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Senior Journalists (Belfast)
Journalism
Fixed Term - Full Time
Belfast, GB, BT2 8HQ
BBC PUBLIC SERVICE B'CAST
Job Closing Date: 11/05/2025
THE ROLE
Job Reference: 23457
Band: D
Salary: £39,800 - £47,200 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.
Contract type: 1 x permanent full-time role initially with the Politics team in News Content, 1 x permanent full-time role, working in the Digital team and 1 x 10 month attachment / fixed-term part-time (21 hours per week) role working on Radio Current Affairs output.
Location: Office Base is Belfast.
* Excellent career progression – the BBC offers great opportunities for employees to seek new challenges and work in different areas of the organisation.
* Unrivalled training and development opportunities – our in-house Academy hosts a wide range of internal and external courses and certification.
* Benefits - We offer a negotiable salary packageand 25 days annual leave with the option to buy an extra 5 days, a defined pension scheme and discounted dental, health care, gym and much more .
Freelancers are eligible to apply for an internal role if they are on a Worker Contract and they have worked continuously for 6 months. If they have worked for less than 6 months continuously or have a break of 3 weeks or more between engagements, they must seek Divisional HR approval to apply for an internal role prior to submitting an application.
If they are unsure which contract they are on, they can speak to their booker or the HR BP, however if it helps - both a PAYE freelance or Modus Gross contract is considered a Worker contract and covered by the Worker terms found here .
Job Introduction
BBC News NI has transformed its news operation to make it future fit in a rapidly changing and diversifying news media climate, with digital at its heart. We’re looking for senior journalists who can be part of this change and help drive content with a digital focus. The successful candidates for this role will be experienced journalists with high production skills,a reputation for creative thinking and a thorough grasp of the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and journalism law.
We are recruiting for a number of positions in News NI at senior journalist producer level:
* A full-time continuing position, initially with the Politics team in News Content.
* A full-time continuing position, working in the Digital team.
* A part-time (21 hours per week) position for 10 months, working on Radio Current Affairs output.
Main Responsibilities
Senior Journalists need to be creative thinkers who can lead journalists in their area to deliver the best possible output for our audiences. Senior Journalists will be required to work on digital content for the BBC News NI website, on daily programmes, such as BBC Newsline or Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster, or in the News Content area.
* Lead daily production meetings in their output area and then assign tasks to Journalists, Reporters and Researchers.
* Influence BBC NI’s news agenda, advise output editors and News Content colleagues on the importance of particular issues.
* Commission output for their production area and deploy resources in a cost-effective way.
* Contribute to the generation and production of original journalism.
* Help research and produce stories and treatments of stories as required across digital, TV and radio.
* Gather and write copy as required.
* Motivate teams to think creatively and respond quickly to breaking news.
* Provide forward planning and production support.
* Deal with complex legal and editorial issues.
* Work mostly at base but on location as required.
* Support junior staff members to help them grow and develop in their role.
* Specifically for the role in the Politics team - work with BBC NI’s Political Editor and Political Correspondents to deliver comprehensive political coverage ofnews stories and features for all platforms. And be able to brief newsroom colleagues on political stories and to co-ordinate and field produce on political stories.
Are you the right candidate?
* Extensive editorial experience and strong news judgement.
* Experience of news production in a multimedia newsroom.
* Ability to manage resources, staff, and technical facilities.
* Experience in managing people, good interpersonal and communication skills and a keenness to collaborate.
* A resilient and highly motivated self-starter with a positive attitude.
* An ability to work effectively and collaboratively in a small team and perform well under pressure.
* An understanding of how audiences operate in the digital space.
* Experience of using the latest technology in the field and the newsroom.
* Used to operating calmly under pressure, have sound and trusted news judgement and be able to take tough decisions when necessary.
* A sound knowledge of politics, current affairs and ongoing issues in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and further afield.
* Ability to write clear and concise copy to run across all outlets.
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. 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.
We don’t focus simply on what we do – we also care how we do it. Our values and the way we behave are important to us. Please make sure you’ve read about our values and behaviourshere .
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.
We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We will consider flexible working requests for all roles, unless operational requirements prevent otherwise.
To find out more about Diversity and Inclusion at the BBC, please clickhere .
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.
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.
BBC Group and Public Services, Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London, United Kingdom, W1A 1AA. BBC Studios Distribution Limited, company no: 01420028, registered address: 1 Television Centre, 101 Wood Lane, London, United Kingdom W12 7FA.
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