Vice President, Engaged Journalism

Rocky Mountain Public Media seeks a Vice President, Engaged Journalism to make community listening and audience insight central to how our journalism is conceived, reported, distributed and experienced. This senior leader will set a statewide, community-first editorial strategy and lead the teams that connect our reporting with Coloradans on every platform, from broadcast and streaming to social, newsletters and live community events.

The VP will do two things y will build the systems, workflows and standards that let a multiplatform newsroom serve audiences where they are. And they will stay close to the work itself: listening to communities to surface trending topics and under reported stories, inviting Coloradans to contribute to and respond to our journalism, and helping reporters find the angles that matter to the people most affected.

Reporting to the Chief Experience Officer of Rocky Mountain Public Media, the VP is a member of the organization's senior leadership team. They lead three teams (KUNC News, RMPBS News and Civic Engagement) and partner closely with news, production, product and technology, membership, marketing and data teams.

The VP has executive accountability for the performance, organizational health, resource allocation and strategic direction of these functions, including responsibility for developing leaders, aligning resources to organizational priorities and ensuring measurable progress against audience, engagement, editorial and organizational goals in the friendship business model.

• Develop and lead a unified engagement journalism strategy that centers community needs, audience growth and multiplatform publishing across Rocky Mountain PBS and KUNC.
• Lead the KUNC News, RMPBS News and Civic Engagement teams, building one collaborative structure across public radio, public television, digital and community engagement while respecting each newsroom's distinct audience, identity and workflows.
• Partner with news and content leadership to shape platform and engagement plans for breaking news, elections, enterprise and investigative reporting, documentaries and special projects.
• Build and mentor a high-performing team; foster a culture of experimentation, collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Lead, coach and develop direct reports and the broader leadership team, including setting expectations, evaluating performance, supporting succession and talent development, and participating in hiring, organizational design and other people decisions across the portfolio.
• Set and communicate one editorial vision across KUNC and Rocky Mountain PBS, while keeping each newsroom's own voice, platforms and day-to-day editorial independence. Newsroom leaders retain responsibility for day-to-day editorial execution, story assignment and newsroom management within this strategic framework.
• Direct coverage strategy for statewide priorities, elections, breaking news and special projects. Decide when the two newsrooms collaborate, share work or cover a story separately.
• Lead organizational and operational change across the portfolio, including evolving team structures, workflows, roles and ways of working as audience needs, technology and RMPM's content strategy evolve.

• Build durable listening systems (listening sessions, community ambassadors, text and survey callouts, social listening) that surface trending topics and under reported stories, especially in rural and historically underserved Colorado communities.
• Turn community insight into coverage by helping newsroom leaders identify and shape stories and occasionally edit audience-centered projects.
• Create ways for Coloradans to contribute to, respond to and interact with our journalism, from reader questions and crowdsourced reporting to live events, screenings and forums.
• Lead and grow statewide partnerships such as Above the Noise and the Colorado Capitol News Alliance, including training and support for community newsrooms.

• Lead editorial strategy across newsletters, social media, video, streaming, interactive storytelling and emerging platforms, adapting as audience behavior evolves.
• Use audience research, analytics and community feedback to inform editorial priorities, distribution and newsroom planning; set clear goals and report on reach, engagement, trust and impact; regularly evaluate…