Assistant Editor, BBC Afaan Oromo Job BBC

Purpose of The Role

BBC World Service is creating a new Horn of Africa Language Services Unit in Nairobi, bringing together BBC Somali, BBC Afaan Oromo, BBC Tigrinya and BBC Amharic under a single editorial leadership structure for the first time. BBC Afaan Oromo serves the Oromo community across Oromia and within a substantial and engaged global diaspora. The service provides independent, impartial journalism to an audience whose political circumstances are complex, contested and often underrepresented in mainstream international media. The BBC’s editorial independence and impartiality are a core part of what makes the service trusted and valued.

Why Join the Team

The Assistant Editor, BBC Afaan Oromo, is the day-to-day editorial lead for the service. You hold full editorial responsibility for all BBC Afaan Oromo output across radio, digital, video and social platforms. You will work within the Horn of Africa language services structure, reporting to the News Editor who sets the regional vision, while retaining the editorial autonomy needed to serve your audience with rigour, relevance and independence. This is a role that demands strong editorial courage as well as strong editorial judgment. Coverage of Oromia’s political situation requires consistent application of BBC Editorial Guidelines under pressure from multiple directions, and the confidence to defend impartial editorial decisions. This is a role for an editor who combines strong journalistic instincts with genuine digital ambition; someone who can lead a team through a significant transformation in how BBC Afaan Oromo reaches and serves its audiences, while maintaining the editorial standards and audience trust that audiences expect.

Key Responsibilities and Impact:

• Lead BBC Afaan Oromo’s transformation to a digital-first, video-led service, creating a culture of editorial ambition, personal accountability, mutual respect and continuous learning.
• Develop and implement a data-led video strategy designed to drive measurable digital growth, with a focus on expanding reach among younger and female audiences.
• Use audience insight, analytics and platform trends to inform commissioning, distribution and editorial decision-making.
• Set the editorial agenda, prioritising stories that matter most to target audiences.  
• Commission, edit and deliver high impact original journalism, including exclusives, investigations, explainers and digital-first content.
• Work actively with the other three Horn of Africa Assistant Editors and the News Editor to identify shared stories, avoid duplication and coordinate coverage of regional and cross-border events that cut across all four services.
• Commission and collaborate with the Horn of Africa Production Hub, using its video, production and digital distribution expertise to enhance original journalism rather than duplicating capability within the service.

Skills and Experience

Essential Criteria:

• Proven ability to lead and develop teams, set direction, manage performance and foster a culture of creativity and collaboration.
• Strong track record of commissioning, shaping and delivering high-impact digital journalism, with a deep understanding of digital distribution (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and BBC platforms) and evidence of growing audiences.
• Proven track record of developing and implementing successful data-led video strategies, and experience delivering major production initiatives, such as launching formats, driving digital transformation or building operations from scratch.
• Experience of innovative solutions to storytelling challenges such as data journalism, and presenting analysis in ways that aid audience understanding. 
• Advanced understanding of audience analytics, search optimisation and platform performance, with the ability to translate data into effective editorial decisions.
• Fluency in written and spoken Oromo and English, both written and verbal, with the ability to represent the BBC effectively in senior internal forums.

 Desirable:

• Proven ability to shoot, script and edit video stories using tools such as Final Cut Pro (FCPx) and QEdit, with the ability to deliver polished, engaging, audience-focused content which is optimised for digital platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook

How to Apply

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