Chief Operating Officer, Nations

BBC; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job description

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Job Introduction

We’re looking for an Interim Chief Operating Officer for the Nations division to drive operational excellence, oversee strategic change initiatives and support the division’s transformation to a digital first operation.

Nations is one of the largest divisions of the BBC, operating across four nations from bases in more than 50 towns and cities of the UK. Our aim is to deliver value to licence fee-payers in all parts of the UK with content that’s relevant, highly valued and rooted in homegrown storytelling. We work in close partnership with colleagues in the BBC’s News, Content and Product divisions to deliver a compelling range of digital and linear output across video, news and audio.

Today, our local and nations services reach almost half the population of the UK each week. In all, we operate 46 radio stations, 15 regional/nations TV services and 50 local/nations online services. In addition, we commission a wide range of video and audio content, from live international sport to major documentaries, comedies and drama.

Main Responsibilities

As the Interim Chief Operating Officer you will lead business and operations teams, product development and major project planning for the division, ensuring alignment with the divisional and BBC’s change agenda. You will steer engagement with stakeholders across the BBC and beyond, fostering collaboration and innovation. You will provide expert leadership in the development and evaluation of impactful business cases and partnering with our Finance Director will shape budgets, monitor expenditure and optimise investment strategies.

You’ll play a critical role in defining the division’s strategic vision and ensuring our teams are empowered to deliver on the BBC’s ‘Value for All’ strategy.

Are You The Right Candidate?

We’re Searching For An Inspiring And Dynamic Leader Who Thrives In a Complex, Fast-paced Environment. As The Chief Operating Officer, You’ll Bring:

• A proven track record of success in a senior business leadership role, ideally within a large, matrixed organisation.
• Exceptional strategic thinking, with the ability to turn vision into action.
• The ability to balance insight and precision with a passion for delivering meaningful outcomes.
• A collaborative, audience-focused mindset that ensures we stay close to those we serve.
• Proven experience in managing significant budgets and assessing key financial drivers.
• An understanding of the media sector and current industry trends.

Package Description

Band: Senior Leader
Contract type: 12 month FTC/attachment
Location: UK (Flexible)

About The BBC

We’re happy to discuss flexible working. 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 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 certification.
• Benefits – we offer a competitive salary package, a flexible 35-hour working week for work-life balance and 26 days (1 of which is a corporation day) with the option to buy an extra 5 days, a pension scheme and discounted dental, health care, gym and much more.

We don’t focus simply on what we do – we also care how we do it. Our values and the way we behave are important to us. Please make sure you’ve read about our values and behaviours in the below document: BBC Values.

Diversity matters at the BBC. We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, enabling all of our employees to thrive and achieve their full potential.

We want to attract the broadest range of talented people to be part of the BBC – whether that’s to contribute to our programming or our wide range of non-production roles. The more diverse our workforce, the better able we are to respond to and reflect our audiences in all their diversity.

We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We will consider flexible working requests for all roles, unless operational requirements prevent otherwise.

To find out more about Diversity and Inclusion at the BBC, please visit BBC Diversity and Inclusion.

Seniority level

• Executive

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Management and Manufacturing
• Broadcast Media Production and Distribution