Sound Designer; FTC)

Job Description

The Times and The Sunday Times represent a combined 400 years of covering news and providing comment and analysis on the UK and the world. We are authoritative, credible, responsible, trusted and a part of the nation’s cultural heritage.

Your role: As a Sound Designer you’ll be responsible for creating the sound that underpins our podcast storytelling, working with the same scope, ambition and rigorous standards as the other journalism produced by The Times and The Sunday Times. Working across our slate of weekly, daily and standalone series, one of your key responsibilities will be mixing our flagship daily news show, The Story, but you will also work on other output, including our award-winning investigative podcasts.

The role will involve cooperating with producers, reporters and other areas of the business as required. You’ll be part of a small, supportive and successful team working sometimes unpredictable hours and under tight deadlines to meet the demands of that day’s production. Given your role in the production process, you should expect your working hours to be typically 1-9pm (UK). You’ll have proven editorial judgement, deep experience of audio sound design and multi-platform production, be a team player and have a desire to create innovative podcast content that grabs its audience’s attention by examining major stories in a new light.

• Work with the Executive, Senior and other Producers to deliver the highest quality audio output, as well as liaising with other teams including video as required
• Identify opportunities to take our podcast output to the next level across different platforms, formats, and audiences, aiming to surprise our existing audience and appeal to new audiences
• Collaborate with other editorial, platform and marketing teams as required to align audience goals with broader brand objectives

• Work creatively to produce podcast content for daily, weekly and serialized publication
• Maintain the highest editorial and production standards, including liaison with our legal and compliance teams where necessary
• Liaise with those teams working elsewhere within the papers and on other of our podcasts
• Be part of consequential and complex editorial decision-making processes, often under pressure of a deadline and escalating these when necessary

• Be part of our team’s continued evolution, including working on new formats, new ways of telling stories, bonus and afternoon editions and field production / reporting
• Be committed to realising the best quality podcast content not just nationally but internationally
• Work independently to manage your own output and generate a flow of fresh ideas for both new subjects and the treatment of subjects as required
• Potentially work unsociable hours, including weekends

• Experience of daily news, investigative and/or current affairs production, ideally within a newspaper or media organisation
• Understanding of podcast production and storytelling, including narrative and non-narrative models
• Deep experience of podcast or audio production, including the use of Descript, Adobe Audition and ideally Adobe Premiere
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and translate it into new approaches to content making
• Ability to well under pressure and constantly adapt in a changing work environment and/or demands of that day’s story
• Proven experience of working to strict editorial standards and legal requirements within a media environment

We are News UK: One of the leading media businesses in the UK and Ireland. Our news brands include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, The Sun on Sunday and The TLS. Our national broadcast brands include talkSPORT, Times…