Production Manager, BBC Audio (Bristol)

The BBC Audio Wales and West of England Unit is the place to work if you’re making audio content for the BBC.

Job Requisition ID: 46454

Job Closing Date: 14 June 2026

Bristol, GBR, BS8 2LR

JOB DETAILS

BAND: D
CONTRACT TYPE: Fixed term contract / Attachment, full-time (6-months parental leave cover)
DEPARTMENT: BBC Audio Wales & West of England
LOCATION: Bristol (office based at least 3 days/week – please see below for more details)
PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £42,000 – £45,000 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.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The BBC Audio Wales and West of England Unit is the place to work if you’re making audio content for the BBC. Bringing together already well-established, award-winning and innovative network radio teams in Bristol and Cardiff, staff have opportunities for collaborating, developing ideas and their careers and access to a wide range of output across science, factual, rural affairs, food, documentaries, music and drama for all BBC UK Radio networks, the World Service and BBC Sounds.

Recent successes within the Unit include Arias gold and silver awards, a Voice of the Listener award, successful podcasts including Fairy Meadow and The Bomb, and bringing new networks and strands to Wales and the West, with teams now working across Radio 3, Radio 4, 6Music, the World Service and BBC Sounds.

The Production Manager for Bristol will work in a small team made up of a Unit Manager and one other Production Manager. They all report to a Production Executive, and they manage a team of 8 Production Coordinators working across the Bristol and Cardiff sites. It’s an exciting opportunity for someone to work on multiple budgets all at once, with teams made up of all different skills and experiences in creative production.

As the Unit Manager and the Head of Production for the Unit split their time between Cardiff and Bristol, it’s important that the Production Manager for Bristol can commit to a physical presence in the office throughout the week.

BBC Audio has around 500 editorial staff, based in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, who create and deliver more than 100 hours of original audio every day. Our podcasts and radio programmes are heard across the UK and around the world and we work with some of the biggest names in music, entertainment and journalism. We collaborate with world class partners to deliver social value. This is just a selection of the 22,500 programmes we work on every year. Please click Welcome to BBC Audio.

WHY WORK FOR US:

This is an exciting time in the Audio market and Bristol is pivotal in this. The media landscape and ways of working are constantly evolving and we are looking for someone who is comfortable embracing and delivering change. This could involve our production workflows, as well as making sure we deliver the best value content for our audiences.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:

Assists the Production Executive and Unit Manager to manage the financial, environmental and operational performance of the production(s), based on specialist knowledge and accurate financial information
Responsible for scheduling, budgeting and managing the production(s) process through to delivery in line with divisional requirements, and for identifying and sourcing crew and resources
Ensures compliance with BBC policies, guidelines, legislative and regulatory requirements, in order to minimise the BBC’s exposure to risk and to deliver value for money through effective and efficient management of people and resources.
Responsible for preparing, managing and monitoring production budgets, and for forecasting and reporting progress in line with best practice. Contributing to and assessing financial viability of content ideas that may arise during the commissioning process and during production
Identifies training and development needs of direct reports and ensures performance management arrangements are in place
Proactively looks for ways of improvIng efficiency within production, promotes diversity and advocates the rationale for new ways of working and/or for adopting new production related technology
Responsible for asset management and IT requirements both in the office and on location, and ensuring that those who are joining, moving or leaving the department are equipped appropriately with the correct IT

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

You will have the ability to demonstrate a good understanding of, and interest in, the output and workflows of audio production
You need to be able to work to a high level of detail in a fast-paced environment, be adaptable, work to challenging deadlines with a can-do attitude, and cope well under pressure while producing work to a high standard
You will have experience of managing budgets with the ability to adapt, change and adjust priorities to meet financial targets
You will have experience in supervising or leading individuals or teams, and delivering a portfolio of projects alongside the ability to juggle the demands of day to day priorities against longer term projects
You will be able to demonstrate strong organisational and planning skills and will, proactively, be able to devise new ideas for working more efficiently and have excellent communication skills and the ability to influence staff at all levels

For further information please contact Victoria Caddens (Production Executive): [email protected] or Eleri Llian Rees (Unit Manager): [email protected]

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.

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.

For any general queries, please contact: [email protected]

We are unable to accept applications via CV and only applications made online will be considered. Please click on the APPLY NOW button to proceed with your application.

Redeployment

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

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.

Life at BBC

Here you will benefit from:
• Fair pay and flexible benefits including a competitive salary package, a flexible 35-hour working week, 25 days annual leave with the option to buy an extra 5 days, a defined pension scheme and discounted dental, health care and gym.
• Excellent career and professional development.
• Support in your working life, including flexible working which you can discuss with us at any point during the application, selection or offer.
• A values-based organisation where the way we do things is important as what we do.

Benefits may vary if you are joining on an FTC basis or on an orchestra conditions contract.

Learn more about life at the BBC and our values in our 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 are a disability confident employer. If you need to discuss adjustments or access requirements for the interview process, or to carry out this role, please contact us via email and we’d be happy to discuss: [email protected]