Documentary Producer

About This Opportunity

Reporting to the Director of New Content and Innovation, the Documentary Producer is responsible for producing a minimum of one longform narrative series per year, including all pitching, researching, reporting, scripting, and post-production, plus occasionally hosting.

A successful documentary producer will thrive in a fast-paced, constantly changing environment. They will have outstanding communication and project management skills and the ability to balance overlapping deadlines. A successful producer in this role will lead the overall direction and execution of complex, multistakeholder editorial projects, from pre-production through post-production. They will also have a keen eye for stories that can translate into distinctive documentary series that align with our overall content vision.

This position is team oriented: maintaining positive relationships internally, and supporting fellow producers, editors, and hosts with production needs is essential.

KEY

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Conduct, original reporting, research, investigation and fact-checking.
• Identify, research and develop story ideas using in-depth investigation to support long-form, documentary-style storytelling.
• Cultivate and maintain a wide variety of sources.
• Identify unique and distinct voices and perspectives to add context and depth to reporting

• Write and edit scripts, develop multi-episode storylines.
• Adapt stories, scripts, and mixes to conform to the needs of both broadcast and podcast shows.
• May serve as host or lead reporter, as needed, conducting interviews with experts, officials, and other relevant individuals, and narrating scripts.
• Execute sound-rich, multi-track mixes, requiring knowledge of software and production equipment.

• Partner with newsroom leadership to strategically plan podcast series.
• Create and execute production plans for complex, multi-stakeholder projects including coordination with the Senior Editor, Director of New Content, News Director, and Chief Content Officer to address release schedules, staffing needs, and backfill.
• Proactively communicate and manage interlocking deadlines, ensuring successful completion of projects.

• Serve as primary project lead and show runner for developing new narrative documentary projects for podcast and broadcast.
• Create scratch audio pilots for potential projects.
• Edit and rewrite scripts and help shape the audio storytelling of contributing investigative journalists.
• Monitor diverse news and information sources to identify strong topics and story ideas and pitch them through established greenlight processes.
• Assess submissions from KUOW news personnel and from external sources.

• Assist or step in for producers; or contribute to team production efforts or other podcasts, when necessary.

To be considered for this opportunity your application must demonstrate you meet both the minimum qualifications and additional qualifications listed below. Equivalent education and/or experience may substitute for minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license, certification, and/or registration.

Applicants who do not meet these qualifications WILL NOT be forwarded to the Hiring Manager.

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism or similar field, and four years of professional journalism experience of increasing responsibility, with a background in writing for talk programming and radio production; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Requires knowledge of professional broadcast and…