Regional Director, News (MENA)

JOB BAND: Senior Leader
CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent, Full-time
DEPARTMENT: BBC News
LOCATION: London

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

BBC News is the world’s most trusted news provider, committed to delivering independent and impartial news in an increasingly polarized world. We are embarking on a transformative journey to enhance our global reach, and develop our organisational structure to engage more with regional audiences.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

As Regional Director, you will be responsible for editorial accountability and oversight for the Middle East and North Africa region and multiple language services. You will be empowered to develop and deliver the regional contribution to BBC News' strategic priorities. This is a critical role responsible for leading BBC News for an audience of 65m people weekly through Arabic, Persian, and Turkish language services and English on various platforms, including via emergency radio programming to reach audiences in Gaza, Yemen and Sudan.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Act as BBC News Representative: Represent BBC News as the most senior representative in your region, engaging with regulatory regional stakeholders and broadcast and digital partners.
• Provide Leadership: Offer creative, inspirational leadership and editorial vision to enhance the quality of output in line with BBC News' strategic priorities. Work collaboratively with areas of Global Directorate and BBC News to reduce duplication and share skills and support where appropriate
• Develop a Regional Growth Plan: Set the editorial strategy and delivery plan for your region.
• Direct Journalism Production: Oversee the resources, commissioning, production and output of all journalism in your region, including all relevant language services, to enhance reputation and reach and provide value for money.
• Manage Regional Budget: Oversee the allocated regional budget, ensuring effective strategic spend and ongoing cost efficiencies.
• Contribute to Governance: Participate in divisional and wider BBC Senior Leader governance, influencing the strategic direction of BBC News.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

To succeed in this role you will need to be a senior level editorial and business leader with the following knowledge, skills, training & experience:

• Regional Knowledge - clear understanding of local markets and ideally some, if not all, of the languages serviced.
• Editorial Leadership - strong editorial and journalistic skills through understanding of how editorial outputs are commissioned, financed, produced, and regulated. Able to prioritise and oversee the management of multiple high-risk stories in a newsroom environment including breaking news and deployments.
• Global Mindset - able to adjust to different environments and cultures internationally.

DESIRABLE CRITERIA

• Language skills - speaking Arabic fluently would be preferable

JOB IMPACT

• Determine how the region will deliver the regional growth plan and drive strategic priorities in a critical market where media freedom is under pressure. Undertake a wide range of activities requiring complex analytics and decision-making.
• Lead the development of innovative solutions to facilitate BBC News' expansion into new directions or audience bases.
• Manage local language editorial teams and regional operational teams.
• Hold accountability for all editorial output for local audiences, operational performance, safety, and compliance.
• Build targeted regional partnerships and develop regionalized commercial strategies.
• Apply local insight and sector knowledge to understand the strengths and weaknesses of BBC News' services.
• Provide significant input to World Service Group and News & Current Affairs strategy.
• Develop clear editorial growth strategies for diverse and complex regions.
• Serve as the most senior role in the region and face-to-market for all key regional stakeholders, inclusive of government.
  

If you can bring some of these skills and experience, along with transferable strengths- including language skills - we’d love to hear from you and encourage you to apply.