Weekend Team Lead

Applicants from Indeed: Please apply directly at our website, OPB.org/careers in order to answer some required position-related screening questions. Applicants who do not answer these questions will not be considered.

About OPB

OPB is a leader in public media, serving diverse communities of the Northwest with fact-based, in-depth news and information about politics, the environment, science, arts, history, and cultures, business, education and more. Powered by the generous support of members, OPB seeks out a variety of voices in our communities and lifts up authentic stories of the people, places, events and issues of the region, providing context and a deeper understanding. OPB’s independent journalism and programs are available at opb.org, on OPB Radio and OPB TV. Follow us on Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

The Opportunity

The Weekend Team Lead is a new position that ensures that OPB wins on the biggest weekend stories in radio, text, video and photos and sets the newsroom up for success on Monday and beyond. This news leader will serve OPB’s goal of enhancing digital coverage and attracting and retaining new weekend audiences with a consistent approach and long-term strategy for Saturdays and Sundays. This person must be a resourceful and collaborative self-starter with strong news judgement and experience in breaking news.

Position Details

The Weekend News Editor/Team Lead helps OPB deliver competitive and impactful coverage of the biggest stories on Saturdays and Sundays by providing a consistent approach and long-term weekend strategy. This person must be a proven leader with excellent news judgement and deep experience in breaking news. Specifically, the Weekend News Editor/Team Lead will monitor social media, the OPB news mailbox and other media outlets across Oregon and southwest Washington for the latest events. They will prioritize and assign spot story coverage on weekends, working closely with the photo, digital and social media staff to maximize visibility across platforms. This editor will also edit all radio and digital copy on weekends and write copy for radio and digital briefs. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, this editor/team leader will plan for the upcoming weekend by spotting and planning for newsworthy events in collaboration with photos, video and digital; assigning and editing previews or “off the news” enterprise for weekend use; selecting and vetting articles from OPB’s partners for weekend use; and collaborating with photos, digital and video on all assignments in a midweek planning meeting. Additionally, this editor/team leader is part of the breaking news team and will support breaking news coverage by creating content for OPB audiences. The most successful candidate will help OPB win on daily weekend coverage, anticipate known news needs several weekends in advance and communicate closely with weekday news editors and the News Director to set OPB up for strong Monday coverage on ongoing stories.

Responsibilities 

40% The editor/team leader reports, writes and produces breaking and enterprise news stories on multiple platforms, including audio and digital. Those other duties include scheduling and conducting interviews and planning future news coverage related to the beat, recording and editing material using digital audio tools, using social media for information gathering and engagement, and taking photos. This position, along with all reporters, will use OPB’s content and media asset management systems as required for collaboration across the department.

30% Planning weekend coverage in all formats, including running a weekly midweek planning meeting, collaborating with visuals staff and other editors around anticipated weekend news or events.

20% Assigning, editing and posting breaking news and daily stories and guiding the weekend reporter to cover stories in radio and digital formats during Saturday and Sunday shifts.

10% Selecting, editing and slotting partner news stories for use on the weekend and editing enterprise stories that will run on the weekend for radio and digital, possibly coordinating photos for those stories.

Working Conditions

• Work environment: Hybrid work environment, with in-office work taking place at OPB’s Headquarters in Portland. 
• Schedule: This is a weekend role, with a weekly schedule of Wednesday-Sunday. This position typically works from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., though occasional work outside of this schedule will occur to ensure coverage. 
• Travel: Local, regional, remote location travel occasionally required. 
• Driving: Valid Oregon or Washington driver’s license is required.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position provides day-to-day workflow, editorial support and assignment coordination; facilitates communication and offers subject matter guidance. This position does not have authority to hire, fire, discipline or direct work in any way that affects employment status. 

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, or a related field, OR equivalent combination of education, training and experience that provides the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities for this position. Some experience in breaking news is required. 
• 3 years of experience covering breaking news on a full time or part time basis in a daily newsroom environment. 
• Exceptional time management, organizational, planning, and interpersonal skills. 
• Experience providing editorial direction and developing a story from idea to final product. 
• Ability to recognize a wide range of stories appropriate for OPB across radio and digital platforms, including follow-up stories off the biggest news of the day. 
• Ability to think strategically about news coverage and prioritize the top stories of the day when faced with limited weekend staff resources 
• Proven ability to work collaboratively with photo, video, digital and social media journalists to enhance coverage. 
• Share OPB's commitment to covering all the communities in our coverage areas reflecting a diverse range of people and perspectives in our content. 
• Ability to work with digital audio workstations and office computer software. 
• Enthusiasm for the mission of OPB and for the role of public media in a changing journalism environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism. Experience using digital audio recording and editing equipment 
• 3+ years of supervisory experience. 
• 5+ years of experience covering breaking news on a full time or part time basis in a daily newsroom environment. 
• Experience editing reporters for radio or web. 
• Bilingual in English and another language, preferably one spoken in communities in the Pacific Northwest (for example, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Russian). 
• A voracious news consumer with a passion for journalism. 
• Knowledge of major stories and issues in the Northwest.

Additional Information

• This position reports to the News Director and is a benefit eligible position.
• This role is represented by SAG-AFTRA and payrates are bargained with the union. This non-exempt, hourly role would start at 47.59 per hour and increase 7/1/2026 to $48.55 per hour.

How to Apply

• Please navigate to OPB's careers page directly, at https://www.opb.org/careers.
• Once you have made it to the job posting via OPB's careers page, click the "Apply" button at the bottom. 
• You will be asked to create an account, upload your resume and any other required materials, and asked a few required position-related questions.
• Once you click "Submit", you cannot make changes to your application.
• The application period for this position will close at 8:59pm Pacific Time on Friday June 5th, 2026.

OPB is an equal opportunity employer.