Senior Journalist (Southampton) - Extend

Contract: 10 months attachment/ Fixed Term contract; Full-Time

Location: Southampton (Office based)

Band: D

Job Reference: 23905

Salary: Up to £47,000 pro rata depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

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 annual leave (1 of which is a corporation day) with the option to buy an extra 5 days, a defined pension scheme and discounted dental, health care, gym and much more.

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.

This role is advertised as part of our BBC Extend programme for disabled people. To apply for this role you should identify as deaf, disabled or neurodivergent and must meet either: the definition of disability in the Equality Act (2010), or the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) if applying in Northern Ireland. You’re broadly defined as disabled under both acts if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative or adverse effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. This definition includes both apparent and non-apparent conditions and impairments, and medical conditions such as Cancer, HIV or Multiple Sclerosis.

We are committed to making the process of applying for this role as accessible as possible. If you need to discuss adjustments or access requirements for the application process, or have any questions about our Extend programme, please contact the BBC Extend team via the shared mailbox.

The BBC are fully committed to providing workplace adjustments to help eliminate barriers in the workplace that disabled people face. To do this, we have our own dedicated BBC Access and Disability Service that provides assessments and support throughout employment with us. If you are successful in applying for this role and require workplace adjustments, we will work with you to get your adjustments in place.

Job Introduction: BBC South has a rare opportunity for a Senior Journalist in our Southampton newsroom. We’re looking for someone who is passionate about telling the stories that really matter to our audience. You’ll have the ability to share those stories in a creative and dynamic way and recognise how they can be told across different platforms: Television, radio and our digital services.

You will work as part of the wider BBC South news operation. Excellent planning and communication skills are fundamental. The job will involve some shift and weekend working.

Main Responsibilities: Local knowledge of the patch is essential, as is a passion for storytelling. In our newsroom, no two days are ever the same. One day, you might be coming up with creative content that will be of interest to our audience. The next, you could be planning or producing our flagship BBC South Today programme.

You will look to ensure a full diversity of voices, meeting high journalistic standards and observing the BBC Editorial Guidelines.

Are you the right candidate? The ideal candidate will be brimming with ideas for great content. You’ll understand how to tell a story in a way in which our audience can understand and engage with it. You’ll really care about reaching and engaging with a truly diverse audience.

As this role might involve producing the 1830 TV news programme, an ability to work calmly under pressure and in a collaborative manner is key. It goes without saying that you’ll also be a team player, recognising the contribution that everyone collectively makes.

About The BBC: We don’t focus simply on what we do – we also care about how we do it. Our values and the way we behave are important to us. 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.