News Director

Nexstar Media Group Inc.; Rockford (IL); On-site; USD 85,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Paid time off

401(k) with company matching

Paid Parental Leave

Job summary

Nexstar Media Group Inc. in Rockford, Illinois is seeking a seasoned News Director to lead the News Department across broadcast, digital, social media, website and streaming platforms.

You will drive a digital-first strategy, oversee staffing, budgeting, and performance, and collaborate with station leadership to achieve audience growth and ratings goals. Requirements include a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism, fluent English, and at least five years in news production with leadership

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism, or an equivalent combination of education and work-related experience.
• Fluency in English with excellent oral and written communication.
• Minimum five years’ experience in news programming production, including at least two years in a leadership role.
• Experience guiding, directing and motivating subordinates and setting performance standards.
• Experience budgeting departmental resources and managing deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Leads, motivates, and develops the News Department across broadcast, digital, social media, website, and streaming platforms.
• Provides strategic direction for daily news coverage, breaking news, investigative reporting, and special projects.
• Drives a digital-first content strategy focused on audience growth and engagement.
• Oversees staffing, training, coaching, and performance evaluations.
• Manages hiring decisions, promotions, and terminations; ensures deadlines and objectives are met.
• Collaborates with station leadership to align with company goals.

Skills

Leadership

Budgeting

Communication

Deadline management

Team motivation

Education

Broadcast Journalism degree

Tools

Newsroom software

Job description

Rockford, Illinois Looking for a place where you can build a successful career and enjoy an active lifestyle? Rockford offers the perfect blend of opportunity, affordability, and adventure. Located just 90 minutes from Chicago and within easy reach of Milwaukee and Madison, Rockford combines the energy of a growing city with the comfort of a welcoming community. Set along the scenic Rock River and surrounded by beautiful parks, forests, and outdoor recreation, the region offers endless opportunities to explore. Whether you're hiking and biking miles of scenic trails, kayaking along the river, visiting world class gardens and museums, enjoying live entertainment, or discovering local restaurants and breweries, there's always something new to experience. Rockford delivers the amenities of a larger metro area while maintaining a lower cost of living and an exceptional quality of life. The Rockford Region is a community on the rise, offering room to grow professionally while enjoying more time for what matters most. It is a place where careers thrive, families put down roots, and adventure is never far away. Come see why more people are choosing to call Rockford home. Your next opportunity starts here. It's fun to work in a company where people truly believe in what they are doing! 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, digital, weather, and sports content across all platforms.

Responsibilities

• Leads, motivates, and develops the News Department, including content creation for broadcast, digital, social media, website, and streaming platforms.
• Provides strategic direction for daily news coverage, breaking news, investigative reporting, special projects, and major event coverage across all distribution channels.
• Drives a digital first content strategy with a strong focus on audience growth, engagement, and streaming.
• Demonstrates a proven track record of successful digital execution and innovation.
• Plans and manages departmental staffing, training, coaching, and performance evaluations.
• Makes decisions regarding hiring, employee development, promotion, and termination.
• Reviews and critiques newscasts and digital content daily to improve quality, storytelling, and overall presentation.
• Assigns projects and ensures deadlines and strategic objectives are met.
• Develops and executes strategies to achieve audience growth and ratings goals.
• Evaluates operational and technology needs to ensure the production of high quality content.
• Collaborates with station leadership to establish and achieve company goals and initiatives.
• 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.

COMPENSATION RANGE - $85K - $95K annualized

Benefits: Our comprehensive benefits package includes, but not limited to, medical (with multiple plan options), dental, and vision insurance, paid time off, a 401(k) with company matching contributions, life insurance, Paid Parental Leave and more.

• medical (with multiple plan options)
• dental
• vision insurance
• paid time off
• a 401(k) with company matching contributions
• life insurance
• Paid Parental Leave
• more

Company Information

Nexstar Broadcasting is an equal opportunity employer #IL-Onsite

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST) is a leading diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports and entertainment content across its television and digital platforms, including more than 310,000 hours of programming produced annually by its business units. Nexstar owns America’s largest local television broadcasting group comprised of top network affiliates, with 200 owned or partner stations in 116 U.S. markets reaching 220 million people. Nexstar’s national television properties include The CW, America’s fifth major broadcast network, NewsNation, our national news network providing “News for All America,” popular entertainment multicast networks Antenna TV and Rewind TV, and a 31.3% ownership stake in TV Food Network. The Company’s portfolio of digital assets, including its local TV station websites, The Hill and NewsNationNow.com, are collectively a Top 10 U.S. digital news and information property.

For more information, please visit nexstar.tv.

EEO Statement: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.