Assistant Editor, BBC News Social

BBC; Salford; Hybrid; GBP 53,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading media organization is seeking an Assistant Editor to enhance its social media presence. In this dynamic role, you will lead a dedicated team, curating and commissioning impactful journalism for diverse audiences. The ideal candidate possesses excellent editorial judgment and substantial experience in social media environments. You are expected to work collaboratively across teams while adapting to fast-paced news cycles. This position calls for innovative thinking and a commitment to delivering trusted news content to global audiences.

Benefits

Flexible working

Opportunities for career development

Qualifications

• Experience curating and overseeing content for social audiences.
• Ability to make editorial decisions quickly and independently.
• Strong understanding of UK and global news priorities.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team curating and commissioning content for social.
• Provide editorial direction to ensure quality journalism reaches audiences.
• Develop best practices across accounts and drive iterative output.

Skills

Excellent editorial judgement

Experience in social media content delivery

Ability to lead unsupervised

Understanding of social media platforms

Fostering inclusive team culture

Knowledge of audience behaviours

Job description

JOB DETAILS

JOB BAND: E

CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent, Full-Time

DEPARTMENT: BBC News, Social

LOCATION: Cardiff, Salford, Glasgow, Birmingham

PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £53,000 - £65,000 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

Flexible working – If you'd like to, please indicate your preference in the application – though there's no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

Job Purpose

As an Assistant Editor in BBC News’ Social team, you will work alongside colleagues leading the charge to reach millions around the world, every day, with our trusted journalism across social media platforms.

You’ll collaborate with colleagues across the BBC to deliver the very best social media content to help us connect with new and infrequent audiences.

As a highly experienced editorial leader, you’ll be confident at everything from breaking news around the clock, to commissioning and overseeing long-term planned content for specific target audiences.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

BBC News is supercharging our social media activity, with big ambitions and a clear goal to deliver more content to bigger audiences than ever before across platforms.

We run some of the largest and most influential social media news accounts in the world, recording billions of views every year. But we want to drive even greater performance and improve how we serve our audiences off platform. To do this our social team is at the forefront of digital journalism, constantly evolving to ensure the BBC’s trusted reporting connects with audiences wherever they are.

We’re working 24/7, 365, in pursuit of truth with no agenda, delivering high quality news to educate and inform audiences; particularly those who don’t have a regular connection with the BBC or News.

Your Key Responsibilities And Impact

• You’ll lead a team of talented staff around the world daily, curating, commissioning and overseeing content for audiences on social.
• Provide daily editorial direction, ensuring the best of the BBC’s journalism reaches audiences where they are.
• You’ll develop, enhance and consistently apply best practice across our accounts.
• Together with senior leaders, you’ll constantly drive iterative development of our output on social media, staying ahead in an ever-evolving environment.

Essential Criteria

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Excellent editorial judgement and experience of working with or in a team delivering always-on content for social audiences.
• You’ll have an ability to lead work unsupervised, to tight deadlines, with experience of taking editorial decisions quickly and independently.
• A thorough appreciation of UK and global news priorities in a fast-paced breaking news environment.
• Strong understanding of social media platforms from YouTube to TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, X to WhatsApp, as well as emerging spaces.
• A proven record of fostering an inclusive and purposeful team culture.
• Deep knowledge of audience behaviours and trends in news consumption off-platform.

DESIRED CRITERIA

• Social media strategy development, particularly with global audiences and round-the-clock publishing strategies.
• Ability to thrive in a matrixed organisation and lead across teams and time zones, including establishing and refining workflows for cross-functional collaboration.
• You’ll be collaborative, curious and ready to help reshape BBC News for the next generation.

This role is all about responding to news as it happens, which will involve weekend and shift working.

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.

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.

General Queries

For any general queries, please contact: [e-mail]

Redeployment

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC 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.