Engineering
Chief Engineer: Responsible for the technology that supports broadcasting the station within the Federal Communications Commission approved coverage area. He/she maintains the transmitter, tower, digital platform, and all internal/external equipment. The Chief Engineer also performs preventative maintenance on the station’s consoles, recording equipment, processors, phones, and any additional station equipment and systems.
Sales
General Sales Manager: Oversees the sales department and handles all sales staff hiring, develops sales plans and revenue budgets, oversees billing, studies the station’s market, and develops all sales promotions.
National Sales Manager: Works for the station on a national level, in conjunction with national reps, and performs/shares similar duties as the general sales manager for clients outside of the local area.
Local Sales Manager: Works for the station on a local level and performs/shares similar duties as the general and national sales managers.
Account Executive: Sells airtime to businesses in a form of on-air commercials and promotional tie-ins. Once a business agrees to advertise with a radio station, the account executive is the key contact between the business and the station for all future advertising, marketing, and promotional efforts.
Promotions/Marketing Director: Coordinates and executes station promotional activities for the programming and sales departments. He/she often creates listener promotions and fulfills many added-value commitments to clients.
Promotions/Marketing Assistant: Works alongside the promotions/marketing director to assist in executing station promotional activities.
Non-Traditional Revenue Manager: Manager is responsible for determining additional ways to add revenue, often via publications and web site marketing.
Traffic Director: Responsible for “trafficking” all commercials. As the link between sales and programming, the traffic manager assures that commercials required to be on the air occur at the correct time. He/she is also responsible for producing affidavits, or proof of airtime, for internal and external records.
Applied Technology
As the technical demands of Radio change, many stations have an expert who deal with the computers, station equipment, and website development.
Management
Owner/President: The owner/president owns the station, holds a station license from the Federal Communications Commission, and oversees all station personnel, and in particular works with the general manager to ensure that the station is following through with its sales and product goals.
General Manager: The general manager works for the owner/president and oversees all station operations. He/she must possess general business knowledge, leadership ability, sales and programming skills, and a technical understanding of how the station operates.
Station Manager: The station manager works for the general manager and helps execute all station operations. Management duties vary from station to station due to station size and ownership.
Administrative
Receptionist: Handles incoming calls, greeting guests, and a number of key administrative duties necessary to keep up with the day-to-day operations of the station.
Business Manager: Responsible for the financial management of the station. Skilled in accounts payable and receivable, it’s the business manager’s responsibility to keep station accounts up-to-date by paying the bills, executing employee payroll, and receiving, recording, and depositing advertising payments. He/she often doubles as the human resources director responsible for maintaining employee benefits, reinforcing company policy, and hiring procedures.
On-Air
Announcer: Delivers, by varying degrees, the news, traffic, weather, voices commercials and public service announcements, and hosts all programming and music.
Play-by-Play Announcer: Provides colorful narrative of sports and reports the play-by-play action of live sporting activities.
News Director: Oversees the news department, assigns stories to reporters and staff, monitors the wire service, and is involved in identifying important local and national news.
Music Director: Manages the play list, coordinates the new music the station will air and helps keep the station in line with its format.
Production Director: Assigns announcers, schedules studio time and commercial recordings, and produces commercials and station promos.
Program Director: Responsible for the entire on-air presentation overseeing production, talent, scheduling, music, promotions, and features. He/she supports and executes the overall product goals of the station.
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