Director of Digital Products and Technology

POSITION OVERVIEW

Cascade PBS’s mission is to inform and inspire our community to make the world a better place.

Our vision is to be the most essential and relevant media organization in the region.

The Director of Digital Products and Technology is Cascade PBS’s lead for digital technology, responsible for advising the COO on platform choices and overall technical execution across websites, apps, APIs, and integrations with back-office application. This role manages and oversees the technology team and vendors, setting up code-review and continuous integration processes to ensure digital products perform as designed. The director leads architectural planning, transforming product vision into technical solutions, blending various workstreams together to create system-leading products and services. The director is the leader on the Digital Product team and interacts with a variety of stakeholders to fully understand digital technical needs across the organization, while demonstrating Cascade PBS values of integrity, community, innovation and diversity.

 Salary Range: $136,000 to $160,000

Location: Seattle, WA

Hybrid schedule available

Cascade PBS offers competitive benefits to team members working 20 hours or more a week. Benefits include: 

• 11 paid holidays 
• 1 personal holiday 
• 4 weeks of Paid Time Off (PTO) to start 
• Half-day Fridays during Summer 
• Company-matched 401(k) Retirement Plan that is fully-vested immediately 
• Employer paid ORCA card 
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) 
• Medical 
• Dental? 
• Vision 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES/DUTIES

• Lead the strategic vision and development of Cascade PBS’s digital products, platforms and services as a next-generation public media organization, which uses technology, innovative strategy, and agile practices to compete in the modern media landscape while serving our communities
• Lead, develop and manage the data & analytics team charged with managing and innovating on an enterprise data platform and related processes designed to build audience, drive revenue and allow for data-driven decision making across all departments and levels
• Design, build and constantly refine the technical infrastructure, services and digital products at Cascade PBS. Coordinate with, and advise, Local Public (Cascade PBS vendor for Cascade PBS Streaming Platform).  
• Provides guidance on how best to use resources staff, IC, tech partners, partner stations, service providers, etc. to achieve prioritized business objectives, early in the strategic-planning process
• Lead, manage, and develop a digital technical team, comprised of in-house developers, data team, and a project manager
• Provides leadership to the combined Product team, contributing to overall media/tech strategy and advocating for the best (preferably open source) technology 
• Ensure Data and Product teams are consulted and informed on technical infrastructure decisions
• Ensure our partnership with Local Public and related products and services, are effectively managed to provide a strong technical platform for growing and converting the next generation of audience members.
• Manage the development team workload – including maintenance, prioritized iterations and new features, security updates, inter-departmental responsibilities, R&D, and capacity for unplanned work to ensure we’re properly staffed (via in-house and/or IC) to support the roadmap
• Select and manage third-party digital contractors and integrated services 
• Establish and maintain the architectural roadmap, which is in sync with our Product roadmap/business objectives
• Work closely with the Data and Analytics Manager and IT Director, ensure our member information is secure at all times and that all legal requirements are met.Ensure tech team supports content and video teams with publishing systems improvements 
• Create processes to manage back-end digital maintenance 
• Create processes to monitor websites, apps and back-end systems for technical and other issues
• Troubleshoot and apply fixes for technical issues
• Collaborate with other team members to foster a positive and productive culture and contribute toward the overall growth of Cascade PBS
• Other duties, responsibilities and activities may change or be assigned at any time with or without notice

REQUIRED SKILLS/ABILITIES

• Senior-level architectural and technical team management skills
• Proven ability to develop in-house tech talent and manage independent contractors
• Proven ability to learn new technologies, frameworks and/or programming languages
• Deep understanding of PBS technical infrastructure (APIs, MVault, TVault, etc.) and business rules

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Computer Science or related area, or equivalent experience required
• Seven years’ experience in digital development required
• Five years’ experience managing and maintaining a CMS
• Proven experience developing and maintaining multiple, large-scale websites, services and/or apps required
• Must be able to communicate technical concepts effectively to technical and non-technical staff
• Must have working experience and technical competency with:
• API development and optimization
• AWS
• High-performance cache strategies (speed and resilience)
• JavaScript/DOM/AJAX, JQuery
• Streaming video integration (via API/embedded players)
• Experience with app and database performance optimization required
• Experience with developing secure sites and apps required

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Ability to view data on a computer screen for long periods of time
• Ability to regularly type on a keyboard 

 The hiring process for this role will include a phone screen and a virtual or in-person panel interview. In some instances, additional panel interviews may take place. If you need reasonable accommodation during the job application or interview process, please contact us at [email protected].