Broadcast Operations Engineer

JOB BAND: C
CONTRACT TYPE: 12 month attachment/FTC, Full-time.
DEPARTMENT: BBC Technology Operations
LOCATION: Newcastle upon Tyne
PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: Up to £50,600 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

The role will be shift based, operational hours between 8am and 7pm, there will be some occasional weekend and overnight work subject to advanced notice. There will be some travel to remote sites and/or travel to training venues, again subject to advance notice.

Purpose of the Role

As an Operational Broadcasting Engineer at the BBC. You will be responsible for maintaining, troubleshooting, and optimising broadcast equipment, infrastructure, and workflows to support both live and recorded content transmission. Collaborating with technical teams while confidently making informed decisions on your own, you will help deliver seamless, high quality broadcast services to our audiences.

Why Join the Team

BBC Newcastle is part of the BBC network, which reaches millions daily. As a senior operational engineer here, you will be contributing to technology that supports news, radio, and online content. Being part of the BBC means access to great training programs, workshops, and career progression opportunities. Plus, you get to work alongside highly skilled engineers and tech experts. BBC teams thrive on creativity and collaboration, mixing engineering with media production, journalism, and design. It's a dynamic workplace where your technical skills directly contribute to storytelling and audience engagement. The BBC is a globally respected institution with strong job stability, great benefits, and a positive work culture focused on diversity and inclusion.

Your Key Responsibilities and Impact

• Monitor, maintain, and support broadcast transmission systems across TV and Radio, as well as IP-based infrastructure in the transmission chain and across the region.
• Perform scheduled and reactive maintenance on broadcast infrastructure to ensure optimal performance.
• Collaborate with systems specialists and regional teams to implement system upgrades and new technology deployments.
• Respond to and resolve operational incidents swiftly to minimise broadcast disruptions.
• Provide technical support during live broadcasts and special events, with a particular emphasis on Radio OB's (Sporting and Music Events for example).
• Maintain detailed documentation of system configurations, incidents, and resolutions.

Your Skills and Experience Essential Criteria

• Demonstrated experience in broadcast engineering or similar technical roles.
• Strong knowledge of broadcast systems, including transmitters, encoders, playout, and IP streaming.
• Solid grasp of networking (IP, TCP/IP, multicast, VLANs, routing).
• Good understanding of radio operations, including transmission chains, audio mixers, and outside broadcasts.
• Skilled at troubleshooting and resolving complex technical issues under pressure.

Desired but Not Essential

• Knowledge of key aspects of post production, long and short form editing systems (Adobe Premiere, FCPX, DaVinci Resolve), visual effects and graphics, sound design and mixing.
• Working knowledge of Windows, Mac and Linux based systems and software.
• Knowledge of Cloud based systems and software.
• Knowledge of Virtual Machines, Docker, Kubernetes, would be useful but not essential.

If you can bring some of these skills and experience, along with transferable strengths, we'd love to hear from you and encourage you to apply.

Disclaimer

This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.

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.

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.

Information at a Glance This is your BBC

At the BBC you can create and innovate in an inclusive environment while contributing to some of the world's best loved content, and the BBC's mission to inform, educate and entertain.

Find out more about the BBC

Life at BBC

• Fair pay and flexible benefits including a competitive salary package, a flexible 35 hour working week, 25 days annual leave with the option to buy an extra 5 days, a defined pensionscheme and discounted dental, health care and gym.
• Excellent career and professional development.
• Support in your working life, including flexible working which you can discuss with us at any point during the application, selection or offer.
• A values based organisation where the way we do things is important as what we do.

Benefits may vary if you are joining on an FTC basis or on an orchestra conditions contract.

Learn more about life at the BBC and our values in our candidate pack.

Candidate Pack You belong

We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, so all our employees feel that they can belong, thrive and achieve their full potential.

We want to attract the broadest range of talented people to join us. The more diverse our workforce, the better able we are to respond to and reflect our audiences in all their diversity.

We welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio economic background, religion and/or belief.

Find out more about diversity, inclusion and belonging in our strategy below.

Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Strategy Disability Confident

We are a disability confident employer. If you need to discuss adjustments or access requirements for the interview process, or to carry out this role, please contact us via email and we'd be happy to discuss:

BBC Group and Public Services, Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London, United Kingdom, W1A 1AA. BBC Studios Distribution Limited, company no: , registered address: 1 Television Centre, 101 Wood Lane, London, United Kingdom W12 7FA.