BBC Career Opportunities: Head of HR, News

JOB DETAILS

JOB BAND: F
CONTRACT TYPE:  FTC/Attachment until June 2027, Full-time 
DEPARTMENT: News HR
LOCATION: London
PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £94,000 - £120,000 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights..

JOB INTRODUCTION

We are seeking an exceptional Head of HR to play a critical role in the transformation of BBC News. This role will lead HR across News Content & Long Form Journalism, offering the opportunity to shape people strategy and delivery at scale in one of the world’s most high-profile media organisations. This role focuses on leading HR strategy across editorial and commissioning teams based both in the UK and internationally, driving transformation across content creation, and embedding a strong organisational culture in a complex editorial environment. 

This is a highly influential and demanding role, requiring a calm, resilient and highly organised HR leader with the judgement and credibility to operate effectively in complex, fast-paced and politically nuanced environments. You will lead significant organisational change within unionised, employee relations–intensive settings, bringing deep expertise in organisational design and workforce transformation. You will navigate complexity and competing priorities with confidence, ensuring alignment to strategic objectives while maintaining operational stability. As a trusted advisor to senior leaders, you will influence at the highest levels, lead through ambiguity with integrity and pragmatism, and inspire high-performing HR teams. You will play a key role in embedding the HR Operating Model, strengthening organisational capability, and delivering transformation that positions BBC News for the future.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

This is a rare opportunity to make a significant organisational impact - shaping the employee experience across a diverse workforce while delivering transformation that strengthens our organisation and benefits audiences in the UK and worldwide. You’ll join a high-performing HR team working at pace in a complex, high-profile environment, where your leadership will directly influence both our people and the future of news. This role leads one HRBP. 

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT

•    Act as a strategic people leader, shaping and delivering people strategy and transformation aligned to BBC News priorities
•    Partner with senior leaders and News HR to deliver key elements of the BBC News people plan
•    Lead and deliver complex transformation programmes to ensure News is fit for the future, financially sustainable and aligned to evolving audience needs
•    Lead the management of complex people activity, including redundancy consultation and selection processes and individual cases, ensuring these are handled with fairness, rigour and care
•    Build strong relationships across News Board, senior leaders and key HR centres of expertise
•    Lead, inspire and develop high-performing HR teams (including globally dispersed teams where relevant), driving engagement, collaboration and delivery
•    Interpret and present people data to generate strategic insights, designing and implementing targeted solutions with business and HR partners
•    Navigate complex employee relations landscapes, including union engagement and delivery of changes to terms, conditions and ways of working
•    Stay ahead of external trends and best practice, ensuring News remains resilient, sustainable and future-ready

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

•    Proven track record of leading large-scale HR and transformation activity in complex, matrixed and fast-paced environments
•    Proven ability to lead HR strategy, think holistically and connect the bigger picture in complex environments, complemented by a strong operational delivery skillset
•    Deep expertise in organisational design and workforce transformation
•    Strong experience operating in unionised, employee relations–intensive contexts
•    Ability to navigate complexity, ambiguity and competing priorities with sound judgement and resilience 
•    Experience influencing and partnering at senior and executive leadership level
•    Strong data literacy, using insight to inform decisions and shape strategy
•    Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills
•    Ability to operate across multiple jurisdictions, navigating cultural and regulatory complexity
•    Strong understanding of financial drivers and delivering sustainable organisational outcomes
 
Being a leader at the BBC means putting the organisation’s interest, goals, and values first, ahead of individual team or function needs. The characteristics of an enterprise leader are: Focuses on outcomes over activity, adapts quickly, and simplifies complexity. They balance short-term actions with long-term impact, take full accountability for actions and decision-making, and prioritise capability development to create teams fit for the future.

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