Broadcast and Media Systems Technical Operator Apprenticeship - Level 3 - Southampton

BBC; Southampton; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 27,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support

Career development opportunities

Job summary

The BBC is offering a fixed-term 25‑month Broadcast Technical Operator apprenticeship in Southampton. You’ll learn on the job, study for an industry qualification, and gain hands-on experience across live and recorded broadcasting, camera, studio roles, and on-location work.

You don’t need a degree. If you’re 18+ and UK resident for the last three years, you can apply and benefit from relocation support and career development opportunities as you grow with the team.

Qualifications

• Scheme aimed at non-graduates.
• Live and on-the-job learning with an apprenticeship qualification.
• UK residency and 18+ eligibility criteria.
• Relocation support available for eligible applicants.

Responsibilities

• Gain practical experience across live and recorded broadcasting, including location camera work, studio roles, directing, lighting, editing and graphics.
• Contribute to delivery of high-quality BBC content using broadcast technologies.
• Develop understanding of how production, editorial decisions and audience engagement work together.

Skills

Media passion

Calm under pressure

Courteous systems mindset

Organisational skills

Self-starter

Education

No degree required

Job description

Contract Type: Fixed-Term Apprenticeship, Full-time for 25 months

Department: South Operations

Location: Southampton - Broadcasting House

Salary: £24,650

COULD A BBC APPRENTICESHIP BE THE NEXT ROLE FOR YOU?

Join us as an apprentice at the BBC to give yourself the opportunity to kick-start your career in a job you'll love. We’re committed to your skills and talent development. You’ll learn on-the-job, developing your knowledge and skills in an area that interests you, whilst working towards your apprenticeship qualification with one of our learning providers.

WHY JOIN THIS SCHEME?

Working alongside journalists and programme makers is a dedicated team of technical operators who make sure the broadcast equipment and technology side of our business runs smoothly. This apprenticeship is an exciting entry-level opportunity to join the BBC across the UK; working at the front end of technical operating in sound and/or vision in the newsroom ingest hubs, galleries, studios, post-production areas, and out on location.

Want to find out more? Watch recordings from our webinar series on our Life at the BBC YouTube playlis t to learn more about this scheme and other opportunities we offer, and hear from current apprentices about their experiences.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM?

The BBC’s broadcast services are at the heart of communities across the UK; telling stories that matter to people, on TV, radio, online and via our wider digital services. Through this apprenticeship opportunity, you could be part of the next generation of highly skilled Technical Operators.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT

As a Broadcast Technical Operator apprentice (BOA27), this is a brilliant opportunity to learn, grow, and contribute – you will:

• Gain practical experience across all aspects of live and recorded broadcasting, including camera operations on location, studio-based technical roles, directing, lighting, editing, and graphic design for regional and national BBC programmes
• Contribute to the delivery of high-quality content for BBC shows, using advanced broadcast technologies such as satellite trucks and IP systems for outside broadcasts
• Develop a strong understanding of how technical production, editorial decisions, and audience engagement work together to shape compelling content across TV, digital, and online platforms.

You’ll study for your industry recognised apprenticeship qualification, learning both on and off the job. Your learning with the National Film and Television School will introduce you to a wide variety of skills across both TV and Radio, including:

• Camera Operations
• Floor Management
• TV Vision Mixing
• Sound Operations
• Technical Directing
• Shoot and Edit Multi-Skilled Operator
• Picture and Audio Editing
• Ingest and Library functions.

As part of the programme, you will be required to travel to attend in-person learning blocks and other apprenticeship-related activities where necessary. For more information on what you will study during the scheme, please see the Broadcast & Media Systems Technical Operator standard.

YOUR SKILLS AND ELIGIBILITY

We’re interested in your passion for working at the BBC and your enthusiasm for delivering world‑class content and operational excellence to our audiences. We’re not focused on your qualifications; instead, we look for potential and offer you the opportunity to apply your transferable strengths and experience to work in different ways.

If you can bring some of these skills and experiences, along with transferable strengths, we’d love to hear from you and encourage you to apply:

• Passionate about media content and the technical production side of how that content reaches the audience
• Can work calmly under pressure
• Fascinated by how things work
• Brilliant organisational skills and are great at problem-solving
• Enthusiastic self‑starter, flexible and adaptable to out-of-hours working.

This scheme is aimed at non-graduates. If you have a degree and you’re interested in similar roles at the BBC, we recommend applying for jobs at the BBC careers site or having a look at our other apprenticeship schemes.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

To be eligible for an apprenticeship at the BBC, you must:

• Be 18 years old or over by the time the apprenticeship begins in September 2027
• Have lived in the UK continuously for the last three years prior to the start of the apprenticeship
• Be legally eligible to work full‑time in the UK for the entire duration of the apprenticeship
• Not currently be enrolled in another apprenticeship programme, whether with the BBC or another organisation
• Not already hold a qualification in the same subject area at the same or a higher level than this apprenticeship.

To apply for this scheme, you must also:

• Not have completed or hold qualifications in the apprenticeship subject at level 3 or above
• Not have completed or hold an extended BTEC or degree in media, television, film, audio or radio production
• Have little or no work experience in the subject area
• For candidates under the age of 19 years on 7 September 2027: To complete the apprenticeship, you must have achieved Maths and English GCSE at Grade 4/C or above or National 5 (Scotland) at C or Functional Skills Level 2 or equivalent qualification. If you have not achieved these qualifications by the start of your apprenticeship, you will be required to achieve Functional Skills Level 2 before the apprenticeship assessment when you take your end‑point assessment.

You’ll need to live within a commutable distance of where this role is based. Interested in a different location? Check out our other adverts - but please only apply to one.

The BBC recognises that you may need to relocate to a new location to take up a BBC Apprenticeship scheme. The cost of relocating can be a barrier for some applicants and where that is a barrier to participation, we want to help where we can. To help ensure our apprenticeship opportunities are accessible to people from a wide range of backgrounds, a limited number of relocation support awards are available each year for those who meet our financial eligibility criteria. Relocation financial support is available for this role, subject to meeting the financial eligibility criteria. Further information will be shared with applicants during the recruitment process. Details on the wider support, initiatives and networks available at the BBC can be found on our careers site.

This is a fixed‑term apprenticeship - your contract lasts for the duration of the scheme. Once you have completed your apprenticeship, you will be able to apply for any suitable open vacancies at the BBC or outside in the wider creative industry. You’ll be supported with career development, employability training, and networking opportunities to help you take your next step.

For apprenticeship opportunities, disabled applicants who choose to apply under the Disability Confident Scheme and who meet the minimum criteria for the role will normally be progressed to the next stage of the recruitment process. For most of our campaigns, this would be an online assessment designed to assess your skills, motivations and suitability for the role. Further details can be found in the FAQs section of our careers site.