Senior Journalist, BBC News Northern Ireland
Journalism
Fixed Term - Full Time
Belfast, GB, BT2 8HQ
Job Closing Date: 12/03/2025
THE ROLE
BBC News Northern Ireland provides breaking news, analysis, features and debate plus coverage on topical issues across all platforms for local audiences and beyond. We are transforming its news operation to make it future fit in a rapidly changing and diversifying news media climate, with digital at its heart.
We are seeking to appoint a Senior Journalist (producer) on a 12 month fixed term contract or attachment to work on a BBC News NI podcast series.
This is an exciting opportunity to work on a new brand from its inception. Reporting to the senior editor for podcasts, you will originate, produce and deliver a twice weekly podcast that will shake up and set the news agenda.
Main Responsibilities
1. Produce distinct and impactful journalism that helps our audience know and understand the news.
2. Originate, produce, edit and deliver a twice weekly news podcast, often to tight deadlines.
3. Deal with complex legal and editorial issues.
4. Develop daily, medium term and longer term pitches with other team members, as well as collaborating with newsroom colleagues on other ambitious projects.
5. Tackle big issues and produce output that deals with complex subjects.
6. Be a point of contact for newsroom colleagues, including digital, news content and output editors to ensure that our journalism travels.
7. Work mostly at base but on location as required.
8. Be an integral part of the forward planning of stories and to represent the podcast team at editorial and planning meetings as well as other relevant engagements as required.
Are you the right candidate?
1. First class production skills, razor sharp news judgement and an ability to deal with complex legal and editorial issues, often under pressure.
2. A creative story teller with a reputation for producing original journalism, bursting with ideas, a wealth of contacts and an ability to persuade people to talk.
3. In-depth knowledge of current affairs, politics and cultural life as well as an interest in domestic and foreign news.
4. Extensive podcast production experience and be able to hit the ground running.
5. Strong decision making skills and experience of operating calmly under pressure.
6. A resilient self-starter with the ability to write clear, concise copy that can run across all outlets.
7. Experience in managing people, good interpersonal and communication skills and a keenness to collaborate.
8. Have a passion for and experience of producing original journalism that sets the news agenda and gets people talking.
9. Have experience of using audience insight tools to look at and measure engagement.
10. Have a vision for the future of podcasts from BBCNI.
11. Have an understanding of how audiences operate in a digital space.
12. Have knowledge of our audience need and output demonstrating a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Job Package
Job Title: Senior Journalist, BBC News Northern Ireland
Job Reference: 21794
Band: D
Salary: £39,800 - £50,000 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.
Contract type: 12 month Fixed Term Contract or Attachment
Location: Office Base is Belfast. This is a hybrid role and the successful candidate will balance office working with home working.
Final date to apply: Wednesday 12th March 2025
We’re happy to discuss flexible working. Please indicate your choice under the flexible working question in the application.
About the BBC
The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC for different reasons and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Diversity matters at the BBC. We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, enabling all of our employees to thrive and achieve their full potential.
We want to attract the broadest range of talented people to be part of the BBC – whether that’s to contribute to our programming or our wide range of non-production roles. The more diverse our workforce, the better able we are to respond to and reflect our audiences in all their diversity.
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