BBC Studios is the biggest independent producer in the UK and winner of a prestigious volume of awards. It is home to BBC Drama, BBC Entertainment, BBC Comedy and BBC Factual, and under Factual's umbrella are the Natural History Unit, the Specialist Factual Unit, the Science Unit and the Documentary Unit. The Documentary Unit is known for reputational series and singles and produces some of the most awarded and most watched factual titles in television including 'The Met: Policing London', 'Sarah Everard: The Search for Justice', 'Grenfell: The Untold Story', 'Undercover Police: Hunting Paedophiles' and 'Amol Rajan Interviews...'. We're currently in production with all the main terrestrial broadcasters as well as key SVODs.



The Documentary Unit is looking for a dynamic new Head of Development to spearhead an ambitious new era of growth and innovation for the unit on a permanent basis. We are looking for a high performing candidate who will drive new opportunities and is experienced in both business leadership and team management, as well as having proven experience in progressing projects from original idea through to commission.



Working closely with the Senior Creative Director, the successful candidate will have a proven ability to build an effective strategy to create growth and to win new IP and business in the market.



Please bear in mind that we will only consider candidates with previous experience at a very senior level in the documentaries development sphere so please do not apply if you do not have this experience.


Main Responsibilities


Reporting to the Senior Creative Director for the Documentary Unit, the selected candidate will be extremely confident building an ambitious new slate of ideas that successfully map to commissioning needs and will have excellent relationships with the relevant documentary commissioners in order to build and convert ideas into commissioned programmes. You will be confident at providing editorial direction to a team, stimulating creativity and ensuring the team are on track to develop the best content ideas in line with the genre strategy.



You will be passionate about documentary in all its forms and be very confident straddling both the terrestrial and streamer market when pitching new ideas.



You must have proven success of winning business and have contributed significantly to commissioned formats, ideally across a range of channels and platforms here in the UK. Experience pitching to or winning commissions with global broadcasters is also desirable. You will be a compelling writer with the ability to convert original ideas to delivery.



The chosen candidate will have experience in; working cross-departmentally, line managing a team and ensuring diversity of representation and ideas are maintained, along with the both the administrative and leadership tasks associated with a position of this level.


Are You the Right Candidate?


Previous experience developing ambitious and impactful content in the documentary genre.


A proven ideas generator, strong writer and successful pitcher of ideas.


Extensive experience of leading and inspiring development and production teams in a multi-platform environment and an ability to demonstrate strong managerial skills and positive behaviours.


Effective planning and organising skills with the ability to concentrate on several areas of work at one time, prioritising, delivering consistently to deadlines and reacting positively to changes and conflicting priorities.


Previous experience at a very senior level in the development sphere within documentaries with experience across a range of documentaries.


Strong business-winning experience, excellent pre-existing commissioner and on-screen talent relationships. A proven ability to forge new commissioner relationships, particularly with the SVODs and US broadcasters.


Proven success in building and managing a slate of business ranging from reputational singles, returning series and premium documentary series.


Responsible for excellent management and recruitment of a diverse team of people, encouraging the flow of ideas and an open culture where the development team's potential is realised and enabled.


Must have proven experience in financial and budget planning/responsibility, along with a demonstrable ability to provide strong editorial judgement in a fast-moving environment.


Proven experience of contributing significantly to commissioned formats in the documentary genre.