Head of Audio

Job Description:

The Wall Street Journal is seeking a strategic and visionary leader to serve as Head of Audio. In this role, you will not only lead a global team of world-class journalists but also act as the primary architect for the Journal’s audio future. 

From daily news briefings to long-form investigative podcasts, The Journal’s audio department is a 24-hour news operation with producers and sound engineers in New York, Washington, D.C. and London, working in both audio-only and video formats. 

We are looking for a leader who moves beyond traditional production oversight to develop a comprehensive, audience-first audio strategy. You will set high-level goals that align with the newsroom’s broader mission of growth and engagement, ensuring our audio offerings are essential listening for a diverse and evolving global audience.

As the leader of this team, you will ensure our audio offerings are essential listening for a diverse and evolving global audience. Day to day, with the support of the audio department’s leaders, you will set the team’s editorial agenda and maintain the high quality and standards synonymous with The Wall Street Journal.

You should be a seasoned journalist who brings extensive expertise in audio storytelling and a demonstrated ability to lead a large team to produce high-quality journalism that resonates with listeners. You should have deep knowledge of distribution, emerging audio platforms, and changing formats, including growth in video podcasting.

You Will:

• Manage a team of audio producers, digital journalists, and hosts to produce short- and long-form audio journalism for publication for the Journal and other external platforms.

• Set and regularly evaluate the audio content strategy across all Journal platforms and formats. Develop and tailor content for distinct audience segments, identifying white-space opportunities to reach new demographics while deepening loyalty with current subscribers.

• Provide clear quality guidelines for the audio department, promoting and adhering to the high standards of the Journal.

• Serve as the newsroom’s internal expert on the future of sound, staying ahead of trends in distribution, AI integration, video-first podcasting, and emerging platforms.

• Partner with every department in the newsroom, especially the video team, to work together to deliver on an audience-first coverage strategy. Model and encourage effective coordination between the audio team and the rest of the newsroom.

• Manage the budgets of the various sections, and track and meet budget goals for travel, external services, equipment, etc.

You Have:

• Considerable experience planning, recording, editing, and developing audio journalism for global news organizations.

• Experience leading a large team with a history of managing both junior and senior employees to do their best work.

• Deep understanding of the Journal’s audience and membership structure, and how to use insight, research, and analytics to continually refine this understanding.

• An understanding of industry trends and direction as well as modern and innovative journalism and storytelling techniques.

• Excellent communication skills and a desire to lead and inspire staff to come up with compelling and important narrative ideas.

• Experience working with video and an understanding of how it is best utilized for podcasting.

• An ability to delegate, brief, give constructive feedback, set agendas, manage projects, prioritize, and maintain a slate of story ideas to fulfill and advance the audio team.

• Executive ability to partner with commercial colleagues, while preserving appropriate editorial independence.

To apply, please submit a resume and a cover letter explaining how your skills, experience and interests align with the expectations of the role by April 30th.

The Journal’s reporters, editors, developers, and audio and visual journalists create important and impactful stories, firmly rooted in fact and adhering to the highest ethical standards. We report without fear or bias, and we maintain a proper sense of perspective, detachment and objectivity in our reporting.

*LI-JA1-WSJ

Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disabil