Jobs at WBEZ Chicago

Leads Chicago Public Media’s audience growth and member acquisition strategy across digital, audio, on-air, paid media, and emerging platforms. Owns the journey from audience awareness through first membership transaction, optimizing conversion, CPA, LTV, registration, and acquisition revenue. Develops testing, forecasting, attribution, messaging, and channel strategies while partnering cross-functionally with Product, Marketing, Insights, Editorial, Development, and Lifecycle teams. Manages the growth team, vendors, budgets, reporting standards, and performance accountability.

Leads enterprise lifecycle and retention strategy across brands, platforms, and audience segments. Owns segmentation, cohort modeling, churn reduction, sustainer conversion, renewal, upgrades, reactivation, messaging, experimentation, KPIs, and lifetime value optimization. Partners cross-functionally with Product, Marketing, Insights, Development, Editorial, Revenue Operations, and technology teams while managing and developing lifecycle staff.

Operates broadcast consoles, executes programming logs, records and edits audio, uploads programming, and supports live, prerecorded, and automated radio content. Monitors transmitter equipment for FCC compliance and troubleshoots audio systems in studio, remote broadcast, and event environments. The role requires radio production experience, proficiency with broadcast equipment and audio editing software, flexibility for varied shifts and weekends, and the ability to work independently in a fast-paced, interruption-heavy environment.

Leads organization-wide email, newsletter, and SMS product strategy across multiple media brands. Develops roadmaps, audience journeys, platform standards, segmentation, automation, personalization, and experimentation programs. Partners with editorial, marketing, analytics, technology, membership, and business teams to improve engagement, conversion, retention, and revenue. Oversees platform configuration, vendor evaluation, documentation, training, intake processes, deliverability, list health, and performance measurement.

Lead and manage the institutional giving team to develop and execute foundation and corporate fundraising strategies. Oversee portfolios of 50–80 institutional donors, coach staff, prepare proposals and stewardship reports, maintain CRM data, and monitor team performance to grow multi-year revenue and donor relationships.

Lead governance and operational systems for membership revenue across brands: define audience/CRM rules, ensure operational readiness, maintain attribution and revenue reporting integrity, manage payment and donation platform vendor performance, and enforce standardized processes to support scalable acquisition and retention initiatives.

Report breaking, trending, and feature news for the Chicago area, producing accurate, well-sourced stories on tight deadlines, collaborating with editors and colleagues, creating in-depth pieces and multimedia elements, and working nights, weekends, and holidays as needed.

Lead daily news coverage across broadcast, digital, podcasts and print; plan assignments, edit audio and text, report as needed, set coverage priorities, and train staff to maintain editorial standards.