Summary
Description
Location: Denver, Colorado
Reports to: Publisher
Position Type: Full-Time
Salary: $110,000 to $125,000
Contact: jobs@coloradosun.com
News is a public good, and everyone deserves access to quality news and information whether they can afford to pay for them or not. These are the core values that have guided The Colorado Sun since we founded our statewide news outlet in 2018.
We have more than doubled the size of our staff in the past six years, became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and established ourselves as a trusted news source for thousands of Coloradans. We have a pile of awards, earned in competition with Colorado’s largest news organizations, that attest to the excellence we produce daily.
More than 13,000 Coloradans have joined our Sun community as paying members, and more than a thousands have stepped up as donors since our conversion to nonprofit in late 2023. The Sun serves about a million unique visitors to our website each month and more than 100,000 subscribers to our various free and paid newsletters.
Now, you can join the team at The Colorado Sun committed to serving our state and support more impactful, essential journalism for our beautiful, diverse state. We need an experienced, mission-driven leader who is as skilled and passionate about running and growing our business as we are about producing the strong news coverage Colorado deserves. We need a leader with vision, integrity and the drive to help us expand our team and ensure our sustainability well into the future.
Position Summary
Reporting to the publisher and serving as a member of the Executive Committee, the General Manager has strategic and operational responsibility for creating and managing best-in-class business functions for The Colorado Sun to ensure the long-term growth and sustainability of our mission.
The General Manager will define the process and implement the infrastructure/systems needed to support substantial growth over the next three to five years. The director will build and manage effective and streamlined administrative/financial systems, including financial, accounting, legal, information technology (IT), human resources (HR) and infrastructure.
As a member of the executive management team, the General Manager will be involved in strategic planning, evaluation and professional development initiatives, as well as planning for The Colorado Sun’s expansion to serve new markets. The director will have experience creating and driving the analytic framework for planning and managing organizational change in a highly entrepreneurial organization.
Responsibilities Include
Finance/Business Management
- Drive the development and implementation of financial management strategies to support business growth and operational efficiency.
- Review and approve preparation and finalization of monthly and annual financial reporting materials and metrics for the board of directors.
- Set clear measures for success and hold the organization accountable for achieving the business goals.
- Oversee budgeting, financial forecasting and cash flow.
- Manage the outsourced accounting service; hire and retain support staff as needed in the future.
- Coordinate all audit activities.
Operational Leadership and Management
- Drive the execution of strategic initiatives and operational plans.
- Coordinate with the directors of sales, events, development and membership on revenue initiatives.
- Partner with the other members of the executive committee on the organization’s financial, budgeting, and administrative processes — including HR, payroll and benefits functions — with an eye to continuously developing and improving systems.
- Develop an IT plan for the future, and implement it successfully to meet IT needs (hardware and software) as the organization grows.
- Manage the organization’s infrastructure and systems (computers, payroll provider, cyber-security, office space, supplies, etc.).
Business Expansion
- Lead efforts by The Sun to expand to new regions in Colorado by evaluating locations and order of expansion plans, developing key relationships and partnerships.
- Create systems for determining resource allocation and management of new bureaus.
- Ensure The Sun’s systems across finance, HR, finance and IT are built for working across multiple markets and across the state.
Qualifications & Experience
The General Manager will have seven to 10 years of professional experience, including managing the finance and administration of a high-growth start-up organization (preference given to those with nonprofit experience). The director will have experience creating and driving the analytic framework for planning and managing organizational change in a highly entrepreneurial organization.
We’re looking for an adaptable and reliable person, ignited by curiosity and interested in daily news. We need someone who is adept at multitasking, has strategic vision and the drive to see initiatives all the way from inception to deployment. You work well with others, have strong communication skills and are committed to inclusivity.
The minimum qualifications for GM candidates are:
- Bachelor’s degree (MA/MBA preferred) or equivalent work experience in Business, Management, or Finance
- At least seven years experience in financial management and accounting, including audit, compliance, budget and resource management
- At least five years experience managing a team in operations (including finance, customer service, marketing, people, communications, etc)
- Excellent people skills, with experience collaborating in a multidisciplinary, diverse, and dynamic team
- Personal qualities of integrity, credibility and a passion for The Colorado Sun’s mission
Ideal GM candidates also have some of these preferred experiences and attributes:
- Working and leading in the nonprofit sector
- Demonstrated resourcefulness in setting priorities, proposing new ways of creating efficiencies, and guiding investment in people and systems
- Technologically savvy, with an ability to point to examples of ways to develop and implement new processes and systems that increased efficiency in a fast-moving environment
Salary & Benefits
The salary range for the General Manager is $110,000 to $125,000 and will be based on prior experience and skillset.
- The Colorado Sun contributes to our employees’ medical, vision and dental benefits through our group plan; family members can be covered through employee contributions
- The Sun also offers our employees a 401(k) retirement program, with a company contribution after one year of employment
- The General Manager will be based in Colorado
- The Sun provides paid vacation, holidays and sick/family leave
About The Colorado Sun
The Colorado Sun is an award-winning news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself. The Colorado Sun is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Vision
Be Colorado’s most-trusted, equitable, free and accessible statewide news outlet.
News is a public good, and we seek to build Coloradans’ greater understanding of the state’s people, policies, and places through in-depth, nonpartisan coverage of everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and the environment.
Mission
The Colorado Sun produces investigative, watchdog, explanatory and long-form journalism to ensure that all Coloradans have access to the information they need to be informed citizens.
The Sun is a team of Colorado’s most experienced, award-winning and trusted journalists producing in-depth, high-quality coverage of our state. The Sun sheds light on rural and underserved communities and promotes greater understanding among diverse enclaves within Colorado. Our writers and photographers capture the spirit, culture and complexity of the people and institutions that define Colorado.
The Sun embraces our responsibility to provide coverage not only from far-flung communities, but for them whenever possible. Because all Coloradans deserve access to knowledge and information, The Sun shares our content with dozens of other news organizations across the state, collaborates with radio and TV colleagues and produces a podcast that serves, among others, members of Colorado’s blind and vision-impaired communities.
As an employer, The Colorado Sun strives to hire and retain a workforce that reflects the entire state, to encourage collaboration and to compensate people at levels that reward their expertise and talent.
The Sun does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information or veteran status in any area of its operations.
