Assistant Picture Editor — Fast-Paced Newsroom Visuals

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 Role: The Assistant Picture Editor is a foundational role within The Sun’s award-winning picture department, providing essential editorial and operational support to the desk. This position is designed for an aspiring visual journalist who possesses a keen eye for impactful imagery and a burgeoning understanding of the national news agenda.

You will be responsible for the rapid identification, sourcing, and preparation of high-quality visual content across our digital and print platforms. The successful candidate will play a critical role in maintaining the pace of our 24/7 news cycle, ensuring that all assets meet our exacting brand standards, legal requirements, and SEO objectives. This is a high-growth opportunity to develop elite-level picture editing skills within the UK's most dynamic media environment.

Day to day you will:

• Source and prepare images for both digital and print, ensuring technical specifications are met for high-speed web publishing and high-quality tabloid printing.
• Maintain a constant eye for video opportunities, flagging high-impact clips and moving imagery that complement our still-picture storytelling.
• Obsessively monitor all feeds to ensure The Sun is the first to sight and secure the most talked-about images and viral videos of the day.
• Maintain a constant dialogue with global picture agencies and freelance photographers to secure exclusive content for all editorial departments.
• Spot, source, and quickly turn around agenda-setting social stories that resonate with the UK conversation.
• Operate effectively within a target-driven environment, reacting appropriately to statistic-based feedback and engagement analysis.
• Implement The Sun’s unique tone and values to help establish and maintain our position as a dominant player on social media.
• This role is predominantly based in our London office to ensure seamless collaboration with the wider newsroom and instant reaction to breaking news.
• Maintain full availability to cover shifting rota patterns, including essential weekend and evening shifts, to ensure 24/7 desk functionality.
• Act as an advocate for the newest digital platforms, always thinking about how we can adapt our storytelling for new audiences.
• Work as an active, helpful part of a constantly adapting team that is always striving to find the next "Sun" way of telling a story.
• Ensure all content adheres to the IPSO Code and media law, identifying potential legal pitfalls before publication.

What we’re looking for from you:

• You are expected to read the physical newspaper every day and stay fully immersed in our digital output. You should have an intimate knowledge of our daily splashes, columnists, and visual style.
• You remain calm, fast, and accurate when a major story breaks and the clock is ticking.
• A solid understanding of Adobe Photoshop is essential for toning, cropping, and preparing assets at speed.
• An instinctive grasp of what makes an image "clickable" and "shareable."
• You have The "Sun" spirit — the drive to win the daily picture war and a passion for the brand's unique energy.

News UK is one of the leading media businesses in the UK and Ireland. Our newsbrands include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, The Sun on Sunday and The TLS. Our national broadcast brands include talkSPORT, Times Radio and Virgin Radio UK, and we have market-leading local stations across Ireland. Our world-famous brands provide news, analysis, opinion and entertainment to almost 40 million people each month. Spanning print and pixel, audio and video, events and experiences, our multi-format brands are home to a plurality of opinion, representing the diverse communities we serve. Driven by passion, guided by principles and acting with purpose, we exist to promote a fair society, freedom of speech and a little bit of fun.

Life at News: Driven by passion, guided by principles and acting with purpose. We represent, reflect and reach the nation, telling the stories that matter. We inform our audiences so that they can make decisions based on trusted information. We represent, reflect and reach the nation, telling the stories that matter most. To ensure these stories resonate with as broad an audience as possible, it is essential that our organisation reflects the diversity of the people we reach. Whether through age, gender, ethnicity, disability, social class or sexuality, we are committed to representing the rich variety of voices that make up our society. And we champion a culture where everyone has the opportunity to contribute and thrive as we continue to innovate and drive long term sustainable growth. This is done through our Diversity Strategy.

At News UK, we take pride in our exceptional employee-led networks that bring together individuals with shared interests and create a vibrant sense of community. We believe our networks play a vital role in fostering a collaborative and supportive work culture at News UK. Groups that we support include the African & Caribbean Network, Parents and Carers, and LGBTQ+ group News Is Out, and Next Gen.

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
• Up to 60% discount on Harper Collins books
• Access to exclusive events 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%
• 30 days holiday, plus bank holidays and up to 4 volunteering days per year

We want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to perform to their best when applying for a role. If you would like to receive any information in a different way or for us to do anything differently to support you apply for any of our roles please contact us on careers@news.co.uk.