VP, Specialized Units - ABC News

The VP, Specialized Units is responsible for creative oversight, strategy, management and editorial direction across the Specialized Units.  The role will oversee reporting units to ensure all reporting is centralized. The VP, Specialized Units will prioritize the reporting units' assignments, ensuring teams are focused on the most important and consequential stories. This role will be responsible for answering editorial questions from platform leads and OTV stations. This role will have to ensure all platforms and OTV are aware of which teams are working on what stories. They are tasked with finding new and original angles on every story to make our storytelling unique. The VP, Specialized Units will have to identify the best elements and think about creativity in the storytelling process for both day of air and longform stories. This role will collaborate with Newsgathering, Content, and News Practices & Standards’ leaders to ensure coverage plans and reporting efforts fit the needs of the News Groups.  This leader must demonstrate broad knowledge of journalism ethics and excellence.

Responsibilities: 

• As a member of the senior leadership team, the VP, Specialized Units leads the editorial strategy and vision for the Specialized Units and will be a thought-partner for News and Networks leadership.
• Manage several teams of reporters with various news specialties 
• Assign teams to stories news division and OTV deem to be most important and allocates reporting resources to various stories 
• Leads strategy for the unit and provides direction across all platforms and owned stations regarding reporting 
• Provides direction and feedback on stories, pitches and topics for the unit’s leadership team.
• Champions an innovative and highly collaborative diverse culture that promotes idea generation, open communication, respect for others, and excellence
• Partners with HR, Finance and Operations as well as other relevant departments

  

Basic Qualifications: 

• 10+ years in a managerial position in a TV newsroom/production environment  
• Ability to recognize, create and communicate priorities, strategies, market opportunities, and challenges to drive growth and performance improvement
• Strategy experience, preferably within a news and/or creative environment
• Strong understanding of financials that underpin a large, complex, consumer facing business. Ideally, experience working with multi-million dollar P&Ls.
• Proven ability to develop and lead initiatives that require broad-based buy-in for success
• Strong understanding of the creative process and ability to apply creative sensibility to content
• Ability to influence and work through others in a highly matrixed organization
• Must exhibit strong collaboration and influencing skills
• Must have deep interest in news and storytelling

Preferred Qualifications: 

• A career background in journalism or media
• Experience managing a large team (20+ people) 

ABC News is America’s No. 1 news source, providing straightforward, fact-driven journalism across broadcast, streaming, digital and audio. ABC’s award-winning programs include “Good Morning America,” “World News Tonight with David Muir,” “Nightline,” “20/20,” “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” “GMA3: What You Need to Know,” and “The View”. Other platforms include ABC News Live, the network’s 24/7 streaming channel; ABC News Studios, a premium, narrative nonfiction original production house; ABC News Digital, comprised of a diverse audience of more than 53 million monthly average users; ABC Audio, the premier source for radio news and industry-leading podcasts; FiveThirtyEight, renowned data journalism organization; and NewsOne, the affiliate news service. Based in New York City, ABC News is comprised of three U.S. bureaus and eight international bureaus, with a presence in more than 20 countries around the world. 

The hiring range for this position in New York, NY is $281,500 to $377,500 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.