Chief Operating Officer – BBC Studios Productions Full Time

BBC Studios is a world-renowned content studio and channels & streaming business, powered by British creativity, with a reach that touches audiences in every corner of the globe.

We work with outstanding creative talent who are responsible for platform-defining shows from Strictly Come Dancing to Eastenders, Prehistoric Planet to Planet Earth III.

The range and quality of our content is unsurpassed, creating critical and commercial successes and global phenomena.

From BAFTAs to RTS Awards, BBC Studios is Britain’s most awarded production company and the only producer with three of the top ten shows on IMDB; we’re the home of bbc.com, the widest-read English language news website in the world; and the UK’s largest distributor of British content.

BBC Studios is the principal commercial subsidiary of the BBC, with multiple lines of business delivering a turnover of over £2billion. It aims to bring customers and audiences across the world distinctive and high quality content covering a range of specialisms, through a unique combination of BBC editorial values, cutting-edge craft and access to diverse talent from all markets.

Spanning the full breadth of specialisms, we have an enviable portfolio of content and expertise which has delivered genre-defining content to commissioners and co-production partners all over the globe. Our five genre pillars – in Factual, Scripted, Global Entertainment, Kids & Family and Audio – boast an impressive range of market-leading production units, labels and indie partners whose commitment and capabilities in bringing world-class stories to global audiences is unparalleled.

THE ROLE

We are seeking a Chief Operating Officer (COO) to join our Productions team and play a pivotal leadership role at the heart of BBC Studios. The role will report into and work closely alongside, the BBC Studios Productions CEO and CCO, the COO of BBC Studios Productions is a senior leader, working with key stakeholders across BBC Studios and Group to deliver on BBC Studios Productions’ ambitious growth plan as it modernises and evolves its culture and talent base to meet the needs of a wide pool of clients. The COO will support the genre leads and safeguard our brands by providing consistency and expertise when needed.

The COO is a highly matrixed role, bringing together the overall Productions P&L, while empowering accountability and decision making at genre level. The role provides comprehensive guidance and strategic advice to the CEO/CCO, Production Executive and other senior stakeholders within the BBC Group, leading the strategic transformation of systems and processes to support commercial growth in a global market.

The COO will be responsible for the operational leadership of BBC Studios Productions including all aspects of risk, governance, and operational delivery. Forming effective partnerships with the MDs and leadership teams globally, and supporting them in their operational and funding requirements, will be essential for the success of this role.

The role will promote efficiency, simplicity and value for money as a platform for creative and commercial excellence. It will coordinate all professional support areas in the Production area – e.g. BLA, Finance, HR, Marketing, Health and Safety

WHAT DOES IT TAKE?

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

• Experience of operating at COO level in a production business
• Substantial experience of creating, implementing and monitoring strategies, business plans and budgets with a proven track record of bringing a commercial and entrepreneurial mindset.
• Strong analytical skills and intellectual rigour applied to decision making with the ability to think strategically about complex issues, to solve problems, simplify process and projects for evaluation with route to resolution.
• Proven track record in building and leading large multi-disciplinary teams.
• Substantial experience of leading change projects of scale in a complex matrixed environment.
• Ability to influence and communicate confidently.
• Able to establish effective and collaborative relations across BBC Studios departments, Public Service and external stakeholders.

DESIRABLE CRITERIA:

• Possess a strong understanding of the Media sector and BBC competitors, with relevant in-depth knowledge of current industry trends across the globe.
• Global mindset: thinking and acting for both local and global needs.
• Accountability – proven ability to be able to make tough decisions and see them through to completion.
• Able to create a shared understanding of the business goals, direction of travel and the role of individual leaders in achieving those goals.
• A networker with existing relationships, with gravitas and industry know how to both open the doors to big conversations and engage credibly with executive creative leaders.
• Strong analytical skills and intellectual rigour applied to decision making with the ability to think strategically about complex issues, to solve problems and unlock new opportunities
• A collaborative style and someone who is comfortable dealing with ambiguity and working in a matrixed organisation with a significant amount of stakeholder management, and who can work well under pressure.

LIFE AT BBC STUDIOS

We don’t focus simply on what we do – we also care how we do it. Our values and the way we behave are important to us. Please make sure you’ve read about our values and behaviours here.

The BBC is committed to building a culturally diverse workforce, that represents the audiences we serve, and encourages applications from candidates from any background, especially people from diverse communities. Equity of opportunity is important to us, and we endeavour to make our processes equal, fair and meritocratic for everybody. More information on our D&I plan can be found here.

BBC Studios puts sustainability at the heart of everything we do both onscreen and offscreen, including delivering against the BBC Group’s science-based Net Zero targets. More information on sustainability at BBC Studios can be found here.

We are proud to share that we are a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer and if you require any reasonable adjustments in order to apply please contact us on reasonable.adjustments@bbc.co.uk.

WHAT WILL YOU GAIN FROM WORKING AT BBC STUDIOS?

• We offer a competitive salary package
• Flexible 35-hour working week for work-life balance
• 26 days holiday (plus an additional day which is a Corporation Day) with the option to buy an extra 5 days
• Parental leave for new parents, regardless of gender, of up to a year with 18 weeks fully paid
• A defined contribution pension scheme with employer contributions up to 10%; and life assurance (at 4 times annual salary), eligibility for discounted dental, health care, gym and much more through salary sacrifice
• Excellent career progression – access to courses, webinars, workshops and the opportunity to work in different areas of the organisation

NEXT STEPS

We appreciate your interest in this position and understand how important this opportunity is to you. Due to the high volume of interest we may need to close the application period earlier than anticipated. This step is necessary to ensure we can provide a high level of attention and service to all applicants. Thank you for your understanding.