Senior Researcher

PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £27,600 - £32,667 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

We're happy to discuss flexible working. If you'd like to, please indicate your preference in the application – though there's no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

BBC News Northern Ireland provides breaking news, analysis, features and debate plus coverage on topical issues across all platforms for local audiences and beyond. We are transforming its news operation to make it future fit in a rapidly changing and diversifying news media climate, with audience needs coming first and with digital at its heart.

We are seeking to appoint a Senior Researcher to join the newsroom team working across Radio, TV, News gathering and Digital.

As a Senior Researcher in radio, you will primarily work across Good Morning Ulster, Evening Extra and Talkback. The News gathering role will involve working closely with a small team, helping to organise staffing and logistical resources. The TV role will involve gallery outputting for BBC Newsline and in Digital you’ll work with the team templating copy and working in social media and streaming.

The position requires shift working.

Joining the Belfast newsroom offers the chance to operate and grow in a busy and fast-paced news environment. Your work will help inform public understanding, drive important conversations across platforms, and make a real impact. It’s a dynamic environment where your voice matters and your decisions will really shape the content we offer to our audiences.

• Work in the radio and TV studios when programmes are on air, assisting the output producer and engineer, studio playout, playing audio and connecting guests.
• Pitch and develop ideas and original stories to present to programme producers and the planning team, with ability to turn them around quickly.
• Research and prep content in keeping with editorial brief and using a wide range of sources and reference material; gather audio; work on live radio production and studio play out, having a familiarity with the appropriate technical operations of our studios such as Open Media, Dalet, Music Master and Music Box; template copy in Optimo and contribute to live pages as well as assisting in the digital streaming gallery.
• Assist in driving key stories and deployments across all platforms, maintaining the diary of stories and events.
• Liaise with contributors, experts and talent, where required, source and clear material for broadcasting and publishing, complete music reporting and processing payments for guests.

• Evidence of bringing in original story ideas and treatments, casting them, researching and writing presenter briefings.
• Demonstrating good editorial judgement and legal awareness.
• Excellent planning, organisational and technical skills.
• A thorough knowledge of current affairs in Northern Ireland, the rest of the UK and internationally.
• Understanding of our radio, television and digital platforms.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with a wide variety of internal and external colleagues and contributors.

• The ability to operate in a live studio.
• Experience of researching and fact checking.
• Resilience and stamina to sustain performance when under pressure from a high volume of work and conflicting priorities.
• Knowledge of audience needs and understanding of commitment to diversity.

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

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…