Regional Director, Near East

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is seeking a Regional Director for Near East to oversee coverage and operations related to Iran and Afghanistan from its Prague headquarters. In this position you will be responsible for ensuring the editorial quality, impact, and audience growth of RFE/RL’s journalistic output, as well as the development of staff and freelancers based in Prague and in the field.
The role includes oversight of the Afghan (Azadi) and Iranian (Farda) Services, covering editorial performance as well as operational areas such as budgeting, staffing, security, compliance, training, and infrastructure. The Regional Director plays a key role in shaping strategic direction, using market research, data insights, and organizational priorities to drive decisions. The role also involves oversight of multimedia and breaking news operations, cross-departmental collaboration and the development of investigative and enterprise reporting initiatives focused on Iran and Afghanistan.
You will be reporting to the Editor-in-Chief and working closely with senior editorial leadership as a member of the Editorial Board, upholding the highest standards of journalistic integrity in support of RFE/RL’s mission: delivering balanced, objective, and fact-based news to audiences with limited or no access to independent media in their home countries or regions. You will also closely collaborate across departments — including Technology, Broadcast Operations, Finance, and Human Resources—to ensure effective coordination, strong operational support, and optimal use of resources. You will be joining an innovative, mission-driven organization at a time of rapid change.
This is an on-site role based in one of Europe’s most beautiful cities—Prague, Czech Republic. We offer visa and relocation support, a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package.

Key Responsibilities:

• Oversee comprehensive editorial coverage across text, video, and live news production for Iran and Afghanistan, including breaking news, major political developments such as elections, and other high-impact special events, while coordinating cross-functional teams to deliver consistent, high-quality journalism.
• Develop and lead investigative and enterprise reporting strategies focused on accountability and public-interest journalism. Lead and guide teams in producing impactful long-form content.
• Lead editorial meetings with Language Service Managing Editors, with the aim of ensuring solid reporting and editing with rich regional context, a commitment to the principles of human rights.
• Leads the individual Language Services on all questions related to strategy, budget, travel, personnel management, training, equipment, workspace, and performance and disciplinary issues.
• Uphold editorial standards and guide policy development, maintain editorial planning calendar, and set programming strategy in collaboration with other key divisions.
• Advise on digital platforms and media trends, stay abreast of emerging media trends and potential threats to distribution, particularly in relevant markets.
• Participate in regular content evaluations for all Near East Language Services. Help set strategic goals for the year ahead with clear action items and measurable standards of success. Liaise with proper divisions to ensure Language Services are receiving necessary training, equipment, marketing, and security support.
• Promote collaboration and efficient resource sharing, perform robust feedback, and collaborative problem-solving on security and operational issues in some of RFE/RL’s most difficult reporting environments – including those countries, such as Iran, where Language Services have no direct reporting access.
• Ensures budget compliance for language services in his/her assigned region
• Partner with HR on recruitment and talent development.
• Foster a collaborative and accountable work culture.

Minimum Qualifications: Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent experience in journalism, international relations, or a related field

Experience:

• 8–10 years of journalism/editorial experience
• At least 5 years of management experience
• Supervisory experience in a news organization that includes responsibility for budgeting, managing staff and resources, and organizing workflow and teambuilding
• Broad, thorough, and detailed knowledge of political, economic, and social climate in Near East region and international affairs
• Experience in multicultural environments
• Digital media expertise preferred

Skills:

• Strong leadership and communication skills
• Proven capabilities in strategic planning, goal setting, and defining success through research and market data
• Solid commitment to fundamentals of reporting and editing; ability to mentor young journalists who may lack firm grounding in western-standard journalism basics.
• People and resource management

Languages:

• Fluency in English
• Farsi/Dari an advantage
• Pashto an advantage