• Serves as a liaison to internal and external stakeholder groups representing interests of the unit and fostering community and educational partnerships.
• Exercises 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.
• Collaborates with leadership on content delivery, public safety, and emergency alert systems for the state's communication infrastructure.
• Ensures compliance with broadcast/digital standards, institutional policies, and relevant federal and state laws and regulations including broadcasting rules and regulations.
• Communicates and sustains editorial guidelines and protects the unit's reputation, sustains editorial integrity and editorial independence, advances plans to enhance the unit's public profile and community support.
• Supports revenue goals and drives revenue generation across platforms, including priority development activities, solicits support, and stewards relationships with high impact funders, supports advocacy efforts, collaborates with donation and gifts board on budgeting, compliance, strategic investments, advocacy and community engagement

Skills

Executive Leadership

Media Savvy

Resource Management

Change Management

Strategic Vision

Operational Excellence

Stakeholder Diplomacy

Philanthropic Disposition

Tools

Emergency Alert Systems

Public Safety Communication

Job description

• Develops the unit's budget for licensee review and approval, driving strategic investment in facilities, personnel, projects, and new initiatives
• Drives strategic planning, aligns operational priorities with strategic vision, evaluates programs against the unit mission, vision, and values, and builds a sustainable and relevant unit and service
• Serves as a liaison to internal and external stakeholder groups representing interests of the unit and fostering community and educational partnerships
• Exercises 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
• Collaborates with leadership on content delivery, public safety, and emergency alert systems for the state's communication infrastructure
• Ensures compliance with broadcast/digital standards, institutional policies, and relevant federal and state laws and regulations including broadcasting rules and regulations
• Communicates and sustains editorial guidelines and protects the unit's reputation, sustains editorial integrity and editorial independence, advances plans to enhance the unit's public profile and community support
• Supports revenue goals and drives revenue generation across platforms, including priority development activities, solicits support, and stewards relationships with high impact funders, supports advocacy efforts, collaborates with donation and gifts board on budgeting, compliance, strategic investments, advocacy and community engagement

Requirements

• 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.

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in executive leadership within a complex media enterprise, focusing on strategic vision, resource management, and stakeholder diplomacy. Proven ability to drive revenue generation and ensure compliance with regulatory standards while fostering community partnerships.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Executive Leadership
• Media Savvy
• Resource Management
• Change Management
• Strategic Vision

ATS Optimization Keywords

Hard Skills

• Budget Development
• Compliance Management
• Revenue Generation
• Operational Excellence
• Program Evaluation

Soft Skills

• Stakeholder Diplomacy
• Team Leadership
• Community Engagement

Industry Keywords

• Public Media
• Broadcasting Standards
• Digital Standards
• Philanthropic Stewardship

Tools & Technologies

• Emergency Alert Systems
• Public Safety Communication