Open Roles at BBC World Service

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

• BBC Great Lakes (Gahuza) is a highly respected provider of news and information in Kinyarwanda and Kirundi. This includes courageous journalism that holds the power to account. It also offers engaging stories on politics, economics, environment, health, and social issues, along with highlighting achievements and innovations in Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and neighbouring countries.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

• We are recruiting an experienced Assistant Editor to lead our news team in producing high-quality, accurate, and compelling news content that reflects the diverse voices and issues of the Great Lakes region. The Assistant Editor will play a crucial role in shaping the editorial direction of our broadcasts and digital platforms, ensuring that our reporting is timely, relevant, and impactful. The successful candidate will ensure skills sets in their team support high editorial, production and brand values.
• This is a role for an editor who combines strong journalistic instincts with genuine digital ambition; someone who can lead a team through a significant transformation in how BBC Great Lakes reaches and serves its audiences, while maintaining the editorial standards and audience trust that make the service matter.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:

• Lead the editorial vision of BBC Great Lakes, ensuring that all content reflects the multifaceted nature of our diverse audience. You will set high editorial standards for reporting without fear or favor.
• Lead BBC Great Lakes transformation to a digital-first, video-led service, creating a culture of editorial ambition, personal accountability, mutual respect and continuous learning.
• Develop and implement a data-led video strategy designed to drive measurable digital growth, with a focus on expanding reach among younger and female audiences.
• Use audience insight, analytics and platform trends to inform commissioning, distribution and editorial decision-making.
• Set the editorial agenda, prioritising stories that matter most to target audiences
• Commission, edit and deliver high impact original journalism, including exclusives, investigations, explainers and digital-first content.
• Mentor and inspire a diverse team of journalists, fostering their professional growth and enhancing their storytelling skills. Provide constructive feedback and support a collaborative work environment that values diverse perspectives.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

• 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 experience of managing and motivating teams across multiple locations and in fast-paced news environments.
• Proven track record of developing and implementing successful data-led video strategies that delivered measurable digital growth.
• Strong editorial judgment and the ability to quickly identify and develop impactful stories that reflect complex issues and diverse perspectives
• Demonstrable recent experience of launching new digital products or programs that have led to growth in reach and reputation across platforms
• Proven experience in breaking news stories as well as producing features, investigations and original journalism about the Great Lakes region
• Exceptional writing, editing, and communication skills in Kinyarwanda, Kirundi and English are all essential.

DESIRABLE:

• Proven ability to shoot, script and edit video stories using tools such as Final Cut Pro (FCPx) and QEdit, with the ability to deliver polished, engaging, audience-focused content which is optimised for digital platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook

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PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

• BBC World Service is creating a new Horn of Africa Language Services Unit in Nairobi, bringing together BBC Somali, BBC Afaan Oromo, BBC Tigrinya and BBC Amharic under a single editorial leadership structure for the first time. 
• The Horn of Africa On-Demand Production Hub is a new, dedicated production unit at the heart of the BBC's ambitious restructuring of its East Africa language services. The Hub exists to do what no individual service team can do alone: produce high-quality, video-led journalism with the production values, platform expertise and creative ambition that BBC audiences in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and the diaspora increasingly expect.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

• The Senior Journalist Team Manager is the architect and engine of the Production Hub. Your job is to maximise the reach, quality and impact of journalism that originates with the four service teams, and to build the production infrastructure, skills and workflows that allow the Horn of Africa's editorial ambitions to be realised at scale.
• You will lead a small, multi-skilled team of video journalists and reporters. You will work in close daily partnership with four Assistant Editors, and you will report directly to the News Editor, Horn of Africa. 
• This is a role for someone with a genuine and demonstrable video vision: someone who understands what great digital and video journalism looks like, who can communicate that vision to journalists across four language services, and who has the practical skills, leadership experience and creative drive to make it a reality.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:

• Design, build and run the Horn of Africa On-Demand Production Hub from the ground up, establishing its workflows, capacity, quality standards and ways of working.
• Develop and implement a clear production strategy for the Hub, setting out how it will serve all four language services, what kinds of content it will prioritise, and how it will evolve as the cluster's digital ambition grows.
• Act as the BBC's lead production expert for the Horn of Africa region, providing strategic advice to the News Editor and the four Assistant Editors on video production, digital platform strategy and audience development.
• Champion the transition from audio-first to video-first production across the HoA unit, working with Assistant Editors to embed video thinking into editorial planning at the service level, not just in the Hub itself.
• Lead the development and production of high-impact video journalism: investigations, documentaries, long-form explainers, data-driven visual stories and social-first short-form content to serve the editorial requirements of the four services.
• Develop and produce new video formats specifically designed to reach young women across the Horn of Africa and diaspora communities, working with Assistant Editors to identify the editorial propositions, storytelling approaches and distribution strategies most likely to grow this audience.
• Manage staffing, rotas and deployment of resources to ensure efficient and effective output.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

• Demonstrable video vision: a clear, articulate and practically grounded understanding of what outstanding digital video journalism looks like, backed by a portfolio or track record of video content that has reached and engaged significant audiences.
• Substantial experience in video production and post-production for journalism, including proficiency with filming, editing, motion graphics and the production workflows required for high-volume, high-quality digital output.
• Proven experience of managing a journalism or production team, with the ability to set direction, develop people, manage performance and build a culture of creative excellence and collaborative working.
• Strong understanding of digital platform distribution including YouTube, social media algorithms, WhatsApp, TikTok and BBC digital products and a track record of using that understanding to grow audiences.
• Experience of leading significant production projects or transitions, such as launching a new format, transforming a linear programme for digital, or building a production operation from scratch.
• A genuine commitment to reaching young female audiences, with practical experience of designing content strategies, commissioning approaches or storytelling formats specifically aimed at this group.
• Fluency in written and spoken in one of our Horn of Africa languages and English.