Journalist, Digital News in St Leonards

Any offer of employment with the BBC will be conditional upon you having the right to work in Australia. Interviews will be held in the week commencing 16 November.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

Journalists on the Digital News team in Sydney play a crucial role in delivering continuous coverage for the BBC's digital audiences in the UK and globally. The team picks up from UK and US colleagues to drive major stories as they unfold, shaping output for audiences in North America, Asia and elsewhere, while meticulously preparing the UK morning offer seven days a week. Journalists work across stories, live pages and video to produce sharp coverage, help curate editions of the website and BBC News app, and collaborate with correspondents worldwide to bring trusted reporting to millions. This role is required to work across a seven-day roster.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

The BBC News website is one of the world’s largest and most popular news sites, with mobile and desktop editions for the UK and international audiences, as well as US and Asia editions, plus UK-facing and international-facing apps. We recently expanded our digital news operation in Sydney, recruiting digital journalists to cover international and UK news in text and video. This operation performs a crucial role in building the global audiences coming to the BBC as well as setting up our digital coverage to best serve and help grow the early morning UK audience coming to the site.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT

• Produce high-quality news stories, live pages and digital video that cover major UK and global events for audiences of millions.
• Continue coverage handed over from London and Washington, ensuring seamless reporting before UK teams come online each morning.
• Deliver accurate, engaging journalism, from breaking news to features, with strong editorial judgement, flair and context.
• Create a range of digital outputs, including short video edits, clips for other platforms, and curated live updates.
• Monitor social, search and audience data to inform storytelling, while maintaining a strong grasp of UK and international news agendas.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

• Strong experience of writing accurate, engaging and fast-paced news in text for digital audiences.
• Experience in producing and editing short news video clips or a sharp understanding of what makes for compelling news video.
• Experience of covering the UK and the international news agenda in text and video and a familiarity with the BBC’s editorial values.
• Familiarity with using social media, search and audience data to improve storytelling and broaden coverage.
• The ability to come up with angles and approaches to the big stories of the day that will help us reach new and diverse audiences.

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