JOB DETAILS
JOB BAND: F
CONTRACT TYPE: Full-time / Fixed-term until January 2027.
DEPARTMENT: BBC HR
LOCATION: London or Salford (with regular travel to London) - Hybrid
PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £94,000 - £110,000 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.
Interviews will take place on 7th and 8th January 2026
PURPOSE OF THE ROLE
The role of Head of HR is a key position on the News HR Leadership team where strategic vision meets operational excellence. It’s a chance to influence the future of one of the world’s most trusted news organisations. We’re looking for an HR leader with a proven track record of delivering strategic initiatives that drive performance and inspire change across a global stage.
You’ll thrive in a fast-paced environment, managing complex stakeholder relationships, leading under pressure, and balancing multiple priorities. You’ll be adept at moving between strategy and operational activity, all while keeping your focus firmly on shaping a culture that empowers creativity and excellence.
WHY JOIN THE TEAM
BBC News is at the forefront of redefining how news is delivered and experienced. As Head of HR, you’ll be a key driver of this transformation, helping us build a culture that reflects our values and ambition. You will be a part of the News HR Leadership team, working collaboratively to shape strategy, influence decision-making, and deliver initiatives that empower our people to thrive in a fast-changing media landscape. We expect a deep understanding and proven experience in delivering complex restructures, managing employee relations in a unionised environment, and championing cultural change initiatives.
Your Key Responsibilities And Impact
* Building and sustaining a strong, collaborative partnership with the Director overseeing the dedicated News content area
* Leading complex employee relations with discretion, rigour, and sound judgement.
* Leading the delivery of complex organisational restructures to drive efficiency, enable transformation, and align the workforce with strategic objectives.
* Driving culture change initiatives and transformation to cultivate a diverse and inclusive culture.
* Strategically implementing HR initiatives that enhance our global business performance.
* Lead initiatives to strengthen representation, skills, and performance, collaborating across BBC News.
* Skilfully managing high-level stakeholder relationships under tight deadlines.
* Developing and maintaining constructive relationships with trade unions to support effective consultation, negotiation, and positive employee relations
* Driving operational excellence in HR service delivery within Network News.
* Fully responsible for ensuring the smooth delivery of the HR employee life cycle and the ‘account manager’ for the Business leader, working closely with all HR Partners.
* Developing innovative, data-driven HR tools and solutions, while managing HR teams focused on continual process improvement and robust compliance.
Essential Criteria
YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
* Have you successfully implemented strategic HR initiatives in a global context, enhancing overall business performance?
* Do you excel in managing relationships with diverse, senior, and executive-level stakeholders, and are you adept at balancing multiple priorities under tight deadlines?
* Do you have a proven track record in leading complex, high risk ER cases with discretion, rigour, and implementing recommendations and change initiatives to drive associated culture change?
* Have you demonstrated experience in driving operational excellence within an HR business partner model, specifically in a unionised environment?
* Are you skilled in using data and analytics to develop and implement innovative HR solutions and tools?
* Do you have experience leading and managing HR teams in complex, global organisations, ensuring continuous process improvement, compliance, and governance?
If you can bring some of these skills and experience, along with transferable strengths, we’d love to hear from you and encourage you to apply.
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.
For any general queries, please contact: bbchr@bbc.co.uk
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.