Job Introduction

BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit (NHU) is the leading producer of wildlife programming, creating award-winning content with a world class reputation.

Our output ranges from ambitious landmarks (Seven Worlds, One Planet, Dynasties and the forthcoming Frozen Planet II) to children’s programming (Deadly Dinosaurs and Andy’s Adventures), as well as ground-breaking travel, adventure, formatted, presenter lead and event programming such as Endangered for Discovery, The Year The Earth Changed for Apple TV+ and the BAFTA winning Springwatch for the BBC.

Following on from the success of Green Planet and Seven Worlds, One Planet, BBC Studios NHU is embarking on a spectacular landmark production, “Asia”, a 7-part series focussing on the natural history of Earth’s largest continent.

We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Producer/Director to work on this major project, specifically to oversee an episode dedicated to the future of Asia’s wild places and animals.

Captured in the obs doc style, this episode’s stories will be engaging and emotional, featuring relatable human characters; passionate Asian heroes giving us hope and optimism and a vision of the future. The episode will be filmed in such a way to complement the beautiful and impactful imagery of the blue chip natural history episodes that comprise the rest of the series.

The Producer/Director will be highly creative and organised, with excellent storytelling skills, visual flair, and a proven ability to get the best out of on-screen contributors. They will have a clear and committed understanding of the constraints of budget and be a very good team player.

You will take responsibility for one programme. The role includes involvement at every stage of the production process including research and pre-production; location and/or studio filming; and post production.

Role Responsibility

• To work effectively to ensure all content is thoroughly researched and meets the BBC’s editorial standards.
• To plan strategically to ensure editorial aspirations align with budgets and available resources.
• To be involved in shaping the research of your film with your team and setting up filming, working closely at all times to the editorial brief of the Series Producer or Executive Producer.
• Oversee the health and safety of your team’s shoots, often in highly specialized areas of filming. 
• To be responsible for the offline and online edits of your programme, in the available time and within the allotted budget.
• To write commentary script, direct commentary recordings and supervise post production, attending the dub and online as appropriate.
• Oversee and manage associated digital content.

The Ideal Candidate

• Clear evidence of ambitious obs doc filmmaking and the skills, experience and talent to deliver this ambition.
• Experience of producing landmark obs doc films for a mainstream audience.
• Evidence of strong directorial skills working with human contributors and ability to identifying key story lines.
• Evidence of visual flair and strong and emotionally engaging, character-led storytelling.
• Ability to work well in teams; managing and sharing information and knowledge with editorial and production management colleagues in their team.
• Experience of working closely with an editor.
• The ability to react appropriately to client strategy/direction and to deliver to the changing requirements/brief of commissioners.
• A track record in the successful management of budgets.
• An interest in and experience of new camera technologies as well as post-production techniques.
• Able to manage complex and remote shoots and be responsible for safety on location. Understands ‘duty of care’ with regard to individuals’ wellbeing and production Health & Safety issues.
• Track record of confident and sound editorial judgements with respect to subject matter, contributors, content, presentation, legal and editorial policy, coupled with appropriate referral to EP's/SP's.
• Knowledge of editorial guidelines and awareness of BBC and statutory policies and regulations relevant to programme making, familiarity with the BBC employment practices and policies such as diversity, equal opportunities, and health and safety guidelines.

Package Description

Band: D
Contract type: Fixed term
Location: Bristol/remote

Working Pattern: Hybrid

Start date: Early March 2022

Interviews will be held via Zoom w/b 14th Feb 2022. Please ensure you are available. 

At BBC Studios we have different types of workplaces; from production sets and locations, to offices, to our own homes, and on-the-go. Under our Hybrid Working model, where you work will depend on your role. The majority of our staff work in an Agile way, balancing their time between home and a BBC Studios base, as best suits the work they do and their personal circumstances.

In addition, we are happy to discuss any formal flexible working needs. Please indicate your choice under the flexible working question in the application. There is no obligation to raise this at the application stage but if you wish to do so, you are welcome to. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

We are really proud to share that we are a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer and so if you require any reasonable adjustments in order to apply please do contact us on resourcing@bbc.co.uk with ref: BBC/TP/126/58312 in the subject.