Senior Journalist (Future Planet)
BBC Studios is the commercial arm of the BBC Group and is a thriving and exciting business. We invest in and produce amazing content and millions of users across the world interact with our products every week. We have a proven track record of growth and are ambitious for the future. As we grow, we are actively transforming our culture, investing in our employees and our ways of working, to build a bold, agile, inventive and inclusive business.
At BBC Global Digital News & Streaming, (a team situated within BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC) we aim to help people understand the world around them, make informed choices, and take an active part in society and democracy. As we expand our footprint to meet increasing demand for our style of quality and impartial journalism and unscripted content in North America, we are seeking motivated, passionate, high performing individuals across a variety of skillsets to join our global team. Our primary locations are New York, Washington DC, and London; while we are seeking candidates whose location allows them to work hybrid to any of these offices, but a distributed workforce means we can consider excellent candidates anywhere the BBC has a commercial presence.
Role Responsibility
BBC Studios is seeking a Senior Journalist to join the Future Planet team on BBC.com. Aimed at a global audience, Future Planet publishes solutions-focused feature stories, including text and video, about efforts to confront the combined challenges of climate change, pollution and environmental destruction. Climate change, and how the world tries to tackle it, will be one of the biggest stories of this century. Since its launch in 2020, Future Planet has built a reputation for high quality, evidence-based reporting on how our modern way of life can be more sustainable in fair and equitable ways. The section has its own voice and ethos – including making its carbon footprint as small as possible and relying on local voices to tell stories that can provide wider lessons for the world. Candidates should have a strong background in science journalism, and ideally covering environmental issues. This role will require someone with experience of writing science-focused, evidence-based articles for general audiences in an engaging way. They will need to be passionate about bringing sustainability stories from all corners of the world and making them relevant to the BBC.com audience. Experience of commissioning and editing would also be advantageous.
Key Responsibilities
Producing a mix of quick stories in response to live news events and evergreen features with a longer lead time.
Daily pitching of ideas that analyse, contextualise and add to the conversation of the day.
Occasional commissioning and editing of articles from freelance writers.
Upholding the BBC’s rigorous editorial standards and best journalistic practices.
Collaborating across a multimedia team, including contributing text for videos, social media posts and live new blogs.
Helping to drive the growth and reputation of BBC.com with new audiences and demographics with topical, shareable stories that inform and entertain.
Working within a Microsoft Office environment and experience of using a CMS.
Developing a diverse network of trusted contributors and voices on BBC.com.
Reviewing and responding to analytics to understand story performance and pivot coverage accordingly.
Maintaining a collaborative, team-player mentality, working toward collective goals alongside a very talented group of colleagues.
Above all else be a creative, engaging writer, who’s crafty with a headline and always looking for their next great story.
Are you the right candidate?
As a global business, diversity, equity, and inclusion among team members is essential to our success. We therefore encourage highly skilled candidates from traditionally under-represented groups to submit their applications, even if they don’t check absolutely every box on our list of desired work experience.
Background (knowledge And Experience)
8+ years professional writing experience, preferably in digital media.
A track record of producing evidence-based, solutions journalism and a clear understanding of what that means.
Experience of commissioning and editing a diverse cross-section of freelance contributors.
A proven ability to read, understand and clearly communicate the latest scientific research to a general audience.
Ability to write in clear, fluent British English in a creative and engaging manner, with accuracy, clarity and style to produce impartial journalism that stands up to journalistic rigour.
You have strong editorial judgment in developing ideas for an international, primarily North America based audience.
Experience of using analytic tools and data to evaluate story performance.
Package Description
Band: D
Contract Type: Fixed term contract: 6 months (maternity cover)
Location: TVC London, Hybrid (open to other UK office locations)
We are really proud to share that we are a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer and so if you require any reasonable adjustments in order to apply please do contact us at reasonable.adjustments@bbc.co.uk with the job reference in the subject. We advertise all our roles on Evenbreak, the specialist job board for disabled candidates.
Flexible/agile working -opportunities across the business. We're happy to discuss a formal flexible working pattern. Please indicate your choice under the flexible working question in the application. There is no obligation to raise this at the application stage but if you wish to do so, you are welcome to. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at the offer stage.
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 certifications.
Benefits - We offer a competitive salary package, a flexible 35-hour working week for work-life balance and 26 days (plus an additional day which is a Corporation Day) with the option to buy an extra 5 days, a defined pension scheme and discounted dental, health care, gym and much more.