News Director

Ilba; Rockford (IL); On-site; USD 85,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Paid time off

401(k) with company matching

Life insurance

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Ilba in Rockford, IL seeks a News Director to lead the News Department across broadcast, digital, weather, and sports content. The role requires directing content creation for all platforms and setting the strategy for daily coverage and major events.

You will drive a digital-first approach, focus on audience growth and engagement, and oversee staffing, budgets, and performance evaluations. Strong leadership and communication skills are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism, or an equivalent combination of education and work-related experience.
• Fluency in English; excellent oral and written communication.
• Minimum five years’ experience in news programming production, with at least two years 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 development needs and coach or mentor others.
• Experience preparing and maintaining departmental budgets.
• Proficiency with office equipment and standard software.
• Ability to meet deadlines and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.

Responsibilities

• Leads, motivates, and develops the News Department across broadcast, digital, social media, website, and streaming.
• Provides strategic direction for daily news coverage and major events across all channels.
• Drives a digital-first content strategy focused on audience growth and streaming.
• Reviews and critiques news content daily to improve quality and storytelling.
• Assigns projects, ensures deadlines, and aligns with strategic objectives.
• Oversees staffing, training, coaching, and performance evaluations; manages hiring decisions.
• Evaluates operational and technology needs to produce high-quality content.
• Collaborates with station leadership to achieve company goals and initiatives.

Skills

Fluency in English

Excellent communication skills

Leadership experience

Budgeting experience

Deadline-driven

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism or equivalent

Job description

The News Director leads and supervises all aspects of news, digital, weather, and sports content across all platforms.

• 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

• 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: $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.