WQED began in 1954 as an experiment – the nation’s first community-sponsored educational television station.

The dream was to provide the community with educational instruction, fine arts, and local programming to

elevate public discourse and to stimulate ideas free from commercial influence.

In the early years, WQED was home to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which transformed what television could

be for children and families. Initially titled The Children’s Corner, the program began as a local and live television

visit with children and Fred Rogers behind the scenes as a puppeteer. It went on to air nationally on what was to

become PBS.

WQED became a pioneer in children’s television, classroom television instruction, live play readings and

concerts. WQED provided teacher training certification and built initiatives around the best use of educational

media. The 1960s led to the creation of PBS and the member station model and WQED began production of

national television documentaries like The National Geographic specials and Wonderworks.

WQED-FM went on the air in 1973 as the region’s only full-time classical music station, providing classical music

and other fine arts programming to entertain, inform and enrich the community. As the “Voice of the Arts” in the

region, WQED-FM is critical to local artists, ensembles and organizations for assistance, support, and publicity.

The station produces and distributes Pittsburgh Symphony Radio series to public radio stations across the

country. In 1997, WQED-FM expanded its reach into the Johnstown market with WQEJ-FM.

Today, WQED is educational public media with five television programming streams: WQED-TV; WQED Create;

WQED WORLD; WQED Showcase; and WQED PBS Kids Channel. Three radio streams include: WQED-FM

89.3; WQEJ-FM 89.7/Johnstown; The Pittsburgh Concert Channel at WQED-FM HD-2 and www.wqed.org/fm

online. Collectively WQED provides content for free to all residents in the viewing and listening area, and online

around the world; local and national television and radio productions; WQED Interactive, and a nationally

recognized educational initiative.

WQED has a proud history of honors, including 166 National and Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Awards (with seven

Overall Excellence awards, the most by any station), an Academy Award, and many others.

Throughout its history, WQED has partnered with hundreds of local community organizations toward

improvements in education; arts and culture; community health; economics; and important local issues through

its unique form of community engagement. These partnerships are a hallmark of WQED’s mission and are an

important part of its daily activities. As the only community-owned multi-platform public media in the region,

WQED is a convener, a central gathering place, and a conduit for other local non-profit organizations.

As WQED moves into the future, it is shifting its focus to innovation that will usher in a new era of enhanced

service that meets the changing needs of the broad Pittsburgh and greater regional community.

Equal Opportunity Employer

WQED is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Candidates will receive consideration for employment

regardless of their race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age,

marital status, or status with regard to public assistance.

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The Opportunity

Position

President and CEO

Location:

Pittsburgh, PA

Reporting Relationship:

Board of Directors

Website:

www.wqed.org

Purpose of the Position

As the lead executive of the organization, the President and CEO inspires and motivates internal and

external stakeholders, leads with clarity and purpose, expands the organization’s impact and

supporters, engenders an inclusive and engaged culture, and demonstrates a strong commitment to the

powerful mission.

The President and CEO is responsible for day-to-day executive leadership and management of WQED

including: the strategic vision and operations of the organization and its entities; extending the organization’s

mission within the community; developing and managing the financial interests of the enterprise; and serving as

the internal and external “face” of the organization. S/he/they will have ultimate responsibility for providing

dynamic and imaginative leadership and will have full accountability for developing relationships with the Board

of Directors, staff, partners and supporting organizations, members, and the broad community; actively engaging

all stakeholders to achieve the organization’s core mission; and positioning the organization for growth and

success in a rapidly changing environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide the long-range vision and planning leadership necessary to achieve the philosophy, mission, and

future objectives of the organization. Define innovative and measurable goals that envision a new era for

WQED; position the organization for financial strength; grow the various WQED entities; enhance member

and community services and programs; craft content that captures the interest and passion of the next

generation of audiences on multiple platforms; and advance the organization’s educational mission with the

industry, community, and audiences broadly.

• Establish a productive working relationship with the Board, its committees, and task forces; serve as

interface between the Board and the staff; galvanize and take guidance from a Board that contributes

significant institutional knowledge and expertise to the organization.

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• Enable the success of fundraising and friend-raising activities with individual donors, corporations,

foundations, government entities, partners and other supporters. Ideate and implement new appropriate

revenue generating opportunities. Work closely with Board, staff, and volunteers in expanding the

organization’s supporter base and engaging community partners.

• Anticipate and address challenges WQED faces in a shifting landscape, including digital/streaming content,

diversity and inclusion and changing membership, viewership, and community engagement. Be responsive

to and leverage technology to reach broader audiences and participants, and to involve supporters on

multiple platforms.

• Preserve and advance WQED’s legacy of highly regarded, quality content and community programs that

educate, entertain, and inspire while expanding content and relationships into newer and more diverse parts

of the community.

• Represent WQED to its many constituents; build and maintain strategic partnerships and positive

relationships with individuals, foundations, businesses, the broad Pittsburgh community, education and arts

organizations, government officials, the national Public Broadcasting Services organization, the Corporation

for Public Broadcasting, and other relevant entities.

