Assistant Editor, Politics

Title: Assistant Editor, Politics : Part Time

Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne United Kingdom

Job Description:

Job Requisition ID: 40068

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, GBR, NE991RN

JOB DETAILS

JOB DETAILS: Assistant News Editor (Politics)

JOB BAND: E

CONTRACT TYPE:

• Fixed Term Contract / Attachment until April 2027
• Part-Time - 17.5 hours (this role will involve two weeks on full time in this role and then two weeks off to meet the needs of making the Politics North Programme)

DEPARTMENT: BBC News

LOCATION: Newcastle

PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £52,300 - £82,000 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

We're happy to discuss flexible working. If you'd like to, please indicate your preference in the application - though there's no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

A unique opportunity to join BBC NE and Cumbria as Assistant News Editor (Politics) on a part time basis, leading in this role 2 weeks out of 4, taking overall editorial responsibility for the Politics Programme on these weeks, feeding stories into all platforms and managing a small team of Reporters. This role will involve two weeks on full time in this role and then two weeks off to meet the needs of making the Politics North Programme.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

This is the chance to really get into the heart of the stories that matter to audiences across the North East and Cumbria, leading the team who shape our Politics output, holding power to account and representing the issues that really matter to the people in our region.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:

• Originate and commission political stories for multiple platforms, working with Political Correspondents and Reporters to develop creative treatments and maintain high professional standards of journalism.
• Act as a main point of contact for all political parties in the region, maintaining strong working relationships to ensure all content is balanced and impartial.
• Produce BBC One's Politics North, booking weekly guests, creating running orders in Open Media, writing scripts, commissioning graphics, liaising with TD1, overseeing the edit, gallery production and compliance of Friday's recorded programme, and liaising with the resource team on Sunday's transmission.
• Liaise with Tim Burke on editorial issues, attending weekly Teams meeting with regional Political producers.
• Continue the development of the programme across social media and digital platforms.
• Manage and develop a small team of multiplatform Political Reporters.
• Seek ways to increase diversity in our workforce and to ensure that our output reflects the audiences we serve.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

• Demonstrable knowledge of Politics and how political decisions at Westminster affect communities in the North East and Cumbria.
• Either a professional journalist, producer or a senior operational professional with extensive editorial experience of broadcast news and the ability to develop and implement new and innovative approaches to programme structure and content.
• Proven editorial judgement, able to make sound decisions promptly alongside experience in compliance and working with editorial policy on complex stories.
• A detailed understanding of current techniques and technology for newsgathering and production. An ability to use new technologies to create opportunities to enhance output and improve working practices.
• Able to prioritise and plan activities taking into account all the relevant issues and factors such as deadlines, staffing, programme budgets and resource requirements

DESIRABLE :

• Previous experience working on Politics content or programmes.

Disclaimer

This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.

Please note: If you were to be offered this role, the BBC will conduct Employment screening checks which include Reference checks; Eligibility to work checks; and if applicable to the role, Safeguarding and Adverse media/Social media checks. Any offer made is conditional on these checks being satisfactory.

Redeployment

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.