Senior Manager of Digital Audio

About the job

As the Sr. Manager of Digital Audio at Pacific Public Media (KNKX Public Radio), you are the advocate for everyone who listens to us somewhere other than a radio. Our broadcast streams on our website and more than 70 other platforms, from smart speakers to phone apps, and our podcast portfolio is growing, too! You will own how all that audio reaches people, insight into how it performs, and what we do next. Working from our Seattle or Tacoma studio on a hybrid schedule (2 days in office), you will be the person who understands how our digital audiences listen and helps the rest of the station act on it.

What you’ll do

You will report to our Director of Digital Strategy & Projects, who has been running much of this work for the past 18 months and will spend real time getting you up to speed before handing it over to you.

Day-to-day, you will:

• Own the KNKX and Jazz24 streams as their product manager - make sure they play reliably on our website, apps, smart speakers , and 70+ other platforms, and manage our streaming vendor

• Troubleshoot when something goes wrong - work with engineering and our vendor when a stream has issues, and help Listener Services answer the questions listeners ask again and again

• Track and explain our audio analytics - when people listen, on which devices and platforms, and what is up or down compared to past months - and turn it into clear, short takeaways for colleagues and leadership

• Run our podcast portfolio - two shows today, more on the way. Our news and music teams produce the episodes; you will help build the daily workflow, package episodes for each platform, and grow them on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube , and NPR

• Manage KNKX’s audio across NPR’s platforms, including the NPR app, NPR.org and our digital newscasts, and pitch our podcast episodes and stories to the NPR Network

• Build and own the product roadmap for KNKX On-Demand, our two-week archive of recent shows, to bring in more listeners and connect it to the rest of what we do

• Step in on production when needed - record, mix , and produce a special project or fill in on a podcast episode

What you need to thrive in this role

We can teach you our systems, our vendors, and how we do things here , but we are looking for someone who brings the following:

• Around 10 years of professional experience, with at least 5 of those years working in audio. We care more about what you can do than the exact count

• Experience with audio analytics tools such as Triton. You understand the differences between broadcast, web and digital audio metrics, and you can turn a dashboard of data into something a busy colleague will actually read

• Project management experience, and ideally product management. You have owned something from plan to launch to “how is it performing?”

• Experience managing a vendor that a critical part of the operation depends on - holding them to what you need, and working the problem with them if something breaks

• Strong customer service skills with listeners and with colleagues. You can explain a technical issue or data to anyone without making them feel lost

• Experience leading peers or a project team , as this role works across news, music, engineering, marketing, and listener services

• Ideas, and patience. You have thoughts on how a local station builds loyal listeners in a crowded digital space, and you know that bringing an established organization along takes time and relationships

• A habit of learning. This field changes quickly, and we want to hear how you stay current - courses, certifications, webinars, free programs, whatever has worked for you

• Comfortable working in Slack, Google Workspace, and able to work a hybrid schedule - two days a week in our Seattle or Tacoma studio

• Pluses, not requirements: experience at a radio station or in public media, familiarity with NPR Network platforms, hands-on audio production, or experience as an audio tech for video production in studio or on location

About us

KNKX Public Radio serves the region with NPR news and a jazz and blues music service, broadcasting from studios in Tacoma and Seattle. We are a listener-supported nonprofit, which means the people who value what we do are the people who pay for it - our members, our sponsors, and our community.

Audio is at the heart of who we are, and we are investing in carrying it into digital spaces. At a time when much of the industry is shrinking, KNKX is on a growth path. You will join a small digital team where your work is visible, and it matters. We are not moving at startup pace, but we are not moving at analog pace either.

What we offer you

• $85,000 - $90,000 per year ($40.87 - $43.27 per hour), depending on experience

• Hybrid schedule - two days a week in our Seattle or Tacoma studio, and flexibility about which one is your home base

• Medical, Dental, and Vision with FSA option

• PTO and Holidays- Including the entire week between Christmas and New Year's!

• 401K with generous company match

• Disability, life, and AD&D insurance options

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

• Room to grow as our digital work grows

• Work that is connected to something worth doing

Please include a cover letter telling us what draws you to this role and to KNKX.

Our hiring management partner is myHR Partner. myHR Partner is not a staffing service or recruiter. All resumes/applications will be reviewed for this position and only for our organization.

Thank you for considering us as a potential employer!

KNKX is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex (including gender identity), marital status, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, national origin, veteran or military status, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability. You are welcome to include the name and pronoun you would like to be referred to in your materials and we will honor it. Persons requiring accommodation in the application process, during the recruitment process, or who need this job announcement in an alternative format, may contact the Human Resources Office at knkxhr@myhrpartner.com .