This work-from-office job is based in Nairobi and highly qualified candidates living outside Kenya are encouraged to apply. We can offer the BBC’s standard Relocation Package to the successful candidate who might need to relocate to Kenya.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

BBC Great Lakes (Gahuza) is a highly respected provider of news and information in Kinyarwanda and Kirundi. This includes courageous journalism that holds power to account. It also offers engaging stories on politics, economics, environment, health, and social issues, along with highlighting achievements and innovations in Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and neighbouring countries. Now as we strive to expand our audience reach, we are focusing our radio and digital operation in Nairobi, Kenya.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

We are recruiting an experienced News Editor to lead our news team in producing high-quality, accurate, and compelling news content that reflects the diverse voices and issues of the Great Lakes region. The News Editor will play a crucial role in shaping the editorial direction of our broadcasts and digital platforms, ensuring that our reporting is timely, relevant, and impactful. The successful candidate will ensure skills sets in their team support high editorial, production and brand values.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:

• Lead the editorial vision of BBC Great Lakes, ensuring content reflects the multifaceted nature of our diverse audience and upholds high editorial standards for reporting without fear or favour.
• Develop and implement innovative strategies to enhance audience reach and engagement, capitalizing on digital and social platforms and analysing audience data to inform editorial decisions.
• Identify and respond to key regional issues and trends, advising on story angles, presentation, and coverage in collaboration with reporters, producers, and correspondents in Africa and beyond.
• Oversee the editorial process from conception to production, ensuring thorough research, fact‑checking, timely delivery, and strong responses to breaking news while maintaining high journalistic standards.
• Foster a culture of creativity, innovation, and professional growth, mentoring a diverse team of journalists, encouraging new formats and technologies, piloting ideas, and measuring their impact.
• Build strong internal and external partnerships, working closely with other departments and engaging contributors, experts, and influencers to enrich storytelling and align with the BBC’s mission.
• Represent BBC Great Lakes in external forums, champion workforce diversity, manage the budget responsibly, and find economies of scale in using central BBC material.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

• Strong editorial judgment and the ability to quickly identify and develop impactful stories that reflect complex issues and diverse perspectives
• Recent track record in leading content production and output (radio and digital) at a senior level, with focus on the Great Lakes region news
• Demonstrable recent experience of launching new digital products or programmes that have led to growth in reach and reputation across platforms
• Substantial knowledge of data analytics tools and how data is used to drive decision making on story choice, publication time and recirculation
• Proven experience in managing high level stakeholders
• Exceptional writing, editing, and communication skills in Kinyarwanda, Kirundi and English are all essential.