In This Context, the Role of BBC Technology Is Critical To

Chief Operating Officer - October 2014 (v5).doc

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title / Chief Operating Office
Date / October 2014 / BBC Grade / SM2
Division / Finance and Business, BBC Technology
Location / London (with occasional travel)
Line Manager / Chief Technology Officer
Direct Reports / Chief Operating Officer has a number of direct reports (c 4) and has ‘dotted line’ management responsibility for the embedded support functions in BBC Technology (HR, Finance, Strategy, Comms).
Budgetary Responsibility / Responsible to the CTO for the management of the entire BBC Technology budget (c£200m)
BBC Technology context

Broadcasting is undergoing a fundamental shift towards a digitally enabled, IP centric future driven by the impact of new technologies affecting the capture, production and distribution of media, trends in content consumption and the influence of social media. These changes create the opportunity for the BBC to deliver its mission in new ways while reshaping the organisation to improve the way it continues its existing activity. The BBC needs a strong and adaptable technology function at its heart to succeed and thrive in this environment.

In parallel the BBC continues to strive for improved efficiency and value for money whilst maintaining distinctive, high -quality output and to become simpler, more agile and responsive.

In this context, the role of BBC Technology is critical to:

·  Continue delivering robust broadcast infrastructure, IT and information security

·  Work with colleagues across the BBC to harness the impact of technology in the service of our mission

·  Define and drive the shift to digital across the BBC

·  Help to simplify the BBC

Role Context

This role drives the daily, weekly, monthly rhythm of Technology. It is the lynchpin that holds together all the activity carried out across BBC Technology.

This is a key role in the CTO’s leadership team and leads the day to day management of running BBC Technology with particular responsibility for Process, Governance, Budget, Resourcing, Strategy and Change.

Purpose of the Role

The purpose of the COO role is to lead and co-ordinate all the ‘internal business activities’ within BBC Technology.

This includes (but not limited to) : Governance, Reporting, Finance, HR, comms, strategy, budget, resources, accommodation, ways of working and stakeholder management. There is no audience facing / BBC operational component to this role.

An additional component of this role is to be the professional sponsor for the project management functions carried out across BBC Technology, and to ‘own’ any project management resource not assigned to other work. This includes leading on any of the ‘major projects’.

Key Accountabilities

Specific to the role

As an integral part of the BBC Technology leadership team the Chief Operating Officer is the clear and accountable owner for all the business functions that underpin BBC Technology.

Within BBC Technology, the Chief Operating Officer is accountable for :

·  Budget : management, reporting, tracking, forecasting and annual budget process – working with individual teams to build budgets and track spend.

·  Process : documentation and communication of the business processes in place to run BBC Technology

·  Governance : establishing effective governance within BBC Technology and interfacing with the governance frameworks within the wider BBC

·  Reporting : establishing KPIs, reporting cycle, defining inputs / outputs, ensuring timeliness, ensuring effectiveness. Working with colleagues to ensure they understand their part in the reporting cycle and that they fulfil the reporting needs of BBC Technology

·  Resources : oversight of how BBC Technology uses its resources - optimisation, forecasting

·  Talent : overall accountability for the BBC Technology talent pool – ensuring the business has the right skills, at the right level to meet the demand – working with individual teams to achieve this.

·  Diversity : overall accountability for ensuring BBC Technology achieves its diversity targets

·  PMO function : ensuring PMO function across BBC Technology is fit for purpose and adheres to BBC standards

·  Stakeholder engagement : ensuring appropriate plans and process in place to engage BBC Technology stakeholder

·  Co-ordination of effort across BBC Technology and arbitration when necessary. Monitoring and manage dependencies

·  Ways of working and culture change : leading the effort across BBC Technology to improve the working environment, capitalise on existing good practises and eliminate bad practises.

