Chief of Staff to the Editor-in-Chief, Documentary Unit

GBH enriches people's lives through programs and services that educate, inspire, and entertain, fostering citizenship and culture, the joy of learning, and the power of diverse perspectives.

At GBH, we believe in the advantages of coming together to build community, mentor and learn from colleagues, and connect more deeply with our mission. As a result, the majority of our staff are hybrid and work both from home and onsite. Our current hybrid approach requires staff to work onsite a minimum of two days each week, every Tuesday and Wednesday, Hybrid staff are also welcome to come in additional days each week or may be asked to come in on other days by their manager.

The Role

The GBH Documentary Unit — home to FRONTLINE, NOVA, and American Experience— is building its next chapter that includes a new documentary fund and advisory board. We are looking for a versatile, highly organized collaborator for the Unit’s executive producer — someone who can look across the unit and everything that's happening and help it run better.

This is a role for a sharp and resourceful operator who can turn ideas and conversations into action. This person must be an excellent writer and communicator since they will work closely with senior leadership and partners, serving as a central, reliable point of contact and follow-through. They must also be highly informed and well-versed in current affairs.

Responsibilities

Be the strategic right hand. Look across leadership’s schedules and priorities, anticipate what’s needed, and help make each day more efficient, so leadership can stay focused on the highest-value work. Serve as a trusted partner to the Editor in Chief, helping translate priorities and ideas into action across the Documentary Unit.

Drive strategic initiatives and special projects. Lead and manage high-priority projects on behalf of the Editor in Chief, ensuring initiatives move from concept to execution. Track milestones, identify risks and dependencies, and drive accountability for successful completion across multiple stakeholders.

Bring structure and organization: Build and refine systems, processes, and operating cadences that enable the Documentary Unit to function efficiently and collaboratively. Establish mechanisms for planning, decision-making, communication, and accountability that help leaders manage a fast-moving portfolio of work without dropping threads.

Drive follow-through and accountability. Attend and participate in meetings, capture key decisions and action items, and ensure timely execution. Maintain visibility into commitments across the unit, assign ownership where appropriate, proactively remove roadblocks, and ensure projects stay on track.

Support organizational planning and prioritization. Help the Editor in Chief identify, sequence, and prioritize competing demands across the Documentary Unit. Develop tools and processes to track priorities, monitor progress, and ensure alignment with organizational goals and available resources.

Coordinate across teams. Work in a highly collaborative environment among the Documentary Unit leaders, as well as key internal and external stakeholders, to identify efficiencies, eliminate bottlenecks, and keep priorities aligned and moving forward. Serve as a connective tissue across teams, ensuring information flows effectively and decisions are communicated clearly.

Manage the Documentary Unit's operating rhythm. Develop and maintain regular leadership meetings, planning sessions, progress reviews, and project updates. Ensure leaders have the information they need to make decisions and that action items are tracked through completion.

Prepare leadership for high-profile engagements. Produce high-quality briefing materials, talking points, background research, and presentations to ensure leadership is fully prepared for key internal and external meetings, donor engagements, public appearances, interviews, and meetings with high-profile documentary subjects and partners.

Write and prepare executive communications: Draft polished emails, memos, proposals, meeting summaries, presentations, and other communications on behalf of leadership. Ensure messaging is clear, strategic, and aligned with organizational priorities.

Support fund development and external partnerships. Help advance fundraising efforts for the Documentary Unit and its emerging documentary fund. Prepare materials for funders and advisory board members, support donor cultivation activities, coordinate follow-up and stewardship efforts, and help manage relationships with external partners and advisors.

Help establish and support the Documentary Fund and Advisory Board. Support the development, launch, and ongoing operation of the Documentary Fund and its advisory board. Coordinate meetings, prepare materials, manage follow-up actions, and help ensure board members and funders remain informed and engaged.

Identify opportunities for continuous improvement. Regularly assess workflows, processes, and cross-functional collaboration across the Documentary Unit. Recommend and implement improvements that increase efficiency, transparency, communication, and organizational effectiveness.

Skill Set

●      Curious and mission aligned. A fast learner who exercises strong judgement and shares a genuine excitement about documentary content and public media's mission.

●      Proactive and dependable. A self-starter who anticipates needs and acts before needing to be asked, someone who sees what needs doing and owns it.

●      Organized and structural. An individual who can create order and design systems and processes to manage complexity.

●      Poised and discreet. An individual who is comfortable in high-profile situations and can interact appropriately, discreetly, and effectively with leadership, funders, and stakeholders.

Education & Experience

●      Bachelor’s degree

●      A minimum of six years of applicable and related experience including project management, preferably in media.

●      Solid experience working and partnering with executive and senior leadership, and development/fundraising to develop and refine processes and systems.

●      Track record of effectively working across teams, collaborating, building partnerships and driving and facilitating efforts through to completion.

●      Interest in and affinity for documentary film, journalism, and public media.

JOB SPECIFICS
Staff position
Hybrid position
LOCATION
One Guest Street, Boston, MA 02135