Lead Presenter (22850)

Job Introduction

We are looking for a presenter for one of the world’s biggest breakfast news radio programmes: Newsday on the BBC World Service. Newsday is broadcast live – in English - Monday to Friday – 0500 (London) to 0800 (London). 
Newsday now plans to have a production and presentation team in Nairobi that will be part of - and work closely with - the existing team in London. The ambition is to bring the show closer to some of our key audiences in Africa.  
Newsday’s mission is to be an essential guide to the important global issues. The programme aims to be engaging, lively and agenda setting; and to help its audience understand what they need to know. 
In 2025, Newsday plans a significant change by seeing the show presented from both London and Nairobi. 
Therefore, the  Newsday Presenter - based in Nairobi - will be part of an on-air team, with a co-presenter and sports presenter in London and business presenter in Singapore. 
Newsday is a multi-item programme, reflecting a broad international agenda, but with a particular priority for ensuring the target audience in Africa is well served. 
The 0500 (London) hour is the largest audience hour on World Service English.  As well as those in Africa, other strategically important audiences include those listening across the United States on more than 500 partner stations and also those in Europe. 
Newsday is broadcast, Monday to Friday, from 0500BST to 0800BST (London) / 0700 to 1000 (Nairobi). The working hours for the Nairobi presenter are expected to meet the broadcast needs of the programme and be from Monday to Friday.  

*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.

Main Responsibilities

•    Present in a style and tone in line with the programme’s ambitions and the audience demands
•    Present the programme live, unscripted when required; make on the spot editorial decisions and and handle global breaking news with authority
•    Build effective on-air relationships with your fellow presenters in studios in London and Singapore, and work as part of a team
•    Conduct live interviews, sometimes unexpected and with no time for preparation, but always able to hold guests to account, when necessary
•    Present the programme on location (OBs), when required
•    A willingness to develop the programme; and ideas for innovation and ways to further promote the programme through digital opportunities
•    A willingness to receive and act upon feedback
•    A willingness to support colleagues with feedback and create a positive team atmosphere
•    The willingness to work flexibly, depending on the needs of the programme
•    Be an ambassador for the programme, both inside and outside the BBC
•    An understanding of and commitment to BBC values.  A comprehensive knowledge of the law and BBC producer guidelines as it applies to your work as a journalist and the ability to ensure that others in your team do the same
 

Are you the right candidate?

•    You will have a strong command of spoken and written English
•    An understanding and demonstrable experience of the target audience, particularly in Africa; and the knowledge to see the world from the perspective of Africa
•    A great communicator, calm and confident and able to understand and present several complex global topics and issues in an accessible and engaging way; often at short notice; sometimes with no notice
•    Comfortable and confident when dealing with breaking news in a live radio broadcast environment 
•    Engaging on-air personality with the ability to build strong relationships with your fellow presenters in other studios around the world, as well as the audience, is essential
•    Deep knowledge of international news which you can explain clearly to the audience; as well as the editorial expertise to explain how the issues are viewed from Africa
•    Demonstrate a range of effective interview techniques, including the ability to be forensic in situations where guests maybe evasive or persist in promoting mistruths
•    Have a demonstrable appetite to embrace change
•    Be a team player, supporting colleagues where appropriate and helping with feedback
 

Job Package

Job Title: Lead Presenter, Newsday Nairobi
Job Reference: 22850

Band: E

Contract type: Permanent role – local terms and conditions apply

Location: Office Base is Nairobi, Kenya

Final date to apply: Tuesday 6th May 2025

 
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 and a flexible 35-hour working week for work-life balance. You can find out more about working at the BBC by selecting this link to our candidate pack.  

If you need to discuss adjustments or access requirements for the interview process please contact the reasonable.adjustments@bbc.co.uk.  For any general queries, please contact: bbchr@bbc.co.uk.

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.

Please note that the application process will require you to upload a CV and complete the online application form with the opportunity to detail your experience, skills and knowledge required for the role. We would also like you to provide links to a 5-10 minute sample of your work. This could be a show reel or a different sample which demonstrates the range of your work.

About the BBC

We don’t focus simply on what we do – we also care how we do it. Our values and the way we behave are important to us. Please make sure you’ve read about our values and behaviours here.

Diversity matters at the BBC. We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, enabling all of our employees to thrive and achieve their full potential.

We want to attract the broadest range of talented people to be part of the BBC – whether that’s to contribute to our programming or our wide range of non-production roles. The more diverse our workforce, the better able we are to respond to and reflect our audiences in all their diversity.

We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We will consider flexible working requests for all roles, unless operational requirements prevent otherwise.

To find out more about Diversity and Inclusion at the BBC, please click here.

Please note: If you were to be offered this role, the BBC will conduct Employment screening checks which include Reference checks; Eligibility to work checks; and if applicable to the role, Safeguarding and Adverse media/Social media checks. Any offer made is conditional on these checks being satisfactory.