"Executive Director for Wisconsin Public Media"

Job Summary

The Executive Director of Wisconsin Public Media (WPM) provides strategic leadership, guidance, and administrative oversight for the services of PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) in partnership with the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board (ECB). For more than 100 years, public broadcasting in Wisconsin has been a leader in broadcast excellence and innovation; WPM has strong fundraising performance and successful stewardship of resources. The Executive Director establishes and nurtures relationships at the local, state, and national levels to advance and support public media through balancing the interests of multiple partners while focusing on meeting audience and stakeholder needs and preferences.

As one of the largest public media organizations in the nation, WPM is uniquely positioned to leverage evolving technologies to deliver content across the state via dozens of broadcast signals and subchannels, streaming, and multiple digital platforms. Working within a complex governance structure, the Executive Director leads a media service that represents and reflects the people of Wisconsin and fulfills the mandates of FCC licenses owned by the UW Board of Regents. Nested within the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a top research institution, WPM embodies the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea. The Executive Director’s work is significantly focused on building organizational resilience and leveraging emerging opportunities through work with external partners and prospective partners including diverse educational, not-for-profit, and civic organizations. The Executive Director has a key leadership role in charting a course for a dynamic, impactful organization that delivers vital content to Wisconsin and beyond, at a moment of substantial change and opportunity in the public media landscape.

The Executive Director leads a division of approximately 300 full- and part-time staff, 10 students, and six direct reports. The Executive Director reports to the Provost’s office of the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison).

PBS Wisconsin and WPR operate as collaborative services of the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and the Educational Communications Board (ECB) along with affiliated public radio stations. The Executive Director of ECB is a statutory partner in oversight of PBS Wisconsin and WPR. Within this partnership, the University of Wisconsin provides broadcast and multi-platform digital content to general audiences and education services in formal and informal settings. WPM provides technical support for content creation and storage, fund development, education services, community engagement, and marketing. ECB oversees statewide distribution, broadcast infrastructure and engineering, and master control operations. WPM and ECB work closely with the respective 501(c)(3) member support organizations, the Wisconsin Public Radio Association (WPRA) and Friends of PBS Wisconsin (Friends) to develop community support for the services.

The Executive Director of Wisconsin Public Media has leadership and oversight responsibility for operating and capital budgets of more than $35 million from multiple and variable revenue sources: university and state; audience memberships; major and planned giving; grants; business sponsorships; special events and sales of goods and services. Responsibilities include securing of capital funding and strategic planning to acquire equipment and technology on which the programmatic and service departments depend to fulfill their missions. The Executive Director participates in ongoing advocacy efforts.

Key Job Responsibilities:

• 20% Plans and directs program and policy for the division, directs strategic organizational development, and provides administrative guidance that supports strategic planning and oversight of all policies, procedures, and major initiatives
• 10% Exercises supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees
• 10% Leads and oversees the operating and capital budgets for the division
• 20% Represents the division to internal and external stakeholders, encourages engagement, and builds institutional and legislative support for programs in collaboration with related stakeholder groups
• 10% Oversees editorial integrity and independence guidelines for the division, communicating with internal and external stakeholders to ensure the journalistic integrity of the division
• 5% Provides leadership for staff recruitment, practices that foster belonging, and professional development
• 10% Ensures compliance and reporting at the university, state, national, and federal levels
• 5% Partners with external organizations, stakeholders, and institutional affiliates to ensure that media and/or marketing messaging is strategically conveyed to the intended audiences

Required Qualifications:

A demonstrated history of increasingly more responsible leadership positions in media or higher education or equivalent.

Preferred Qualifications:

The successful candidate will possess a number of the following qualifications and experience: Capacity to provide strategic leadership and practical management in a complex and dynamic organization; Experience implementing and explaining complex budgets that include multiple and variable revenue streams from a wide array of sources; Capacity to lead development and fundraising initiatives; A successful record of work with governance and community support boards or equivalent; Commitment to transparency, inclusiveness, and fostering a sense of belonging in the work environment and programming to meet the needs of stakeholders and clients; Public or commercial media experience; Experience with advocacy at the state and/or federal level; A thorough understanding of and commitment to journalistic standards and editorial integrity; A thorough understanding of FCC regulations and reporting requirements, including FCC-EEO requirements or equivalent; Direct supervisory experience.

Education:

Bachelor's degree required

How to Apply:

Applications, nominations, and inquiries are invited. Applications should include, as separate documents, a CV or resume and a letter of interest addressing the themes in this position description. The DSG Global search firm is assisting the University of Wisconsin-Madison in this search. To ensure consideration, candidate materials should be received by January 2, 2026. Application materials should be submitted using the DSG Global online portal.