Junior Production Manager - 1 Year FTC

Times Radio is the fastest-growing quality speech station in the UK, setting new records in recent radio industry listening figures for amount of time listened. We are The Voice of The Times, and since our launch in June 2020 have built up a strong reputation for well-informed, thoughtful and intelligent live news and debate, covering the key stories of the day. We have combined the famous journalistic expertise of The Times and The Sunday Times with the radio experience of News Broadcasting to create a station that has well over 600,000 weekly listeners.

Your role: As Junior Production Manager you will be working with the Times Radio Programme Director and Production Manager, as well as the editorial and production teams, in a fast-paced environment supporting the production of high-quality content for Times Radio. You will play a key role in ensuring smooth operations across multiple productions while contributing to the success of a talented team. You will operate in a professional and well-organised manner with excellent interpersonal skills and resilience to perform the tasks necessary to support the station and its smooth running.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities:

● Act as the ‘go to’ person for the editorial and production teams offering guidance, operational support, troubleshooting queries, resolving issues quickly and escalating matters to the Production Manager and/or Programme Director as appropriate.

● Oversee and maintain all production paperwork, including call sheets, risk assessments, release forms, and location agreements ensuring that we adhere to operational and legal requirements in a timely manner.

● Coordinate and oversee the production team rota and holiday schedules, ensuring all shifts are covered. This will include tracking the availability of casuals in order to fill gaps in the rota and ensure busy periods for the station are resourced adequately.

● Liaise with the HR and/or Finance team as appropriate to ensure all staff, casuals, contributors and suppliers are appropriately onboarded, and set up on internal systems and finance platforms.

● Handle invoices and expenses for contributors and suppliers ensuring a smooth payment processes in collaboration with internal finance teams and maintaining an accurate and up to date cost tracking spreadsheet.

● Arrange travel/accommodation bookings and detailed travel itineraries for staff, talent and contributors.

● Provide administrative support to the Times Radio teams.

● Be responsible for ensuring the Times Radio newsroom and studios are clean and office supplies are available. You will be required to work with Facilities and the Service Desk to resolve any office related/ IT issues.

● Assist the Production Manager in preparing budgets and costings for programmes, outside broadcasts and events.

● Deputise for the Production Manager as and when required.

● A flexible can do attitude is required as the job description is not exhaustive and other duties may be assigned relevant to the role.

Key Skills and Experience:

● Proven experience in programme production management with a focus on production finance and cost management.

● Experience of working in a busy newsroom within a live studio environment and on location for outside broadcasts and events.

● Strong understanding and demonstrable experience of operational, financial, and legal constraints within the production process that need to be adhered to.

● Confident in production planning and logistics including the preparation of budgets and programme costs and expenditure.

● Knowledge of health and safety regulations in a production and location environment with experience in writing risk assessments.

● Excellent organisational and multitasking skills, with the ability to adapt to changing demands quickly and manage your workload and time effectively without supervision.

● Pro-active can-do attitude with a willingness to take the initiative with a passion for production management and a desire to progress their career to Production Manager level.

● Confident communicator, with the ability to liaise effectively with editorial teams, finance, HR, Tech team and external suppliers.

● Solution-focused with forensic attention to detail. Must be able to work to tight deadlines and have excellent time management.

● Proficiency in finance and production management software and tools, as well as Microsoft Office/Google Suite.

We are News UK : 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, Talk and Virgin Radio UK, and we have market-leading local radio 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 multiplatform brands are home to a plurality of opinion, representing the diverse communities we serve. News UK is wholly owned by News Corp.

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 the Apprentice Society.

Benefits

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%

• 25 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 [email protected] .