Senior Breaking News Editor, BBC News, Washington DC

Company: BBC Group and Public Services
Location: Washington
Posted on: April 24, 2025

Job Description:

Senior Breaking News Editor, BBC News, Washington DCJob Reference: 23164Band: DSalary: $100,000-$125,000 US, depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.Contract type: At willLocation: Washington DC BureauThis is a local hire position and eligible candidates must be able to live and work in the US (US citizenship, Green Card or work authorization).Job IntroductionIt's an exciting time to be part of BBC News as we grow in North America. Our independent, impartial and unrivalled global journalism has made us one of the most trusted news brands in the US, where we reach tens of millions of people each week across digital, TV and radio.We are recruiting a Senior Editor to help lead our breaking news coverage for our website (BBC.com/news) and app. Based in our Washington DC headquarters, you will shape the daily news agenda and help drive audience growth and engagement in this key market.Main ResponsibilitiesThe BBC's North American digital operation covers US and Canadian news for domestic, UK and global audiences. We are looking for a senior editor who will help manage our daily news coverage, ensuring it is urgent, rigorous, and comprehensive, while maintaining our distinctive mix of global insight and impartial storytelling. While this role is based in Washington DC, you need to be able to assign and edit a wide range of national stories, from politics and foreign affairs to crime and technology.As part of a team of senior editors, you will frequently be acting as either early or late duty news editor. In this role, you will work to a Supervising Editor but take responsibility for duties including running and updating story lists, assigning stories, and copy-editing/publishing. At times, you will be expected to stand in for the supervising editor and run the news meetings, send push alerts and direct coverage.You will be a self-starter who knows how to identify potential news moments in advance, while being able to react quickly and re-assign resources in response to breaking news. You will feel comfortable constantly monitoring a wide range of sources, shaping and reshaping stories to ensure they always reflect the best top line, and using search and social insights to anticipate audience needs. You must have an unwavering attention to detail and take pride in ensuring our copy and headlines sing, even when working at pace.Finally, BBC News is committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive organisation. We expect you to help cultivate that.Please note this role involves regular late evenings and some weekend working.Are you the right candidate?We are looking for candidates with:

• Significant experience as an editor in a daily digital news operation, and evidence of strong editorial judgement under extreme pressure
• A love for breaking news, enthusiasm for working in a fast-paced newsroom and the ability to make smart decisions against tight deadlines
• Experience in all aspects of digital news production and curation. You should instinctively think mobile-first and have a strong understanding of audience behaviours and needs, including how best to present content with limited space
• Experience in generating ideas to reach wide audiences, and using data to inform decisions about how to reach them
• Curiosity and creativity to explain the world to a US audience, and reflect the different perspectives of American and international audiences
• Enthusiasm for the BBC's unique position as one of the most trusted news brands in the US, and an understanding of the importance of impartiality - and what it means in practice
• Evidence of having a positive impact on newsroom culture
• An ability to function in a matrix organization and to work collaboratively across teams and time zones, in an ever-changing digital landscapeAbout the BBCThe BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC for different reasons and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.Diversity matters at the BBC. We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, enabling all of our employees to thrive and achieve their full potential.We want to attract the broadest range of talented people to be part of the BBC - whether that's to contribute to our programming or our wide range of non-production roles. The more diverse our workforce, the better able we are to respond to and reflect our audiences in all their diversity.We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We will consider flexible working requests for all roles, unless operational requirements prevent otherwise.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 satisfactoryDISCLAIMERThis 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.
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