LION is hiring a Senior Manager of Coaching!

Title: Senior Manager of Coaching

Status: Full-time exempt (not eligible for overtime), with 90-day probationary period (see details below)

Reports to: Director of Teaching & Learning

Location: Remote within USA

Compensation: $80,000-$90,000, eligible for benefits (see details below)

Job Summary

If you are passionate about connecting independent news businesses with practical and actionable coaching support to help them become more sustainable, and building a network of coaches to do that worthy work, we’d love for you to join us at LION Publishers. 

LION provides teaching, resources and community to independent news entrepreneurs as they build and develop sustainable businesses.

Much of that work is done through training and professional development, which we enrich with 1:1 coaching from those who have specific subject-area expertise from inside and outside the journalism industry.

In addition to serving as a program coach, the senior manager of coaching will recruit, train and manage a roster of coaches across LION’s programs and professional development offerings,  including:

• Programs that focus on operational readiness, revenue growth and launching a digital news startup
• LION’s Sustainability Audit — a tool that assesses a news organization’s strengths, opportunities and priorities along the path to becoming a sustainable news business

• The News Entrepreneur Academy — a forthcoming online training portal for aspiring news entrepreneurs and existing independent news publishers
• Ongoing professional development — a host of options that include strategic coaching, consulting, webinars, partnerships, internships and sustainability audits

Our team believes that relevant, accurate and culturally competent local news and information helps people fully engage in civic life, make more informed decisions and better understand the world around them. If you’re interested in helping us make this vision a reality and working in a space of optimism, growth and community-building, learn more about the job and how to apply below.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify and recruit program coaches and sustainability audit analysts
• Onboard and manage coaches and audit analysts
• Design and execute training programs for new and returning coaches
• Coach across the programs and participate in audit analyses
• Contribute to program design and instruction
• Design, execute and manage the data collection process from coaching sessions

LION is an Equal Opportunity Employer

LION is committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, people of different levels of physical ability, and anyone with relevant skills and qualifications.

We know there are great candidates who might not check all the boxes listed below or who possess important skills we haven’t thought of. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. 

Skills and Qualifications for The Role

• Experienced trainer/business coach/educator: You are skilled at designing and delivering people-centered learning experiences that build skills and competencies
• Grounded in entrepreneurship: You have deep experience in at least one aspect of running a business or broad experience with a variety of aspects. The strongest candidates will have experience with news businesses in particular.
• Relationship-oriented: You are passionate about building networks, facilitating connections, spotting talent in unexpected places and fostering relationships between people working together toward a shared mission
• Growth-minded: You are always looking to learn, stretch and grow, and creating environments for others to do the same

Skills and Expectations for Teamwork at LION

• Work in a way that upholds and reflects our organizational values
• Use digital tools and platforms to stay organized, communicate transparently, and collaborate with team members remotely 
• Collaborate strategically with others, clearly defining processes for decision making
• Give and receive constructive feedback to help the team produce its best work
• Celebrate our wins and learning moments
• Take on an experimental mindset and demonstrate flexibility to iterate on our work, systems, and processes 
• Be willing and able to ask for help when needed, and demonstrate an ability to learn and grow in the role

About LION

Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional journalism association for independent news publishers. While most of our 400+ members across the U.S. and Canada run local news businesses, we also have members who serve larger regions and specific identity-based communities across geographies. LION provides teaching, resources and community to independent news entrepreneurs as they build and develop sustainable businesses. One of our core values is being people-centered, and here are some ways we build that culture for our staff: 

90 Day Probation Period

The first 90 days of employment is a probationary period, during which the new hire has clear goals, criteria for successful work product, and regular feedback from their manager. As a result of the new hire’s 90 day self-reflection and manager’s assessment, the two will discuss whether the new hire will stay on with LION and whether it will be in the role as originally scoped.

Benefits

• Medical PPO, Vision & Dental fully paid by employer; 50% paid for dependents
• Short-term disability, long-term disability, life, and worker’s compensation insurance paid by employer
• Paid Time Off (including sick days) is 20 days per year 
• Paid holidays (including Christmas Eve through New Years Day) is 14 days in 2022
• Up to 12 weeks fully paid family/caregiver leave
• 401K with employer match up to 3.5%
• Flexible working hours
• No-meeting Fridays
• Annual professional development budget
• Monthly work-from-home stipend
• For new hires: Health insurance stipend until eligible for employer medical coverage to begin
• Eligible for year-end, surplus-dependent bonus

Application Materials

Submit your materials using this form by 11 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday, March 20.  

• Your resume
• Any online links that show your work (a Twitter profile, a portfolio page, etc.) and/or discuss your work (a website, program description, article/post, report, etc.)
• Answers to the following questions:
  • Tell us about a time you designed and executed a learning experience. This could be a training, coaching plan, course, etc. What was the goal? What were the major challenges and successes? What did you learn?
  • Tell us about a time when you saw great potential in someone when their skills and experience weren’t an obvious match for the opportunity. What did you see in that person and how did you identify it? How did you cultivate that potential? What was the outcome?
  • How does this role and/or working with independent local news businesses fit into your long-term career ambitions? 

If you have questions about this role, reach out to LION’s Director of Teaching & Learning, Lisa Heyamoto, at [email protected] to learn more.