Assistant Editor, Focus on Africa

ASSISTANT EDITOR, FOCUS ON AFRICA BBC World Service Nairobi, Kenya Permanent, Full-time Position Job Band E ABOUT THE ROLE Focus on Africa stands as BBC's premier news and current affairs programme, reaching audiences across the African continent and globally who follow African stories. Operating across television, radio, and digital platforms, the programme delivers comprehensive coverage of the diverse experiences, cultures, and challenges shaping African nations. You'll work on compelling journalism spanning politics, economics, environment, health, and social issues, while celebrating the achievements and innovations emerging from across Africa. This role is about building a journalistic platform that truly bridges African societies with global audiences, amplifying voices often marginalised in international coverage, and creating space for meaningful dialogue and understanding. WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING You'll lead editorial operations and journalism development, driving innovation in programme formats and production approaches. Your focus will be on expanding Focus on Africa's audience reach and relevance, particularly among younger demographics and communities currently underserved by international media. You'll commission and shape high-impact multimedia journalism across all platforms, making data-driven editorial decisions grounded in audience analytics and platform performance insights. Your responsibilities include overseeing script editorial standards, managing large teams working simultaneously across multiple production areas, championing creative storytelling through data journalism and emerging techniques, and navigating complex editorial policy matters including complaints and compliance. WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR You should bring substantial editorial leadership experience in live television and radio production with focus on Pan-African news coverage. Demonstrated expertise in audiovisual and podcast production is essential, alongside a proven track record growing digital journalism audiences and platform reach. You must write creatively and engagingly in English while exercising strong editorial oversight. You'll have successfully managed diverse teams across multiple platforms, actively promoting inclusion in both team composition and editorial output. You need practical experience handling intricate legal and editorial matters, including complaints procedures and compliance frameworks. ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS You are a professional journalist or senior operational professional with proven team development and management experience. You demonstrate the ability to develop and implement innovative approaches to programme structure and content delivery. You understand what drives audience engagement and can translate analytics insights into effective editorial strategy. You have recent, substantial experience in editorial leadership within live television and radio production settings focused on Pan-African journalism. APPLYING The BBC will conduct Employment screening checks including reference verification, work eligibility confirmation, and safeguarding checks where applicable. Any offer is conditional on satisfactory completion of these checks. You may be required to disclose unspent convictions or police charges in accordance with Recruitment policy. Failure to disclose may result in offer withdrawal. Applications must be submitted online only. Contact bbchr@bbc.co.uk for queries.