WABC Executive Director – Broadcast Technology

WABC is seeking an experienced and collaborative Executive Director of Broadcast Technology to lead the station’s day-to-day broadcast technology operations and infrastructure planning initiatives. This role serves as the station’s senior local technology operations leader and is responsible for overseeing engineering support, broadcast systems reliability, technical workflows, and operational execution across WABC. This position focuses on operational leadership, technical execution, team management, and cross-functional partnership in support of a fast-paced multiplatform news environment. This role is responsible for translating operational priorities into reliable day-to-day technical execution.

The Executive Director will work closely with News, Production, IT, Digital, and Creative Services leadership to support reliable and efficient technology operations across newsroom and station functions. The role supports the technical operations of WABC’s local news and programming operations, as well as the station’s support of nationally syndicated productions, including Live with Kelly and Mark.

This position reports jointly to the General Manager of the station and is expected to operate as a hands-on operational leader focused on execution, collaboration, and day-to-day technical support.

Responsibilities

• Lead the station’s broadcast technology and engineering operations, ensuring reliable support for live news, studio production, control room operations, transmission, content distribution, and nationally syndicated production support.

• Oversee the maintenance, performance, and lifecycle management of broadcast systems, production infrastructure, newsroom technology, editing platforms, and related technical equipment.

• Partner closely with newsroom, production, operations, digital, and IT leadership to support operational and business priorities through reliable technology solutions.

• Lead technical execution for system upgrades, infrastructure improvements, and technology implementations supporting station operations.

• Manage technical issue resolution and escalation processes to minimize operational disruption and maintain on-air reliability.

• Provide leadership and direction to engineering and broadcast technology teams, including staffing, scheduling, coaching, performance management, and employee development.

• Support modernization and continuous improvement initiatives related to automation, cloud-based workflows, IP-based broadcast infrastructure, AI-enabled tools, and evolving media technologies.

• Collaborate with corporate engineering, media engineering, cybersecurity, facilities, and vendor partners to support local station and company technology initiatives.

• Ensure compliance with FCC regulations, company standards, safety requirements, cybersecurity protocols, and operational best practices.

• Support operational planning related to technical operations, workforce capabilities, disaster recovery, business continuity, and future technology needs.

• Serve as the station’s lead local technical operations contact during breaking news, major live events, technical emergencies, and critical operational situations.

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum of 7 years of progressive experience in broadcast engineering, media technology, or technical operations leadership.

• Minimum of 3 years of direct people management experience leading technical or engineering teams.

• Strong knowledge of broadcast operations, live production environments, newsroom workflows, transmission systems, media asset management, and content delivery platforms.

• Experience leading technology projects, operational improvements, and cross-functional initiatives in a fast-paced media environment.

• Demonstrated ability to lead teams, manage competing priorities, and drive operational execution under tight deadlines.

• Strong communication, collaboration, organizational, and problem-solving skills.

• Ability to build effective partnerships across operational, technical, and executive leadership teams.

• Flexibility to support a 24/7 news and broadcast operation, including evenings, weekends, holidays, and breaking news situations as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting local television news operations within a major market station environment.

• Experience supporting live studio productions, syndicated programming, or other high-profile broadcast environments.

• Familiarity with IP-based workflows, cloud technologies, virtualized production environments, and AI-enabled media tools.

• Experience managing capital budgets, vendor relationships, and technology implementations.

• Understanding of cybersecurity practices and business continuity planning within broadcast operations.

Required Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Engineering, Information Technology, Media Technology, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

The hiring range for this position in New York is $214,200 to $287,200 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.