News Editor, Great Lakes at BBC World Service

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:

• Lead the editorial vision of BBC Great Lakes, ensuring content reflects the multifaceted nature of our diverse audience and upholds high editorial standards for reporting without fear or favour.
• Develop and implement innovative strategies to enhance audience reach and engagement, capitalizing on digital and social platforms and analysing audience data to inform editorial decisions.
• Identify and respond to key regional issues and trends, advising on story angles, presentation, and coverage in collaboration with reporters, producers, and correspondents in Africa and beyond.
• Oversee the editorial process from conception to production, ensuring thorough research, fact‑checking, timely delivery, and strong responses to breaking news while maintaining high journalistic standards.
• Foster a culture of creativity, innovation, and professional growth, mentoring a diverse team of journalists, encouraging new formats and technologies, piloting ideas, and measuring their impact.
• Build strong internal and external partnerships, working closely with other departments and engaging contributors, experts, and influencers to enrich storytelling and align with the BBC’s mission.
• Represent BBC Great Lakes in external forums, champion workforce diversity, manage the budget responsibly, and find economies of scale in using central BBC material.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

• Strong editorial judgment and the ability to quickly identify and develop impactful stories that reflect complex issues and diverse perspectives
• Recent track record in leading content production and output (radio and digital) at a senior level, with focus on the Great Lakes region news
• Demonstrable recent experience of launching new digital products or programmes that have led to growth in reach and reputation across platforms
• Substantial knowledge of data analytics tools and how data is used to drive decision making on story choice, publication time and recirculation
• Proven experience in managing high level stakeholders
• Exceptional writing, editing, and communication skills in Kinyarwanda, Kirundi and English are all essential.