Chief of Staff to Editor-in-Chief, Documentary Unit

GBH enriches people's lives through programs and services that educate, inspire, and entertain, fostering citizenship and culture, the joy of learning, and the power of diverse perspectives. At GBH, we believe in the advantages of coming together to build community, mentor and learn from colleagues, and connect more deeply with our mission. As a result, the majority of our staff are hybrid and work both from home and onsite.

Our current hybrid approach requires staff to work onsite a minimum of two days each week, every Tuesday and Wednesday, Hybrid staff are also welcome to come in additional days each week or may be asked to come in on other days by their manager.

The GBH Documentary Unit — home to FRONTLINE, NOVA, and American Experience— is building its next chapter that includes a new documentary fund and advisory board. We are looking for a versatile, highly organized collaborator for the Unit’s executive producer — someone who can look across the unit and everything that's happening and help it run better. This is a role for a sharp and resourceful operator who can turn ideas and conversations into action.

This person must be an excellent writer and communicator since they will work closely with senior leadership and partners, serving as a central, reliable point of contact and follow-through. They must also be highly informed and well-versed in current affairs.

Be the strategic right hand. Look across leadership’s schedules and priorities, anticipate what’s needed, and help make each day more efficient, so leadership can stay focused on the highest-value work. Serve as a trusted partner to the Editor in Chief, helping translate priorities and ideas into action across the Documentary Unit. Drive strategic initiatives and special projects. Lead and manage high-priority projects on behalf of the Editor in Chief, ensuring initiatives move from concept to execution.

Track milestones, identify risks and dependencies, and drive accountability for successful completion across multiple stakeholders. Bring structure and organization:
Build and refine systems, processes, and operating cadences that enable the Documentary Unit to function efficiently and collaboratively. Establish mechanisms for planning, decision-making, communication, and accountability that help leaders manage a fast-moving portfolio of work without dropping threads. Drive follow-through and accountability. Attend and participate in meetings, capture key decisions and action items, and ensure timely execution. Maintain visibility into commitments across the unit, assign ownership where appropriate, proactively remove roadblocks, and ensure projects stay on track.

Support organizational planning and prioritization. Help the Editor in Chief identify, sequence, and prioritize competing demands across the Documentary Unit. Develop tools and processes to track priorities, monitor progress, and ensure alignment with organizational goals and available resources. Coordinate across teams. Work in a highly collaborative environment among the Documentary Unit leaders, as well as key internal and external stakeholders, to identify efficiencies, eliminate bottlenecks, and keep priorities aligned and moving forward.

Serve as a connective tissue across teams, ensuring information flows effectively and decisions are communicated clearly. Manage the Documentary Unit's operating rhythm. Develop and maintain regular leadership meetings, planning sessions, progress reviews, and project updates. Ensure leaders have the information they need to make decisions and that action items are tracked through completion. Prepare leadership for high-profile engagements. Produce high-quality briefing materials, talking…