Audience Engagement Editor – BBC (London)

About BBC Studios

BBC Studios is a world-renowned content studio and channels & streaming business, powered by British creativity, with a reach that touches audiences in every corner of the globe.

We work with outstanding creative talent who are responsible for platform-defining shows from Strictly Come Dancing to Bluey, Prehistoric Planet to Planet Earth III.

The range and quality of our content is unsurpassed, creating critical and commercial successes and global phenomena.

From BAFTAs to RTS Awards, BBC Studios is Britain’s most awarded production company and the only producer with three of the top ten shows on IMDB; we’re the home of bbc.com, the widest-read English language news website in the world; and the UK’s largest distributor of British content.

Digital News and Streaming

At BBC Global Digital News & Streaming, (a team situated within BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC) we aim to help people understand the world around them, make informed choices, and take an active part in society and democracy. As we expand our footprint to meet increasing demand for our style of quality and impartial journalism and unscripted content in North America, we are seeking motivated, passionate, high performing individuals across a variety of skillsets to join our global team. Our primary locations are New York, Washington DC, and London; we are seeking candidates whose location allows them to work hybrid from any of these offices.

Join us and be an essential part of one of the world’s most recognized brands and trusted news organizations.

The Role

BBC Studios is hiring a part-time Audience Engagement Editor in London working across curation, SEO and audience for bbc.com.
You will wear several hats, as you leverage audience insights to elevate our daily report and help grow our audience in North America.

We continue to consolidate and enhance our BBC website and apps for audiences outside the UK. You will be part of the team curating this new experience and supporting editorial teams to commission and optimize their content for impact across channels.

The right candidate will demonstrate strong editorial judgment, a sharp eye for headlines and visuals, and a keen sense of U.S. and global audience needs in the digital space. You will have knowledge of SEO and growth tactics, and a desire to deepen your understanding of analytics to draw actionable, real-time insights. Expertise in news SEO is an asset, as is newsroom experience working in fast-paced breaking news situations. Management of the bbc.com website and app at various times, including running the homepage and other indexes

*Please Note: This is a part-time position, based out of Television Centre in London on a fixed term contract. The work schedule is 24 hours per week, including Sunday (800am – 400pm) and day shifts on Monday and Tuesday.*

What Does It Take?

Main Responsibilities

Prepare and share a (US) morning growth note reporting on daily trends across search, social and our own site performance to inform commissioning and output.
Participate (via Zoom) in the weekday news editorial meeting in DC, representing the audience team.
Make recommendations to journalists and editors throughout your shift around headlines, trending search terms and relevant keywords, ensuring relevant cross-linking and tagging
Help shape pitches and commissions across news, business, climate, culture and other verticals to help them reach and engage more audience in North America
Track changes in rankings and search performance and suggest improvements to optimize pages
Contribute to our SEO calendar with topics, content ideas, analysis and other strategic notes
Stay on top of breaking news during your shift, taking the initiative to offer audience/SEO advice, and when curating the site, ensuring appropriate changes are made quickly to relevant indexes
When on curation, you will be hands on in the CMS running indexes and helping to shape the day’s offer across site and app, ensuring it is consistently rich, relevant and engaging, while rigorously adhering to our editorial values and guidelines.
Be able to plan and write accurate and concise push alerts
Help drive new learnings and insights to elevate on-site experience and deepen user journeys through A/B testing, strategic experimentation, and performance analysis
Collaborate with colleagues to make sure we present the best of the BBC’s journalism for U.S. and global audiences
Prepare and share clear and informative handover notes
Flag any site or CMS issues or bugs to colleagues in IT or product in a clear and timely manner
Effectively use real-time analytics tools like Chartbeat and help drive new learnings and insights to elevate on-site experience through A/B testing, strategic experimentation, and performance analysis
Stay abreast of emerging trends in audience behavior and news curation, including what competitors are doing in the space, to help inform our strategic decision-making
Collaborate within our audience team to prepare wider performance reporting, analysis and strategic insights for stakeholders across the organization

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Digital journalism experience, ideally including experience working across audience, growth and/or curation
An understanding of SEO strategies and best practice, and how to apply them in a news context.
Demonstrated ability to do keyword and trend research to provide actionable recommendations, as well as the ability to make this information easy to digest for busy journalists.
Experience using tools like Google Trends, Google Search Console, Chartbeat and Crowdtangle
The ability to work well under pressure and prioritize effectively, even when dealing with competing demands
Have a broad and deep interest in the news and factual content, and comfort with interpreting audience data to inform decisions
A deep understanding of what motivates digital audiences when they are looking for news and factual content, and how that impacts how we reach audiences
Desire to understand, in detail, the consumer experience on BBC digital products
Enthusiasm for the BBC’s unique position as a trusted news brand and a clear understanding of the importance of impartiality – and what it means in practice
Strong organizational, planning and time-management skills, with the ability to effectively prioritize tasks and pivot as news demands
Reactivity and strong communication skills are a must.

Professional Experience

3+ years’ experience working in digital publishing in a news environment, ideally including experience in an audience or growth role

Behaviors

Good communication skills – a great candidate will be able to talk to colleagues across departments, including non-specialists, and communicate effectively with people remotely across multiple BBC sites
Collaborative self-starter, autonomous and problem-solving oriented
Detail-focused whilst being able to maintain a view of the bigger picture
Keen to challenge the status quo and take initiatives to drive positive changes
Flexibility and adaptability to sustain performance, particularly under pressure to meet deadlines and changing priorities or circumstances.

Life at BBC Studios

We don’t focus simply on what we do – we also care how we do it. Our values and the way we behave are important to us. Please make sure you’ve read about our values and behaviours here.

The BBC is committed to building a culturally diverse workforce and therefore strongly encourages applications from underrepresented groups. We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of their background. More information on our D&I plan can be found here.

BBC Studios puts sustainability at the heart of everything we do both onscreen and offscreen, including delivering against the BBC Group’s science-based Net Zero targets. More information on sustainability at BBC Studios can be found here.

We are proud to share that we are a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer and we strongly encourage applications from disabled people. If you meet the minimum criteria for this role and declare that you are disabled, we will ensure to advance you to the next stage (minimum criteria above).

If you require any reasonable adjustments in order to apply please contact us on reasonable.adjustments@bbc.co.uk.

What Will You Gain From Working At BBC Studios?

Flexible working week for work-life balance
26 days holiday (plus an additional day which is a Corporation Day) with the option to buy an extra 5 days
A defined pension scheme and discounted dental, health care, gym and much more
Excellent career progression – access to courses, webinars, workshops and the opportunity to work in different areas of the organisation

Package Description

Up to £35,000 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

Contract type: Fixed Term Contract

Location: Office Base is London Television Centre