This is a new senior editorial role in the Natural History Unit. The Director of Programmes will be accountable for the outstanding delivery of a slate of programmes, and the development and selling of an ambitious portfolio of new titles. Together with the Head of Unit and Creative Director, this role will be the face of the Unit externally with a focus on key clients. This is a unique opportunity for an experienced and passionate creative leader at the BBC's Natural History Unit.
* To create and lead a clear vision for an ambitious portfolio of content and inspire a team of executive producers and series editors to realise their editorial aspirations.
* Responsible for empowering, and supporting high performance within a team of ten plus DRs supporting and enabling the teams to deliver high quality, innovative content to a variety of clients across a variety of platforms.
* Ensuring that content is in line with the buyer's strategy and delivered on time and within budget.
* Work with key stakeholders to understand their aims and strategy and ensure those are shared clearly with, and understood by, the wider team.
* Responsible for ensuring that programmes made by production teams are of the highest standard and compliant with all relevant legal, editorial and health & safety requirements and that staff are properly trained and clear about their responsibilities.
* Lead the development and pitching of ambitious, compelling, and original ideas to win new commissions.
* Development and oversight of commercial opportunities, as required.
* Collaboration with other senior leaders in the NHU and leadership of pan NHU projects.
* Responsible for the management of the total budget for a production or portfolio of content within scope of the role.
* Creating an inclusive working culture, upholding BBC values, open and transparent communication.
* Effectively managing complex co-productions with multiple editorial stakeholders.
Demonstrable expertise and passion for creating content/broadcasting in the factual genre, especially Natural History.
* Minimum two years senior leadership experience in either production or commissioning
* Must have managed a large portfolio - delivering multiple, high value projects to major clients
* A strong understanding of the audience trends.
* A thorough knowledge of the wider industry marketplace and its opportunities and challenges.
* A proven track record in creative and editorial achievement.
* Strong experience of developing and maintaining effective working relationships with internal and external partners.
* Effective planning and organizational skills. Proven ability to multitask across varying projects reacting positively to changes and conflicting priorities.
* Able to demonstrate strong editorial judgement in a fast moving environment.
* A track record of realising creative ideas from conception to reality within the constraints of limited resources and challenging deadlines.
* Proven experience of developing, leading and managing the performance of teams at a senior level.
* Experience of being able to work strategically, using lateral thinking and quick decision making skills, challenging assumptions and developing and driving forward new ways of working.
* Demonstrable understanding of audiences on across linear and digital platforms. Highly experienced in analysing market trends on all platforms, as well as performance indicators, to inform strategic success for campaigns.
* Experience of financial responsibility, strong planning skills and ability to manage projects and budgets to budget and deadline., Experience of making content on multiple platforms.
BBC Studios is a world-renowned content studio and channels & streaming business, powered by British creativity, with a reach that touches audiences in every corner of the globe.
We work with outstanding creative talent who are responsible for platform-defining shows from Strictly Come Dancing to Bluey, Eastenders, Prehistoric Planet and Planet Earth III. The range and quality of our content is unsurpassed, creating critical and commercial successes and global phenomena. From BAFTAs to RTS Awards, BBC Studios is Britain's most awarded production company and the only producer with three of the top ten shows on IMDB; we're the home of bbc.com, the widest-read English language news website in the world; and the UK's largest distributor of British content., BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is the best-known producer of natural history content in the world - responsible for some of the most successful factual content of the past 10 years. With pioneering technology, unprecedented access, and innovative storytelling, we inspire audiences across the globe. Our output includes everything from breathtaking landmarks (The Green Planet; Seven Worlds, One Planet; Dynasties; Blue Planet II; Planet Earth III), returning series (Big Cat 24/7), kids content (Andy's Adventures and Deadly) and technically challenging live shows (Springwatch; Blue Planet Live), to Prehistoric Planet - the ground-breaking AppleTV+ Original, The Americas for NBCU, and Ocean Xplorers for National Geographic Disney+. Programmes made by the NHU denote quality, originality, factual integrity and world-class storytelling., The BBC is committed to building a culturally diverse workforce, that represents the audiences we serve, and encourages applications from candidates from any background, especially people from diverse communities. Equity of opportunity is important to us, and we endeavour to make our processes equal, fair and meritocratic for everybody. More information on our D&I plan can be found here. BBC Studios puts sustainability at the heart of everything we do both onscreen and offscreen, including delivering against the BBC Group's science-based Net Zero targets. More information on sustainability at BBC Studios can be found here.
* We offer a competitive salary package
* Flexible 35-hour working week for work-life balance
* Parental leave for new parents, regardless of gender, of up to a year with 18 weeks fully paid
* 26 days holiday (plus an additional day which is a Corporation Day) with the option to buy an extra 5 days
* A defined pension scheme and discounted dental, health care, gym and much more
* A comprehensive Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
* Excellent career progression - access to courses, webinars, workshops and the opportunity to work in different areas of the organisation