Job Purpose
To lead the planning, creation, editorial control, and delivery of BBC News Bangla’s digital and TV output from India, with a special focus on connecting with young Bengali audiences. The role will cover content across a range of subjects — from health, lifestyle, culture to key social and economic developments impacting everyday lives in India. The Senior Journalist will ensure the output aligns with BBC’s editorial standards and will drive innovation in storytelling, formats, and reach across platforms. They will work closely with the BBC Bangla leadership in Dhaka to provide high quality content and meet key targets.
Who We Are
From April 2024, the majority of the BBC’s Indian operations has moved to the Collective Newsroom which has been set up by some of the BBC’s most experienced journalists in India. It has more than 250 journalists and operational staff, bringing you distinctive, impartial and world-class content and is the BBC’s sole provider of content for its Indian language websites and social media platforms including English. Based in the BBC’s largest international market, we bring you the best of Indian journalism guided by the world’s biggest and most reputable news organisation. We provide digital, audio and television content in Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi and Telugu as well as English.
Our Vision
: “Home to India’s most credible, creative and courageous journalism.”
Our Mission
: “To lead with facts bringing diverse voices through innovative and impactful journalism in the public interest.”
To know more about us, please visit our website : https://collectivenewsroom.com/
We are an equal-opportunity employer, that strongly supports diversity and inclusion at the workplace, and encourages female candidates and persons from other diverse groups such as marginalised, under-privileged communities and differently-abled people, to apply.
About BBC News Bangla
BBC News Bangla is the Bengali language service of the BBC World Service and was set up in 1941 for Bengali audiences in South Asia and worldwide. It provides up-to-date news and current affairs, covering both domestic and international news stories and is multiplatform, with a multimedia website with a focus on digital video, text, interactivity for both desktop and mobile platforms, and a TV news programme. The service aims to make international news relevant to Bengali speaking audiences in both Bangladesh and India, and aims at bringing quality, impartial, original journalism with news and current affairs to the Bengali speaking region
Key Accountabilities:
- Lead the daily and long-term planning of digital and TV content for BBC Bangla programmes from India.
- Commission and produce high-impact, engaging and diverse content tailored for young Bengali audiences, especially in India.
- Ensure all content meets BBC editorial guidelines and quality standards.
- Work closely with the team in Dhaka and liaise with contributors and reporters across Indian locations to manage story pipeline and planning calendars.
- Lead CNR’s Bangla service team of journalists and producers, guiding them on editorial quality, story treatment, and visual presentation.
- Work closely with the BBC News Bangla service leadership to help develop, grow and guide their output in India by producing innovative new content and formats which will educate, inform and entertain young audiences.
- Identify and reversion content from other services, especially Indian services with a target of catering to the Bengali audience in India.
- Oversee scripting, editing, outputting, and presenting content for both digital and TV platforms.
- As required, to allocate work to a team and check progress; ensure the professional contribution of staff and the quality of output. Able to lead the team on a day to day basis but also contribute ideas and support to the overall management of the site, its team, finances and agenda.
- Seek ways to increase diversity in our workforce and to ensure that our output reflects the audiences we serve.
- Identify emerging trends, formats, and stories that matter to young and women audiences in India, including marginalised or underrepresented voices.
- Seek ways to foster editorial experimentation, innovation and diversity in content and voices.
- Monitor and manage resources efficiently, delivering quality journalism within deadlines and budgets.
Act as a bridge between the BBC Bangla team in India and CNR’s editorial leadership, clearly communicating objectives and feedback. - Stay up to date with trends in digital media, youth culture, and Bengali content consumption patterns.
Requirements
Knowledge, Skills, Training and Experience
Essential:
- Substantial editorial and production experience in digital and/or television journalism.
- A proven record of creating impactful, audience-driven content for young audiences.
- Fluency in written and spoken Bengali and strong command of English.
- High editorial standards and decision-making abilities.
- Thorough understanding of audience analytics and how to use them to inform strategy.
- Excellent team management and mentoring skills; ability to lead by example.
- Ability to generate ideas and commission stories relevant to Bengali-speaking audiences in India.
- Ability to experiment with formats, platforms and visual treatments to expand reach.
- Strong coordination and communication skills, including cross-border collaboration.
- Ability to work under pressure and adapt to changing priorities and deadlines.
- Understanding of digital safety, copyright, and BBC’s editorial values.
- Commitment to diversity and representation in content and staffing.
- Be up to date with digital and video trends, globally and locally and understand the particularities of the audience in your region, as well as the metrics that matter for assessing success.
- Experience in visual storytelling or video-led content for social media platforms.
- Familiarity with TV production workflows and live programming.
Job Impact
Decision Making:
Significant editorial responsibility with autonomy in planning, selecting and overseeing content under the guidance of CNR’s Output and Input editors, Digital Video Editor and BBC Bangla editor. Seeks guidance for high-risk stories or strategic decisions.
Scope:
This is a senior journalism role with influence over the editorial tone, strategy and delivery of BBC Bangla’s output from India. The selected candidate will oversee contributors and production staff in India on projects and planning.
Last Date to Apply:
2 November 2025
