Editor, BBC East Africa

Vibrant leadership skills, an eye for inspiring editorial content and a focus on production excellence – these are the qualities you’ll need to lead the development of one of the BBC World Service’s most dynamic markets.

The world is changing, and so is the way in which audiences consume news. In East Africa, radio is becoming an increasingly crowded marketplace, whilst TV is in the process of migrating from analogue to DTT.  And on top of that, innovative mobile technology is transforming lives – fuelling an insatiable demand for media content in English, Kiswahili and Somali.

This exciting region calls for a creative, dynamic and progressive leader to deliver a wide range of cutting-edge news content across all platforms. Join us as Editor, East Africa, and that leader will be you. 

Role Responsibility

Responsible for all BBC Swahili and BBC Somali Service Radio and Digital journalism, you’ll champion the editorial understanding of East Africa across the whole of the BBC. Working closely with the BBC Africa TV Editor to develop BBC Swahili’s television team, commissioning cutting-edge investigative journalism and producing high quality content for key audiences – you’ll do it all and more.

To do well in this role, you’ll need to have a real understanding of how the region accesses content across all channels – working closely with teams from across BBC Africa to stay one step ahead of this fast-paced industry. Armed with this understanding, you’ll develop a strategy to lead the BBC Swahili and BBC Somali Services to success – meeting the challenges of new output and new platforms and contributing to the BBC’s English output. 

The Ideal Candidate

A seasoned high impact journalist, you’ll already be fluent in English and either Kiswahili or Somali – although fluency in both would be ideal. With senior management experience of journalism in digital and broadcast fields and a solid understanding of East Africa’s digital media market, spotting opportunities for the BBC to seize won’t be a problem. Your knowledge of the BBC’s global agenda, the BBC’s audience in East Africa and East Africa’s role in world affairs will be a major advantage, as will your ability to advocate BBC values and behaviours.

Sound editorial judgement is also key to your skills. So you’ll need to be able to take balanced and objective editorial decisions based on BBC guidelines, your audience and the department’s needs. Leadership and strategic thinking skills will also be a bonus, as will the ability to spot and manage new talent. Add to all that concrete communication skills, a resilient attitude and a commitment to excellence, and you’ll soon be helping to make the BBC’s East Africa offering the best it can be/the best in the field.

The benefits you’ll get

Our people really do make the BBC who we are, so we reward them fairly for their contribution.

That means a competitive package including medical cover, accident benefit and membership of the BBC’s Provident Fund. Not forgetting access to the BBC International College of Journalism, offering you world-class training in all areas of broadcasting.

Ready to join us?

The closing date for applications is 16 October 2014. To find out more and apply, please click the button. Good luck. 

Please follow the link to learn more about working for the BBC in Africa: http://www.bbc.co.uk/careers/what-we-do/around-the-world/bbc-africa

We don’t focus simply on what we do – we also care how we do it. Our values and the way we behave are very important to us. Please make sure you’ve read about our values and behaviours in the document attached below. You’ll be asked questions relating to them as part of your application for this role.

Package Description

Local recruit

Competitive salary + benefits