Director of Audience Development and KCUR Studios
KCUR 89.3, NPR in Kansas City
Kansas City
,
MO
Application Deadline: Sunday, May 22, 2022
Description
KCUR and Classical KC are seeking qualified applicants for a Director of Audience Development and KCUR Studios. For this leadership position, we seek an innovator to inspire and manage a multi-departmental group of professionals who develop and launch new products, promote content in all forms, continually strive to reach new audiences, and use data-driven decision making to drive success throughout the organization.
Kansas City’s NPR affiliate, KCUR is a premier producer of on-demand and broadcast audio, and home to some of the region’s most popular podcasts including Kansas City Today, A People’s History of Kansas City, Hungry for MO, Real Humans by Gina Kaufmann and Up To Date. KCUR’s podcasts inform, inspire and delight intellectually curious and highly engaged listeners across digital, mobile and broadcast platforms.
Reporting to the General Manager and serving on the executive leadership team, the Director of Audience Development and KCUR Studios will direct, administer, and manage the following functions: audience development, new product development, data analysis and reporting, email marketing, promotions, podcast production, partnerships, brand awareness and management. They will work closely with the senior leadership within KCUR and Classical KC to attract and retain diverse talent, to build innovation and culture, and to lead a growing and dynamic public media organization.
Duties include, but are not limited to:
- Guide the development and execution of impactful and sustained campaigns to nurture existing audiences and drive new ones to the portfolio of programs produced by KCUR, Classical KC and KCUR Studios — especially younger, more diverse audiences.
- Lead an audience-focused organization; advance audience knowledge and engagement; inform product and content creation; support revenue generation; oversee research and data collection.
- Raise the profile of all brands and services, increase awareness and heighten audience engagement and loyalty for both stations.
- Develop each products’ audience strategy by working with teams to define the target audience and develop marketing briefs.
- Plan and execute campaigns designed to achieve audience goals by leveraging owned platforms, social media, email, partnerships and paid media platforms.
- Oversee all campaign activity to ensure timely delivery and measurable results.
- Build paid media plans that drive measurable audience growth from target segments.
- Ensure that creative, message, language and voice are consistent across all platforms.
- Engage in targeted outreach to listening platforms (Apple and Spotify) to optimize promotional placement and maximize visibility.
- Identify and develop a network of external podcast partners, hosts, producers and media partners for sponsorships and collaborations.
- Develop specific strategies to cultivate younger and BIPOC audiences.
- Lead KC Studios team in production of podcasts and new products.
Additional duties and responsibilities:
- Nurture an environment of inclusive, creative, collaborative and critical thinking.
- Organize and lead weekly meetings, review plans, ideation, goal setting.
- Meet with all staff in a group and individually to create an understanding of the current challenges and to provide mentoring and leadership development for talented staff.
- Expand partnerships and scale production for on-demand products.
- Participate in membership drives, advisory board meetings and other fundraising events in support of the mission of the stations.
Minimum qualifications
A Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience and at least 5 years of experience from which comparable knowledge and skills can be acquired is necessary.
Preferred qualifications
- Significant relevant experience and a successful track record of growing and cultivating digital audiences and achieving measurable audience or subscriber goals.
- Experience with audio content is a plus.
- Expertise planning and executing paid marketing campaigns, specifically on social media platforms and Google.
- Experience building media plans and owning marketing budgets.
- SEO and email marketing expertise.
- A track record of building fruitful external partnerships with media and promotional partners, platforms, vendors and community groups.
- Experience with testing and deep proficiency digesting and synthesizing data to turn it into actionable insights for stakeholders across the organization.
- Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and transparently across teams and job functions, with an eye toward solutions and building buy-in.
- Excellent judgment – leadership, brand creative, partnerships and messaging.
- Strong communication and relationship-building skills.
- Experience building and leading diverse teams.
- A commitment to the KCUR and Classical KC missions.
Salary
Salary range starts at $65,000, and is commensurate with experience, education, and internal equity.
Send Application Materials To:
KCUR 89.3 is the NPR affiliate in Kansas City and is an editorially independent community service of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Please apply online at UMKC’s website: https://info.umkc.edu/hr/careers/ Select “Staff Positions,” then “View Jobs,” then “View All Jobs.” Position will remain open until filled, with a review of application date of April 12, 2022.