Production Assistant Apprenticeship - Level 3 - BBC Archive Content - Belfast

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

Benefits offered by this job

Excellent career development

35‑hour working week

25 days annual leave

Relocation support subject to criteria

Job summary

BBC Group and Public Services in Belfast offers a fixed-term, full-time Production Assistant Apprenticeship (Level 3) at BBC Archive Content. The 13-month scheme blends on-the-job learning with earning a recognised apprenticeship qualification and exposure to a range of productions.

You will gain hands-on experience across projects, learn production practices, and work with experienced colleagues, with potential progression after completion.

Qualifications

• Passionate and curious about content and production process at the BBC.
• Brimming with new ideas and fresh perspectives for BBC content.
• A great team player who can deal with unexpected challenges.
• Flexible and adaptable to enable content delivery.

Responsibilities

• Help develop ideas and stories by researching content and finding guests.
• Assist on location, in the studio, or in a TV gallery and on the studio floor.
• Learn to use technical equipment and software supporting cameras, sound, lighting, and editing.
• Create content for multiple platforms under guidance of experienced professionals.

Skills

Passion for content

Curiosity about production

Team player

Flexible/adaptable

Job description

Production Assistant Apprenticeship - Level 3 - BBC Archive Content - Belfast

CONTRACT TYPE: Fixed-term Apprenticeship, Full-time for 13 months

DEPARTMENT: BBC Archive Content

LOCATION: Belfast - 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?

This is your chance to launch a career at the very heart of British broadcasting. We’re looking for individuals with a passion to find out how we make content and bring ideas to life. Depending on your placement area, you could be working behind the scenes on exciting productions, from gripping dramas to the thrill of live radio, and gain a recognised qualification while learning on the job. This is your opportunity to broaden your production knowledge while working on content that matters to millions.

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

Places on the Production Assistant Apprenticeship are available across a range of teams at this location, as well as in other locations. You can find details on other placements in this location on the BBC Early Careers website.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM?

This is a unique opportunity to work with one of the world’s most inspiring content catalogues, the BBC Archive. You’ll help transform it, for modern audiences. You'll be part of a supportive team that combines creativity, storytelling, production and digital innovation. As an apprentice, you'll contribute to stories that appear across YouTube, social channels, Bitesize, News and Radio, reaching millions every day. You’ll develop practical production skills, working alongside experienced colleagues, who love their jobs and who want to learn from you too! You'll gain exposure to different parts of the BBC, build a strong professional network, and see the direct impact of your work every day.

As a Production Assistant Apprentice at the BBC, you'll gain hands‑on experience across a range of projects, from supporting high-profile productions to contributing to content enjoyed by audiences across the UK. You'll work alongside experienced professionals, develop practical skills and play an active role in bringing creative ideas to life. This apprenticeship could lead to job opportunities as a:

• Junior Researcher
• Runner
• Content or Edit Assistant

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT

As a Production Assistant Apprentice within BBC Archive Content, this is a brilliant opportunity to learn, grow, and contribute. You could be:

• Helping to develop ideas and stories by researching content and finding guests and participants.
• Gaining real‑life experience by assisting your team on location, in the studio, or in a TV gallery and helping out on the studio floor.
• Learning to use technical equipment and specialist software by supporting teams with cameras, sound, lighting, and editing.
• Creating content for multiple platforms, including social media, under the guidance of experienced professionals.

You’ll study for your industry recognised apprenticeship qualification, learning both on and off the job. This means that as well as learning on your placement at the BBC, you’ll also attend learning blocks (up to a week at a time) with our learning provider, working towards an industry recognised apprenticeship qualification - Level 3 Production Assistant. Learning blocks will be a mixture of in‑person and virtual delivery including tutorial sessions, presentations and group work.

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 this apprenticeship standard you will be studying, please see detail on the Production Assistant Level 3 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 and curious about content, and the production process at the BBC
• Brimming with new ideas and fresh perspectives for BBC content
• A great team player who can deal with unexpected challenges
• Flexible and have an adaptable approach to work to help enable our content to be delivered.

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

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.

PRA27

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.

Our apprenticeship roles are also subject to you having the require qualifications that we have deemed to be necessary for your role and the requirement of the training provider for your scheme. The offer would be subject to you undergoing and meeting the requirements of a skill scan process with the BBC nominated training provider to determine your eligibility.

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.

Before your start date, you may need to disclose any unspent convictions or police charges, in line with our Recruitment policy. This allows us to discuss any support you may need and assess any risks. Failure to disclose may result in the withdrawal of your offer.

Information at a Glance

This is your BBC

At the BBC you can create and innovate in an inclusive environment while contributing to some of the world’s best loved content, and the BBC’s mission to inform, educate and entertain.

Find out more about the BBC

Here you will benefit from:

• Excellent career and professional development.
• Fair pay and flexible benefits including a competitive salary package, a 35‑hour working week, 25 days annual leave (26 days for BBC Studios), a range of policies to support your work/life balance, a defined pension scheme and discounted dental, health care and gym.
• A values‑based organisation where the way we do things is important as what we do.

Life at BBC

As an Apprentice you will also receive:

• An industry recognised qualification.
• Industry‑leading training through the BBC Academy and our learning providers (this may involve travel to locations across the UK).
• A dedicated Team Manager and Scheme Specialist to help with your development.
• Training and Mentoring by industry professionals.
• A bespoke BBC apprenticeship experience including apprenticeship development days and membership of the BBC Apprenticeship community.
• Employability and networking training and support to help you secure your next role.
• The opportunity to apply for financial support for relocation subject to eligibility.

Candidate pack

You belong

We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, so all our employees feel that they can belong, thrive and achieve their full potential.

We want to attract the broadest range of talented people to join us. The more diverse our workforce, the better able we are to respond to and reflect our audiences in all their diversity.

We welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio‑economic background, religion and/or belief.

Find out more about diversity, inclusion and belonging in our strategy below.

Disability confident

We take inclusivity seriously and want to ensure all candidates who are disabled or have long-term health conditions receive the support and adjustments they need. If you need to discuss adjustments or access requirements for the recruitment process, or to carry out this role, please contact us via the Early Careers Recruitment contact form

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.