Journalist WATO PM

BBC Group and Public Services; London; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a dynamic journalist for a weekend role in London. This position offers the opportunity to work on high-profile programmes with a focus on political coverage and creative storytelling. You will be responsible for producing engaging content, conducting interviews, and contributing to the overall narrative of the broadcasts. With excellent career progression and unrivalled training opportunities, this role is ideal for those looking to make a significant impact in the field of journalism. Join a team that values creativity and independence in a fast-paced environment.

Benefits

Flexible Working Hours

25 Days Annual Leave

Defined Pension Scheme

Discounted Health Care

Training and Development Opportunities

Qualifications

• Significant experience in live news output and fast-paced environments.
• Strong knowledge of domestic and foreign news agendas.

Responsibilities

• Produce sequences for broadcast and find interviews.
• Contribute ideas for creative and engaging radio content.

Skills

Live News Output

News Judgment

Creativity in Production

Radio Recording Technology

Political Knowledge

Interviewing Skills

Education

Degree in Journalism or Related Field

Tools

Audio Editing Software

Radio Recording Equipment

Job description

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Journalist WATO PM

London, GB, W1A 1AA

BBC PUBLIC SERVICE B'CAST

Job Closing Date: 18/5/25

THE ROLE

Job Reference: 23722
Band: C
Salary: £30,000 - £40,000 plus London Weighting, depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.
Contract type: 6 month FTC - weekend working plus 1 week day on a rota basis
Location: London
Interviews - w/c 26th May

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 negotiable salary package, a flexible 35-hour working week for work-life balance and 25 days annual leave with the option to buy an extra 5 days, a defined pension scheme and discounted dental, health care, gym and much more.

Freelancers are eligible to apply for an internal role if they are on a Worker Contract and they have worked continuously for 6 months. If they have worked for less than 6 months continuously or have a break of 3 weeks or more between engagements, they must seek Divisional HR approval to apply for an internal role prior to submitting an application.

If they are unsure which contract they are on, they can speak to their booker or the HR BP, however if it helps -both a PAYE freelance or Modus Gross contract is considered a Worker contract and covered by the Worker terms found here.

Job Introduction

The World At One with Sarah Montague prides itself on rigorous journalism. The programme has strong reputation for political coverage and takes meticulous care in its assembly of all the evidence the listener needs to make a judgement about the key stories of the day.

PM aims to provide sharp, distinctive and creative analysis of the day’s events with Evan Davis. The programme uses sound, wit and original treatments to provide serious and ambitious content; it has a close relationship with its audience.

In addition PM has a commitment to present programmes from a range of locations as part of the BBC’s Across the UK plans.

Broadcasting House uses wit, depth and lateral thought in its coverage of the week’s news, and the World This Weekend focuses on high quality national and international news, with the emphasis on essays and an eye to exploring new ideas and trends.

This position is primarily a weekend role. The successful candidate will work Friday – Sunday, and one other day every week for the majority of their contract. It may be necessary to work across programmes Monday – Friday to accommodate leave, or operational circumstances.

Main Responsibilities

The World at One and PM department is looking for a creative, energetic and resourceful journalist to join the dynamic team that makes The World at One, PM, Broadcasting House and The World this Weekend.

We are looking for someone who thinks independently, is full of distinctive ideas for stories and who thrives in a fast-paced environment. Working towards both WATO and PM is demanding and satisfying. It is a unique opportunity to work across four very different programmes with their own distinct styles.

As a journalist on the team you’ll work to output editors and with presenters. You will be responsible for producing whole sequences for broadcast, finding and briefing interviews for broadcast, making packages and casting discussions. You will be expected to contribute ideas and analysis that produce creative, intelligent and engaging radio.

Are you the right Candidate?

The successful candidate should have:

1. Significant experience of working on live news output – fixing guests, cutting clips and briefing presenters in fast paced live network news environment – or equivalent experience working on a leading newspaper, website or podcast and a demonstrable understanding of live broadcasting.
2. Recent experience as a journalist, with the ability to identify and develop the main news stories of the day and ideas for fresh and distinctive coverage.
3. Strong knowledge of the domestic news agenda, with in-depth knowledge of politics, and key foreign news stories.
4. Ideas for Across the UK coverage on output, both on how to reflect different regions and their local stories on air and how to explore national issues by going to specific places.
5. Excellent news judgment; the ability to identify news lines or news-making interviewees, and a strong understanding of what the programmes want to get out of interviews.
6. Creativity, both editorial and in production skills and techniques; proven ability to originate relevant content for a national audience in news or current affairs, and a solid track record of pitching ideas that get on air.
7. Ideally the candidate will have the ability to use radio recording technology (Marantz or equivalent) to gather material for broadcast and experience editing audio to the highest editorial standards – or be able to show the ability to learn these skills.

If you have any questions regarding this role please contact Jonathan Harvey or Rosie Seed for more info. If you have any questions about the interview or application process please refer to Gateway where there is a wealth of resources and videos to help you.

About the BBC

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

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 here.

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 click here.

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

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.

BBC Group and Public Services, Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London, United Kingdom, W1A 1AA. BBC Studios Distribution Limited, company no: 01420028, registered address: 1 Television Centre, 101 Wood Lane, London, United Kingdom W12 7FA.