Senior Digital Reporter (Bilingual)

As part of our audience growth strategy, we are strengthening our West Africa newsgathering and production capability through a Senior Digital Reporter based in Abuja.

Job Requisition ID: 48255

Job Closing Date: 20 July 2026

Abuja, NGA, 904101

JOB DETAILS

JOB BAND: D
CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent, Full-time
DEPARTMENT: BBC World Service
LOCATION: Abuja, Nigeria

Local terms and conditions

Any offer of employment with the BBC is conditional upon the candidate having the legal right to work in Nigeria and having successfully completed the mandatory National Youth Service programme (NYSC) or holding a valid certificate of exemption.

We’re happy to discuss flexible working. If you’d like to, please indicate your preference in the application – though there’s no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

BBC World Service has established a new Regional Journalism team, bringing together newsgathering and production teams to deliver distinctive, original, and agenda-setting journalism that resonates with audiences locally, regionally, and globally. This integrated approach enables us to respond more effectively to audience needs, pursue ambitious storytelling, and strengthen our impact across platforms.
WHY JOIN THE TEAM
As part of our audience growth strategy, we are strengthening our West Africa newsgathering and production capability through a Senior Digital Reporter based in Abuja. The role is central to our ambition to deliver distinctive, original, and impactful visual journalism, producing high-quality digital content that resonates with audiences across the region.

The successful candidate must be fluent in both Hausa and English, with a deep understanding of the issues, conflicts, political developments, and social trends shaping West Africa. You will use your strong digital storytelling skills to create compelling content that engages audiences, grows reach and loyalty, and strengthens the BBC’s position as the leading source of trusted journalism across the region.
YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:
• Apply strong editorial judgment to identify compelling angles, context and storytelling approaches that make complex stories relevant, engaging and easy to understand for target audiences.
• Ensure cultural and linguistic authenticity, reflecting the diversity, nuance and lived experiences of Hausa-speaking audiences across regions and diaspora communities.
• Support coverage of major news and special events, contributing to planned output while remaining agile and responsive to breaking developments and shifting priorities.
• Use AI-enabled tools responsibly within workflows, improving speed, efficiency and creativity while maintaining full editorial oversight, accuracy and adherence to BBC standards.
• Exercise strong editorial independence on assignment, making informed decisions about story direction, treatment and prioritisation under minimal supervision. Maintain exceptional attention to detail, ensuring accuracy in language, translation, subtitles, and all editorial content.
• Contribute to continuous editorial improvement, sharing ideas, insights and practical approaches to strengthen storytelling and digital output across the team.
• Ensure full compliance with BBC editorial, legal and policy standards, including due accuracy, impartiality, fairness and privacy.
YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:
• Proven experience as a reporter or journalist with a strong digital video production focus, and the ability to create and present compelling platform-native visual and audio content for social media.
• Excellent command of the Hausa language, with a proven ability to identify, develop, and tell distinctive stories that engage Hausa-speaking and wider global audiences and deepen understanding of issues affecting the region.
• Ability to apply an audience-focused mindset to reporting decisions, considering how stories will land with audiences, how they will be consumed, and how they will be shared at every stage of production.
• Experience using audience insight, analytics and platform trends to inform editorial decision-making, shape reporting priorities and maximise audience reach and engagement.
• Strong visual judgement, with the ability to instinctively recognise what will translate into compelling, scroll-stopping video content.
• Strong editorial judgement, with a commitment to accuracy, fairness and impartiality.

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.