SENIOR TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, ON POINT, WBUR News and Programming (24500622360508)

Who We Are & What We Can Offer You: 

WBUR is Boston’s NPR and a public media leader, producing exceptional journalism on-air, online, on-demand, and in real life. Our mission is to produce high-quality journalism and enriching experiences that foster understanding, connection, and community for an expanding circle of people. WBUR is member-supported and licensed to Boston University.

WBUR is brimming with talent and ambition. Our colleagues work hard, strive for excellence, value truth, creativity, diverse perspectives, and open debate. Our culture is warm and welcoming — no matter what your role is — we work hard to ensure that everyone feels like they belong. On top of that people are both respectful and passionate about the work we do. 

We’ve got exciting plans to keep innovating and building WBUR for the future. It’s a place to do meaningful work with interesting people and to learn and grow along the way.

We offer our employees both hybrid and in-office work arrangements.

We also offer:

The Opportunity and Who You’ll Work With: 

Position Type:                  Regular Full Time, Benefits Eligible

Work Format:                   Onsite – 5 days per week

Schedule:                         Monday – Friday, 40 hours per week. Hours are typically 08:00AM-04:00PM Eastern Time.

The award-winning, nationally syndicated show On Point helps listeners understand how the world works at a time when the world is more complex than ever. On Point's unique, curiosity-driven combination of original reporting, first-person stories, sound design, and in-depth live analysis creates a listener experience that strives to make the world more intelligible and humane. Hosted by Meghna Chakrabarti, On Point is broadcast live from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. EST Monday through Friday, and airs again throughout the day and evening on some 350 stations coast to coast. The show is also available as a podcast, and on WBUR’s website and app.

As Senior Technical Director, you will be responsible for all technical operations and, ultimately, the overall sound of the broadcast and podcast of On Point. You will operate the board during the show to mix and balance all audio sources, make connections to remote studios, ensure the quality of interviews by Comrex Opal, Zoom and phone and the quality of feed to APM for distribution to stations. You will train members of the WBUR Production Department to fill-in during absences and provides critical feedback about technical elements of the show to the Senior Managing Producer and Executive Producer.

You will report to the Senior Managing Producer of On Point.

This position is covered under our collective bargaining agreement with the SAG-AFTRA union and the minimum salary for this position is $83,640.00. Additionally, when compensation is being evaluated for a candidate finalist, that amount can increase as experience and internal equity are factored into the offer amount.

Essential Functions:

• (30%) Responsible for the pre-production and production of On Point, facilitate broadcast quality connections to remote sources, fix recorded sound before broadcast as needed (i.e., voicemails and VoxPops), record interviews with the host and make sure audio quality is of the highest technical standards.
• (25%) Operate the board for On Point broadcasts and is responsible for all technical aspects of On Point’s live broadcast, ensuring the quality of live and recorded elements and delivering a quality audio feed to APM for program distribution to stations.
• (15%) Backfill for the Sound Designer for general production (i.e., promos and billboards). Responsibilities also may include obtaining music, suggesting production techniques to meet program requirements, and reviewing productions to ensure objectives are met.
• (10%) Responsible for the post-production of On Point for rebroadcast, updating funder credits as needed, maintaining the audio archive and for any show repairs. 
• (10%) Manage and produce content as needed for On Point’s digital platforms, including a daily podcast, weekly JackPod and podcast extras.
• (10%) Provide critical feedback to the Senior Managing Producer and Executive Producer about technical aspects of the program, workflow recommendations, and technical problem-solving.

What You’ll Need to Succeed: 

Education and Experience: 

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent/relevant experience
• At least 5-8 years board operations and sound mixing experience, preferably in a live broadcastenvironment.

Capabilities and Proficiencies: 

• An excitement about WBUR’s mission to provide an essential public good: high-quality journalism and enriching experiences that foster understanding, connection and community.
• Proficient with digital audio editing on ProTools and Adobe Audition.
• Familiarity with routing and patching studio sources.
• Familiarity with mic setups in studio and for remote recordings
• Familiarity or proficiency with Wheatstone board for live broadcast is a plus.

In an ongoing effort to enrich our organizational culture, WBUR is committed to building a staff and leadership team that reflects the diversity of our city, region and nation.  

Designing an organization where everyone thrives, creating connection and community that permeates our workplace requires real change across all facets of what we do and who we are.    

We must hire, support, develop, advance and retain diverse talent at all levels of the organization with a standard of inclusive excellence. 

If you are excited by this opportunity and have a passion for our mission - whether you meet all or some of our criteria - we want to talk to you. After submitting your application – join our Talent Community !

If you require an ADA reasonable accommodation to complete your application and/or participate in the interview process, please let us know here . 

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, natural or protective hairstyle, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

BOSTON, Massachusetts, United States