Director Broadcast Maintenance Engineering

Come be the technical leader of our thriving public radio station in Wichita, Kansas. The station is in a historic structure in Old Town, the heart of downtown. Dozens of restaurants, shops, museums, clubs, and breweries are within walking distance, along with live music and public art around each corner.

KMUW-FM, Wichita is looking for a Chief Engineer who is a collaborative thinker to work closely with the General Manager and Director of Content. This position will oversee the daily technical broadcast and IT operations. The Chief Engineer is responsible for keeping abreast of changing technologies and upgrades. The role includes maintenance of the station facilities, transmitter site, and nine in-house studios.

The role does have support from a part‑time assistant production and broadcast engineer.

KMUW operates a single 100K watt transmitter with antenna, no translators or repeaters. We recently invested in a new transmitter, studio boards, UPS modules, studio telecom, as well as ENCO and RDS upgrades.

Pay:
Commensurate with experience

Work Schedule:

9-5, M-F and on call outside of normal business hours; work is performed on‑site and in person.

KMUW is a department / public service / licensee of Wichita State University. WSU is an equal employment and affirmative action employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of age (40 years or older), ancestry, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national origin, political affiliation, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or status as a veteran.

Provides leadership and strategic direction for the planning, development and implementation of all technical station maintenance, improvement, and system compliance efforts to ensure achievement or quality control objectives, compliance with regulatory agencies, and University goals.

• Provides leadership for and execution of the maintenance and repair of broadcast studio equipment and systems. May supervise work of technicians.
• Leads the continuous improvement of operational capabilities and supports the development of all revenue and audience producing efforts.
• Records and produces live events, ensuring broadcast quality and compliance.
• Provides support for audio, administrative, and industry specific software.
• Develops, implements and maintains policies, objectives, projects and short- and long-range plans to accomplish goals.
• Develops and manages annual engineering budget.
• Maintains up-to-date knowledge and understanding of evolving industry advancements and requirements. Identifies and informs the department of the potential impact of trends and changes.

• 60 hours of college coursework in media or broadcast engineering.
• Six (6) years of experience in engineer broadcasting or related field, with two (2) years of experience in a leadership role. An additional 60 hours of college coursework can be substituted for two (2) years of experience

• Society of Broadcast Engineering (SBE) broadcast technician certification or ability to obtain within 6 months of hire.

• FM Transmitter maintenance, knowledge of high voltage maintenance practices
• Facility maintenance skills (including but not limited to coordinating contractors)
• Satellite downlink repair and maintenance
• Windows and Mac configuration and repair
• IP and baseband audio setup and troubleshooting
• Equipment repair to component level
• Ability to plan, determine costs for and direct a project, including planning and appropriate and complete documentation, delegating assignments, directing contractors and follow-up.