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We’re happy to discuss flexible working. 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.
- Excellent career progression – the BBC offers great opportunities for employees to seek new challenges and work in different areas of the organisation.
- Unrivalled training and development opportunities – our in-house Academy hosts a wide range of internal and external courses and certification.
- Benefits - We offer a negotiable salary package, a flexible 35-hour working week for work-life balance and 25 days annual leave with the option to buy an extra 5 days, a defined pension scheme and discounted dental, health care, gym and much more.
Freelancers are eligible to apply for an internal role if they are on a Worker Contract and they have worked continuously for 6 months. If they have worked for less than 6 months continuously or have a break of 3 weeks or more between engagements, they must seek Divisional HR approval to apply for an internal role prior to submitting an application.
If they are unsure which contract they are on, they can speak to their booker or the HR BP, however if it helps - both a PAYE freelance or Modus Gross contract is considered a Worker contract and covered by the Worker terms found here.
Job introduction
We’re looking for someone who has a love of telling sport stories. Audiences in the North East and Cumbria are passionate about their sport and we want someone who would love to keep them up to date with what is happening. The main focus is football but you will also cover cricket, rugby and basketball. We’re interested in someone who can accurately describe the action on the pitch but also the stories off it. Sport is a fantastic way of reaching new audiences too and we’re keen to find someone who wants to find stories which are going to appeal to as wide a section of people in the North East & Cumbria as we can.
We have an amazing opportunity for someone to bring all of these brilliant stories to the country’s biggest sport website and app. BBC Sport gets 27 million browsers a week and you get the chance to put your passion for sport in the North East & Cumbria in front of those millions of readers.
Main responsibilities
We need somebody who lives and breathes regional sport and can translate that passion to our website audience.
You’ll be able to make those ideas, amazing interviews and match coverage into content our readers love. You’ll also be working within the regional newsroom in Newcastle and helping other sports reporters from radio and TV translate their ideas into digital content.
We’d love to hear how you would make the most of the interviews and content they gather and how that would become brilliant social media content.
The role reports to the regional Digital Editor in Newcastle and is part of a wider network of sport regional journalists across England. As well as reporting locally you will also have the chance to work on EFL live pages covering football matches from England’s second tier. As this is a sport job, there will be plenty of weekend and evening shifts.
Are you the right candidate?
- Do you genuinely love sport, and especially sport in the North East & Cumbria? Football may be king in this part of the country but there are a lot more sports and players waiting for their turn in the limelight. We want someone who will build relationships across the board and showcase all the sport played in the region.
- You will have huge amounts of enthusiasm, creativity and a calm head. One of our most-read pieces of content is the EFL live page, and it’s a hectic, but rewarding, day of work.
- While you’ll need to be able to tell those fast-paced stories about what’s happening now, you’ll also be able to pick out those exclusives and human interest stories. You’ll have a knack for finding the best line from the story to help it go far and wide.
- Working closely with colleagues in TV and radio you will be part of a team whose aim it is to make the best of our stories on all our platforms. A knowledge or ability to work with video or audio would also be a big advantage.
- Interviewing, writing succinct and engaging copy, strong editorial judgement are all key requirements. But above all you’ll love sport and be thrilled by the prospect of having a front-row seat to share your passion with BBC audiences.
