Director of WUOT 91.9 FM - College of Communication & Information - UTK

Job Description

The Director is responsible for directing all administrative, programming, technical operations, and fundraising activities for WUOT 91.9 FM. This includes oversight of budget, personnel, strategic planning, and compliance with FCC regulations and National Public Radio requirements. This position represents WUOT with a variety of internal and external audiences and directly engages with the station's community advisory board. The Director is expected to oversee the operations of WUOT, as well as advise the staff of WUTK, the University of Tennessee's college radio station, in areas of FCC regulatory compliance, technical operations, and guidance with other broadcast opportunities and issues. WUOT will collaborate with CCI's other media properties, as part of the Media Center ecosystem.

Responsibilities

• Ensure strategic focus for the organization, including fostering a collaborative nature of WUOT.
• Identify and implement initiatives to deliver help the goals and mission of WUOT.
• Identify pathways for serving, growing, and diversifying audiences of WUOT, in collaboration with staff and senior leadership across the College.
• Foster strategic partnerships that enhance the organization's reach, revenues, capacity, and impact, serving as an effective leader, ambassador, and collaborator.
• Bring a forward-looking, entrepreneurial approach, identifying key opportunities that will ensure WUOT's ongoing service, success, and relevance.
• Ensure resources are ethically, efficiently, and responsibly deployed.
• Work with WUTK in areas of FCC compliance, technical operations and guidance.
• Develop and implement plans and budgets to achieve WUOT's revenue goals.
• Meet annual financial targets.
• Ensure long-term financial health of WUOT.
• Serve as the organization's chief fundraiser by cultivating and stewarding donors, attending fundraising functions, and soliciting major gifts for the organization's current and future needs.
• Ensure resources are ethically, efficiently, and responsibly deployed.
• Provide leadership for all operational and administrative aspects of running WUOT.
• Manage a $2M+ budget in compliance with university policy and college-specific guidance set forth by the CCI Office of Finance, Administration, and Operations.
• Manage a team of 15 full-time staff with approximately 6 direct reports.
• Recruit, develop, and retain a highly talented team at all levels - staff and students.
• Motivate, engage, mentor, and coach staff and students.
• Provide pathways for professional development and staff success.
• Foster community collaborations to enhance reach of WUOT.
• Be an effective spokesperson for WUOT, including community members, civic and business leaders, foundations, and professional associations.
• Successfully represent the organization in the external community.
• Build relationships with community partners and directly engage with the station's community advisory board.
• Tell the story of WUOT and the College of Communication and Information's partnership in a sincere and captivating way to generate the public's interest, support, and excitement.
• Navigate the changing media landscape with a clear vision and innovative ideas to help the organization balance the delivery of news and media to a diverse and growing audience.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree in business, public administration, communications, journalism, or related area
• Experience: Minimum of five years of experience as a senior level manager in a similar organization. Public broadcasting experience required.
• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities :
  
  
  • Leadership skills, administrative abilities, including the management of people from diverse backgrounds and disciplines.
  • Knowledge of public broadcasting, audience research, and best practices in public radio
  • Superior written, verbal, and digital communication skills

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without need now or in the future for sponsorship for employment-based visa status.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience: Higher education teaching experience

Work Location

• Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
• Onsite

Compensation and Benefits

• UT market range: MR15
• Anticipated hiring range: $120,000 to 130,000
• Find more information on the UT Market Range structure here
• Find more information on UT Benefits here

Application Instructions

To express interest, please submit an application with the noted below attachments:

• Resume
• Cover Letter

To be assured of full consideration, completed applications with all requested materials should be submitted on or before June 26, 2026.

About The College/Department/Division

Listener-supported WUOT 91.9 FM is licensed to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Qualified by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, WUOT is a member of NPR and an affiliate of the Public Radio Exchange and American Public Media. The station's primary format is news, classical and jazz music.

WUOT serves listeners throughout East Tennessee and parts of Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and streams on the web at wuot.org. WUOT's second audio channel, WUOT-2, is available on HD Radio™, Internet radio and on the web.

About Us

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has shaped leaders, changemakers, and innovative thinkers since its founding in 1794. The university is home to more than 38,000 students and 10,000 statewide employees-the Volunteers-who uphold the university's tradition of lighting the way for others through leadership and service.


UT Knoxville offers over 900 programs of study across 14 degree-granting colleges and schools. As Tennessee's flagship land-grant university, its footprint spans the entire state. The university holds the highest Carnegie classification for research activity and has deep partnerships with industry leaders and the US Department of Energy's largest multidisciplinary laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.


The Knoxville campus serves and recruits for UT Knoxville, including the Institute of Agriculture and the Space Institute, as well as the UT Institute of Public Service.


UT Knoxville considers its employees its number one asset. With values that focus on work-life balance, compensation, and innovation leadership, all Vols are supported to advance professionally. Employees have access to career development and coaching, continued education, and an extensive list of development and training possibilities. The Volunteer employee experience implements structures and practices to attract and retain top-tier talent, fostering a strong staff community and supporting a culture of involvement and engagement for everyone.


The university holds a strong commitment to its land-grant mission of learning and engagement, with a tradition of service and leadership that carries that Volunteer spirit throughout the state and around the world. It has been ranked nationally as "Best Employer for New Graduates," "One of America's Best Large Employers," and "Best Workplace for Women," and has been designated as "Best Place for Working Parents" by Forbes Magazine.


Apply today and join the Tennessee Volunteer community!