Senior journalist, News Social (weekend)

Closing date: 15 November 2026
Locations: Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow or Salford
Job band: D
Contract type: Permanent, full-time
Department: BBC News Social
Salary: £42,000 – £52,000 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

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.

This role will require you to work Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and does include early or late shift working.

Job purpose

As senior journalist in the BBC News Social team, you’ll help shape the future of news on social media.

We’re on a mission to make BBC News the most trusted and used news brand on social media – reaching audiences globally, ensuring our journalism reaches and resonates with the audiences who consume their news on social.

Central to this is publishing our journalism with speed, accuracy and authority. You’ll play a pivotal role in shaping how BBC News appears on platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. You’ll ensure our output is accurate, engaging and optimised for digital-first consumption.

You’ll work closely with teams in the BBC newsroom covering some of the biggest stories of our time, from breaking news to global conflicts and deep investigations, and bring their reporting to life in ways that connect with digital-first audiences.

This is your chance to help shape how BBC News shows up on social: bold, fast, creative, distinctive and relentlessly audience-first.

Why join the team

BBC News is supercharging our social and off-platform strategy, with a clear mission to meet audiences where they are, particularly those who don’t have a regular connection with the BBC or News.

You’ll join at a pivotal moment, shaping how BBC News looks, sounds and behaves on social platforms, championing innovation and strengthening trust. We have huge ambition to broaden and grow our activity on social in the pursuit of truth with no agenda, delivering high-quality news to educate and inform audiences.

Your key responsibilities and impact

• Oversee high-quality weekend social publishing across BBC News platforms, ensuring all content meets editorial standards and delivers impact during major news moments
• Edit, sub-edit and optimise scripts, headlines, copy, thumbnails and visual treatments to maximise accuracy, clarity and platform-specific performance
• Collaborate with correspondents and reporters to develop innovative social-first treatments of BBC journalism informed by audience insight, data and social listening
• Produce, shape and edit world-class social video and visual news content
• Coordinate daily social workflows, supporting colleagues and maintaining fast, accurate publishing during breaking news situations
• Contribute to editorial planning by identifying opportunities for distinctive coverage across UK, political and international news stories
• Play a central role in our weekend coverage, balancing speed, accuracy and editorial judgement to maintain audience trust in fast-moving situations

Your key skills and experience

Essential criteria

• Proven ability to create, write, sub-edit and publish news across major social platforms in all formats, with a strong eye for accuracy, tone and platform nuance
• Strong editorial judgement and experience covering breaking news at national or international level, with confidence making real-time editorial decisions
• Collaborative and calm under pressure, able to work across teams, maintain high standards and provide constructive feedback
• Proficient in tools like Final Cut Pro and Photoshop, with experience overseeing the full production cycle of social or digital video news content
• Deep understanding of social audience behaviour, including content discovery, moderation and sharing, and the ability to turn insight into recommendations and new ideas
• Comfortable using analytics tools to interpret performance data, identify patterns and inform both daily decisions and longer-term strategy
• Keen understanding of news consumption trends on social media platforms

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: bbchr@bbc.co.uk

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.