Director of News - BBC News

The BBC is recruiting a Director of News, accountable for setting and delivering its strategy across editorial, operational and financial dimensions. The Director of News will be responsible for sustaining and strengthening BBC News’ reputation for trusted journalism; upholding editorial excellence, impartiality and standards across all output; delivering universal reach and relevance for UK audiences; and strengthening reputation, reach and sustainable revenue in the dynamic global media environment.

The remit includes oversight of editorial standards, organisational performance and long‑term sustainability, alongside delivery of transformation to improve digital relevance and audience engagement.

• Senior editorial leadership experience within a large, complex and high‑profile news organisation, with credibility to lead at global scale.
• Strong editorial judgement, including experience managing high‑pressure and high‑visibility issues.
• Experience leading large, matrixed organisations and driving transformation across structure, capability and ways of working.
• Experience leading large‑scale digital transformation and responding to changing audience behaviours, alongside sound financial and commercial judgement.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Accountability for editorial excellence, standards and governance.
• Maintaining and growing trust in BBC News across all platforms.
• Setting and leading the strategic direction for BBC News, aligned to changes in audience behaviour, technology and the global news environment.
• Leading innovation in approaches to journalism, stories and their distribution to improve digital growth, efficiency and long‑term relevance.
• Overseeing international strategy, including global editorial priorities, partnerships and commercial activity.
• Contributing to organisation‑wide decision‑making as a member of the Executive Committee.

Reporting to the Director‑General, the successful candidate will lead a globally significant newsroom and play a central role in shaping the future direction of BBC News. This is a senior leadership role with responsibility for a news operation that ranks first for independence and reliability.

The closing date for applications is Friday 10 July 2026.

We welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio‑economic background, religion and/or belief.