Senior Journalist Team Manager at BBC Media Action

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The BBC is an international multimedia broadcaster on radio, TV, online and social networks with a weekly global audience of 450 million. 

BBC Swahili reaches 28 million people every week and has been a trusted source of news for millions in the region and the diaspora for 68 years. The service has evolved over the years and has a strong digital offer on multiple platforms. Our flagship TV programme, Dira ya Dunia, has also evolved in the last decade and it is now an integral part of our digital video strategy to reach millions of new audiences who are consuming content primarily on digital and social platforms. The service’s focus is to showcase our best journalism which is world-class and makes sense of news and events for our local and global audiences in all our platforms including Dira TV. 

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT: 

• Manage daily editorial operations of the TV output, including ensuring editorial compliance and outputting the daily programme 
• Work closely with SNE, Swahili Service, to implement digital strategy and opportunities as part of a long-term strategic transformation. 
• Integrate digital-first commissioning in editorial workflows and ensure that service’s editorial purpose is aligned with audience needs 
• Commission and work with graphic designers to produce creative and original graphics sequences. 
• Responsible for thinking through and around editorial challenges, initiating and implementing realistic alternative strategies and approaches. 

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE 

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

• Demonstrable experience in originating and producing impactful digital first content, including explainers and analysis pieces. 
• Proven experience in breaking news stories as well as producing features, investigations and original journalism about East, Central and Horn of Africa, and global news and current affairs. 
• Experience in managing and overseeing a team in agile and remote working environments. 
• Demonstrable experience in multimedia journalism with substantial knowledge of data analytics tools to drive decision making on story choice, publication time and recirculation. 
•  Experience in creating engaging digital video content in multiple formats primarily in Swahili and in English if required.  
• Should be capable of creatively engaging audiences with interesting storytelling angles and techniques for all digital/social platforms.  
• An understanding of BBC News distinctive news agenda and a wider interest in the digital strategy of the BBC as a whole. 
• Fluency in written and oral Swahili, and appreciation and understanding of different language dialects in order to provide clear editorial guidance.