Generic accountabilities expected of senior leaders in BBC Technology

•  As a member of the CTO’s Leadership Team, ensure collective leadership and development of Technology as a division, developing and running an integrated service for the whole BBC, greater than the sum of its parts – and fit for the BBC’s global ambitions

•  Lead and develop direct reports and the wider team, driving a collaborative, high performance team culture

•  Keep abreast of industry trends, competitor activity & performance, and internal and external best practice, using analytical frameworks, strategic business models and tools to interpret and translate the results

•  Drive efficiency and effectiveness in everything the BBC delivers to provide value for money for BBC licence fee payers

•  Comply with all relevant BBC safety rules, procedures and guidelines, and be aware of responsibilities under the BBC safety policy

•  Drives BBC Technologies activities to comply with the BBC’s policies on Diversity and to apply the principles of the policy when carrying out the role

•  Contribute to making Technology a fantastic place to work and to attract and motivate the best people

•  There is a requirement for all staff to work flexibly across all media and genres. This includes contributing to ad hoc projects or providing longer term support in a different area. Any changes will be discussed with the individual concerned taking into account their interests and abilities

Skills, Experience and Qualifications

Experience

·  A business management / process expert with significant experience of operating in an IT / Technology / Media organisation.

·  Direct experience of managing significant budgets (ie in excess of tens of millions of pounds)

·  Ideally experience as COO or deputy COO

·  Skills, experience and gravitas to influence and direct colleagues and peers, without having direct line management authority over them

·  Experience of working at Board Level – and of running a set of Board Level processes

·  Deep understanding of HR process and procedures

·  Deep understanding of good governance practice, with experience of implementing it

·  Track record of developing talent and building teams

·  Proven track record of managing key governance and regulatory processes to enable COO to be the credible representative of the BBC with internal and external stakeholders.

·  Breadth of experience of working within complex functions with extensive exposure to successfully managing conflicting priorities.

·  Substantial experience of leading change projects at scale in a large and complex matrix environment.

·  Proven experience of establishing rapport, credibility and collaborative relationships with key stakeholders and regulatory bodies at all levels both internally and externally,

·  A strategic thinker with experience of successfully influencing and directing strategic development in a complex stakeholder environment

Skills

·  Financially literate and able to confidently operate a £100m budget

·  Articulate, and literate – able to express complex concepts both verbally and written down

·  Credible senior leader that can engage successfully with senior stakeholders

·  Ability to lead large multi-disciplinary teams, developing talent and a high-performance culture

·  Able to demonstrate a high level of political and business awareness

·  Knowledge of the key principles underpinning the business, commissioning and administrative process of Journalism, Television, Information & Archives, Radio, Future Media

·  Passionate about the developments in business operations, technology and broadcast areas, and their potential to enrich the experience of audiences.

·  Detailed understanding of wider industry developments and the ability to respond effectively to changes in audience needs, competitor strategy and the regulatory environment.

·  Ability to remain confident and assured in difficult circumstances, proven resilience and stamina to sustain performance when under continuous pressure

·  Operationally proficient with evidence of ability to manage substantial budgets and complex processes involving multiple stakeholders

Key Competencies expected from BBC Technology Leadership Team

·  Strategic Thinking

Curious; shapes strategy, surfacing and assessing options for future growth in a rapidly changing environment. Creates a compelling narrative for team and others.

·  Collaboration and Influencing

Facilitates collaboration and sense of shared purpose internally and externally. Superb communicator, able to win both hearts and minds, with a wide range of stakeholders.

·  Results Orientation

Highly action-oriented and decisive, believes in measurement and continual improvement. Relentless focus on outcomes and creating new and better means to achieve business success.

·  Creative Thinking

The ability to transform creative ideas into practical reality; can look at existing situations and problems in novel ways and come up with creative solutions

·  Planning and Organising

The ability to think ahead in order to establish effective and appropriate courses of action, thereby maximising time, cost and quality efficiencies; and the ability to prioritise and plan activities by taking into account all the relevant issues and factors such as deadlines, quality standards and resources.

·  Change Management

Mobilises others to initiate change, reinforces the reasons for change and celebrates successes. Builds new organisational capabilities.

·  Team Leadership

Motivates and engages team in an inclusive way. Creates a spirit of excitement and earns emotional commitment from the team.

·  Developing others

The ability to recognise potential (managerial, professional, creative or otherwise) and a willingness to foster and nurture the development of that potential.

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Chief Operating Officer - October 2014 (v5).doc

Behaviours expected of BBC Technology Leadership Team

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