Video Commissioning Editor: Sun News Video - News

The Sun is the biggest news brand in the UK, publishing hundreds of stories a day and reaching over 170m unique users digitally every month. Its exclusives set the news agenda and its campaigns have changed the lives of many. Delivering news, entertainment, and sports coverage to millions of readers every day. With a rich history spanning decades, we are dedicated to providing accurate, insightful, and engaging content across print and digital platforms. The Sun has a mass-market audience and aims to appeal to a diverse audience in the UK and beyond.

Your team: An iconic, dynamic storyteller with a rich heritage and a global audience in the millions, The Sun is now focusing on an exciting, video-focused strategy to engage new audiences, putting video at the heart of The Sun’s journalism. This is your chance to join a talented team, redefine how content is created and consumed, and leave your mark on the future of the brand, contributing to fast-paced, agenda-setting video output that drives traffic and revenue, as we redefine how a historic brand tells stories in the fast-paced digital world.

Your role: You will be at the forefront of our shift to video, commissioning compelling content that both informs and engages audiences across our news, sport, TV, showbiz and Fabulous sections. You will play a key role in driving our video output, ensuring that our video strategy aligns with traffic goals and revenue-generating platforms such as YouTube, our own site and other social channels. You will commission and curate video content that amplifies our journalistic integrity while capitalising on what drives clicks, views, and conversations online.

Day to day you will:

• Video Commissioning & Curation: Commission and curate original and creative video content for news and sport, ensuring it aligns with audience interests and traffic-driving objectives.
• Traffic-Driven Strategy: Use data-driven insights to inform your commissioning decisions, focusing on creating high-performing content optimised for page views and video plays across platforms such as YouTube, the website, and social media.
• Audience Engagement: Understand what captures attention in the fast-paced digital environment and commission content that drives conversations, shares, and engagement across multiple channels.
• Collaboration with Journalists: Work closely with newsroom reporters, producers, and editors to turn breaking news, trending topics, and sports events into compelling video content that resonates with online audiences.
• Platform Optimization: Analysing data to ensure all video content is tailored for various platforms, optimising for different algorithms, audience behaviours, and content formats across YouTube, social media, and the website.
• SEO & Metadata Management: Oversee SEO best practices for video content, including the creation of titles, descriptions, and tags that will boost discoverability and ranking on search engines and video platforms.
• Industry Awareness: Stay ahead of digital video trends in news, lifestyle, showbiz and sport, continuously experimenting with new formats, technologies, and approaches to audience engagement.

What we’re looking for from you:

• Digital Native: You are deeply immersed in the digital media landscape, with an intuitive understanding of what drives traffic online, especially through video content.
• Experienced Video Commissioner: You have experience in commissioning video in a large, fast-paced newsroom, and you know how to balance the demands of breaking news with the need to create evergreen content.
• News & Sport Savvy: A solid understanding of journalistic practices, the latest trends in news and sports coverage, and how to turn them into compelling visual stories that resonate with digital audiences.
• Data-Driven & Results-Oriented: You understand how to use analytics to inform content strategy and have a proven track record of driving audience growth and increasing video views through strategic commissioning.
• Cross-Platform Expertise: You know how to tailor content for specific platforms, especially YouTube, and optimise it for maximum impact.
• Creative & Fast-Paced: You thrive in a high-pressure, fast-moving environment, always ready to capitalise on breaking news or trending sports events to create impactful video content.
• Leadership & Collaboration: A natural collaborator who can work closely with journalists, producers, and technical teams to ensure a seamless video production process from concept to execution.

Benefits: Some of our benefits include: Maternity leave up to 18 weeks full basic salary & paternity leave up to 2 weeks, wide range of training available, plus full LinkedIn Learning access, private medical insurance including coverage for pre-existing conditions, discounted gym memberships, free ClassPass at Home, weekly virtual yoga classes, ‘Bikes for Work’ and ‘Electric Car’ scheme, access to exclusive events, up to 60% discount on Harper Collins books and competitions with exciting brands such as talkSPORT, Virgin Radio UK & The Times, weekly virtual panel chats with top journalists and celebrities, access to wellbeing benefits such as EAP, physio/massage and counselling, a generous pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 5%, 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays and up to 4 volunteering days per year. We offer a flexible working arrangement where employees are expected to be in the office a minimum of three days per week. For the remaining two days, there is the option to work remotely if desired.