Vice President, Engaged Journalism

Rocky-Mountain-Public-Media; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocky Mountain Public Media, Denver, seeks a Vice President, Engaged Journalism to center community listening and audience insight in journalism across broadcast, streaming, newsletters and live events. This senior leader will set statewide editorial strategy and lead three teams—KUNC News, RMPBS News and Civic Engagement—connecting reporting with Coloradans on every platform.

The VP will build systems and standards for multiplatform workflows while staying close to the work: listening to

Qualifications

• 10+ years in journalism, including senior leadership in audience strategy, community engagement, newsroom editorial or multiplatform publishing.
• Demonstrated success growing audiences and deepening community engagement in a complex, multiplatform news organization.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary teams across audience, engagement, social, digital publishing, video or newsroom operations.
• Strong editorial judgment with excellent reporting, writing and editing skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead a unified engagement journalism strategy centering community needs and multiplatform publishing across Rocky Mountain PBS and KUNC.
• Lead the KUNC News, RMPBS News and Civic Engagement teams, building a collaborative structure across broadcast, television, digital and community engagement.
• Partner with leadership to shape platform and engagement plans for breaking news, investigations, documentaries and special projects.
• Build and mentor a high-performing team with a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement.
• Set editorial vision across KUNC and Rocky Mountain PBS, while preserving newsroom independence in day‑to‑day work.
• Direct statewide coverage strategy for priorities, elections, and special projects; decide collaboration vs. separate coverage.
• Lead organizational and operational change across the portfolio as audience needs evolve.

Skills

Audience strategy

Community engagement

Multiplatform publishing

Editorial judgment

Team leadership

Public communication

Tools

Analytics platforms

Social listening tools

Newsroom workflows

Job description

Vice President, Engaged Journalism

POSITION SUMMARY

Rocky Mountain Public Media seeks a Vice President, Engaged Journalism to make community listening and audience insight central to how our journalism is conceived, reported, distributed and experienced. This senior leader will set a statewide, community-first editorial strategy and lead the teams that connect our reporting with Coloradans on every platform, from broadcast and streaming to social, newsletters and live community events.

The VP will do two things at once. They will build the systems, workflows and standards that let a multiplatform newsroom serve audiences where they are. And they will stay close to the work itself: listening to communities to surface trending topics and underreported stories, inviting Coloradans to contribute to and respond to our journalism, and helping reporters find the angles that matter to the people most affected.

Reporting to the Chief Experience Officer of Rocky Mountain Public Media, the VP is a member of the organization's senior leadership team. They lead three teams (KUNC News, RMPBS News and Civic Engagement) and partner closely with news, production, product and technology, membership, marketing and data teams.

The VP has executive accountability for the performance, organizational health, resource allocation and strategic direction of these functions, including responsibility for developing leaders, aligning resources to organizational priorities and ensuring measurable progress against audience, engagement, editorial and organizational goals in the friendship business model.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategy and Leadership

• Develop and lead a unified engagement journalism strategy that centers community needs, audience growth and multiplatform publishing across Rocky Mountain PBS and KUNC.
• Lead the KUNC News, RMPBS News and Civic Engagement teams, building one collaborative structure across public radio, public television, digital and community engagement while respecting each newsroom's distinct audience, identity and workflows.
• Partner with news and content leadership to shape platform and engagement plans for breaking news, elections, enterprise and investigative reporting, documentaries and special projects.
• Build and mentor a high-performing team; foster a culture of experimentation, collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Lead, coach and develop direct reports and the broader leadership team, including setting expectations, evaluating performance, supporting succession and talent development, and participating in hiring, organizational design and other people decisions across the portfolio.
• Set and communicate one editorial vision across KUNC and Rocky Mountain PBS, while keeping each newsroom's own voice, platforms and day-to-day editorial independence. Newsroom leaders retain responsibility for day-to-day editorial execution, story assignment and newsroom management within this strategic framework.
• Direct coverage strategy for statewide priorities, elections, breaking news and special projects. Decide when the two newsrooms collaborate, share work or cover a story separately.
• Lead organizational and operational change across the portfolio, including evolving team structures, workflows, roles and ways of working as audience needs, technology and RMPM's content strategy evolve.

Community listening and engaged reporting

• Build durable listening systems (listening sessions, community ambassadors, text and survey callouts, social listening) that surface trending topics and underreported stories, especially in rural and historically underserved Colorado communities.
• Turn community insight into coverage by helping newsroom leaders identify and shape stories and occasionally edit audience-centered projects.
• Create ways for Coloradans to contribute to, respond to and interact with our journalism, from reader questions and crowdsourced reporting to live events, screenings and forums.
• Lead and grow statewide partnerships such as Above the Noise and the Colorado Capitol News Alliance, including training and support for community newsrooms.

Audience, platforms and data

• Lead editorial strategy across newsletters, social media, video, streaming, interactive storytelling and emerging platforms, adapting as audience behavior evolves.
• Use audience research, analytics and community feedback to inform editorial priorities, distribution and newsroom planning; set clear goals and report on reach, engagement, trust and impact; regularly evaluate performance and adjust strategy, resources and workflows based on results.
• Establish workflows and editorial standards that support efficient, audience-first publishing and stronger collaboration between broadcast and digital teams.
• Lead platform innovation, including new storytelling formats and tools, while identifying efficiencies and making sound investment decisions.
• Expand relationships with communities often underserved by news, including rural, Spanish-speaking, and Black, Latino and Indigenous communities. Turn those relationships into lasting sources, stories and audiences.
• Modernize workflows and publishing standards so journalism is planned for its audiences and platforms from the start, not repackaged afterward.
• Lead experimentation with new storytelling formats and audience products. Stop what isn't working.

Organizational partnership

• Work with membership, development and marketing to connect engagement to member growth and long-term sustainability.
• Represent Rocky Mountain PBS and KUNC at select community events, on air and with partners, funders and industry peers.
• Develop and manage budgets for the functions within the VP's portfolio in partnership with FInance, and the Chief Experience Officer. Make resource allocation and investment recommendations based on editorial priorities, audience impact, organizational strategy and financial sustainability.

Required

• [10+] years in journalism, including [5+] years in senior leadership of audience strategy, community engagement, newsroom editorial or multiplatform publishing.
• Demonstrated success growing audiences and deepening community engagement in a complex, multiplatform news organization.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary teams across audience, engagement, social, digital publishing, video or newsroom operations.
• Strong editorial judgment, with excellent reporting, writing and editing skills and the ability to work quickly and accurately.
• A proven ability to spot story and post opportunities of high relevance to specific communities, and to turn audience conversations into journalism.
• Experience using social platforms, newsletters and events to extend reach and impact, and with analytics and social listening tools to guide decisions.
• Track record of leading organizational change, building collaborative workflows and balancing daily news with long-term strategy.
• Exceptional communication skills and comfort representing the organization publicly.
• Commitment to public service journalism, inclusive storytelling and serving communities across Colorado.
• Demonstrated experience managing significant organizational resources, including budgets, staffing priorities and competing investments across multiple teams or functions.

Preferred

• Experience in public media, especially public television or combined TV/radio organizations.
• Familiarity with Colorado communities, including rural, Spanish-speaking and tribal communities; Spanish fluency a plus.
• Experience leading newsroom collaborations or statewide partnerships.