• Raise awareness and understanding of the organization’s value in the community with effective and timely

outreach, marketing, and communications; leverage the WQED brand, identity, and history to the maximum

benefit of the organization as it continues to evolve.

• Serve as a trusted and important leader on regional issues related to public broadcasting, education, and

the arts in the community; expand the national profile of the organization as appropriate.

• Manage a highly experienced and qualified senior team with broad functional responsibilities; nurture a

positive and caring culture; recruit and develop the team to be the next generation of WQED leaders;

preserve an environment where employees feel valued and that encourages optimal individual performance

in a collaborative fashion.

• Make timely and appropriate decisions based on sound business principles; ensure that WQED is managed

with strong financial accountability and integrity, and that the organization operates at the highest level of

effectiveness; maintain a transparent and highly visible management approach; ensure that diversity is

valued and practiced in the organization.

• Achieve goals and objectives within the context of a non-profit structure; effectively interact with a variety of

stakeholders to build consensus, create synergy and trust, and move the organization forward.

Year one critical success factors

At the end of one year, the successful candidate will have:

• Successfully transitioned into the role in a manner that serves the best interests of WQED.

• Cultivated strong relationships with, and earned the respect and confidence of, external and internal

stakeholders, including the Board of Directors, staff, members / audiences, a variety of partners and

supporters, the broad Pittsburgh and regional community, PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,

and other affiliates.

• Articulated a vision and began a process to lay out both short- and long-term strategies that position the

organization for success in a rapidly changing environment.

• Initiated the development of a plan to reach a diversified audience on multiple platforms, as well as

increased general community participation and support.

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The Candidate

Experience and Professional Qualifications

The ideal candidate should bring a mix of the following experience, qualities, and established track record:

• Demonstrated effective leadership and success in managing a fiscally sound, growing, multi-dimensional

organization of comparable size and complexity; significant tenure in a senior management position with

decision-making responsibility.

• A record of accomplishments and leading organizations through change based on excellent strategic

thinking skills and the ability to conceptualize and create initiatives that advance innovative organizational

evolution.

• A strong dedication to and proven success in fundraising and new revenue generation.

• Insight into the impact technology is having on content and program creation, distribution, reach and

audiences - and how that impacts WQED’s opportunities and challenges - as well as experience in

leveraging new technologies for digital transformation.

• A demonstrated understanding of the economics and creative elements in producing content for expanded

and increasingly diverse viewership on multiple / digital platforms.

• Proven record of facilitating collaboration and cooperation with external organizations and the community.

• A history of empowering and fostering a positive culture; accomplishments with recruiting and development

of employees, team building, motivation of staff, and holding teams accountable to goals.

• Experience working with a diverse Board of Directors, maintaining strong working relationships with its

members, and the ability to develop, recruit and leverage an effective Board.

• First-hand experience in public broadcasting and/or related content fields, or in education or the arts is

strongly preferred.

Skills and Competencies

The President and CEO demonstrates:

• A passion for WQED’s mission and dedication to the best interest of the organization, its members/

supporters, education and arts, the community, and public broadcasting in general.

• A “big picture” mind capable of deep strategic thinking and long-range planning in an environment of rapid

change and growth, blended with strong hands-on operational skills and financial savvy.

• Ability to communicate a compelling vision; makes the vision shareable by everyone; can inspire and

motivate teams and stakeholders to implement that vision.

• A high level of humble confidence combined with an entrepreneurial yet collaborative, accessible

management style that engenders trust, empathy, credibility, values transparency, and cohesion.

• Skills as an effective public speaker who is able to communicate the mission of the organization in many

different venues and to diverse constituencies, and who can serve as the face of the organization with

clarity and eloquence; the ability to calibrate speaking and listening styles for divergent audiences.

• Demonstrated experience participating in – or leading - diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; attuned to

current social environment challenges and how that impacts viewership and the community.

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• A tolerance for ambiguity and change, sound judgment, and a strong results orientation.

• The ability to delegate effectively and hold a team accountable, combined with the willingness to be hands-

on as needed.

• The highest level of personal ethics and professional integrity to engender total confidence in his/her/their

moral conduct and judgment.

• Willingness to put in the hours necessary for accomplishment and to travel as needed.

Education

An undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university is strongly preferred and an advanced degree

is a plus. However, all candidates with the professional experiences, values, and skills outlined in this position

specification are encouraged to apply.

Nominations

Nominations and applications can be made to WQED@kornferry.com

All submissions will be held in the strictest confidence.

Page 6 of 7

Charlie Ingersoll

Senior Client Partner

T. 202-256-2267

E. charles.ingersoll@kornferry.com

Rosa Morris

Senior Client Partner

T. 202-577-7926

E. rosa.morris@kornferry.com

Nicola Shocket

Senior Associate

T. 310-843-4156

E. nicola.shocket@kornferry.com

Jaime Reed

Project Coordinator

T. 301-310-9699

E. jaime.reed@kornferry.com

About Korn Ferry
Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm. We work with our

clients to design optimal organization structures, roles, and

responsibilities. We help them hire the right people and advise them on

how to reward and motivate their workforce while developing professionals

as they navigate and advance their careers.

Visit kornferry.com for more information.