Head of In-House Programming

IFTN JOB / CLASSIFIEDS LISTING Virgin Media Television

Company:

Virgin Media Television

Position:

Head of In-House Programming

Location:

Dublin

Contact:

Address:

Westgate Business Park, Ballymount, Dublin 24

Head of In-House Programming - Virgin Media Television

About Virgin Media: Virgin Media is the leading connected entertainment cable and broadcast business in Ireland. Every day we deliver connections that really matter for thousands of people, with multi award-winning services including superfast broadband, TV, mobile and home phone. Our Virgin Media Business division provides the fastest broadband speeds and connectivity solutions for entrepreneurs, businesses and the public sector.

Virgin Media Television, our broadcast division, is Ireland's number one commercial public service broadcaster delivering brilliant content through our streaming service Virgin Media Play and linear channels Virgin Media One, Two, Three and Four. We are a significant investor in home produced content, including news, current affairs and drama, as well as offering the best in international programming.

Virgin Media is part of Liberty Global, one of the world's leading converged video, broadband and communications companies with operations in seven European countries. Liberty Global is a founding member of the European Green Digital Coalition and is included in the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. Following the challenges brought about the global pandemic, the power of connectivity to deliver positive, meaningful change to people's lives has never been clearer. Our inclusion in these prestigious indices for the ninth year running attests to our long standing commitment to the importance of sustainability and ensuring that we are strong corporate citizens as well as responsible stewards of the environment across the markets in which we operate.

We're building the next era of Irish entertainment and need a unique visionary and outstanding leader to become our Head of In-House Programming. Reporting to the Director of Programming, this new role will play a pivotal role in shaping the overall content strategy and oversee in house entertainment, fact ent, lifestyle and daytime output.

As a leading public service broadcaster in Ireland we are looking for a candidate to deliver on our remit to represent, inform and entertain viewers while ensuring we continue to innovate and remain relevant to our audiences. They will deliver new in house content opportunities and ensure we are maximising our facilities and talent potential to engage with audiences through new studio shows, exciting location based formats and authored documentaries. They will spearhead the continued growth of our studio content, Ireland AM & The Six O'Clock Show, establishing a long term strategy that will place them at the centre of our output as viewers continue to shift to non linear consumption of content.

Specific Duties & Tasks:

• Develop an exciting new slate of in house produced programming that includes studio, fact ent and documentary content.
• Create noisy campaign and event driven content that drives viewership and impact.
• Oversee daytime output of Ireland AM & The O'Clock Show supporting Executive Producers and teams to ensure that our studio offering continues to be a powerhouse that connects and informs viewers 7 days a week.
• Work alongside the Head of Commissioning & Acquisitions to drive the continuous evolution of VMTV's content and growth.
• Deliver content opportunities such as new vodcast series that can live across platforms and bring our brand to new audiences.
• Collaborate with VMTV Commercial department to develop new opportunities for revenue.
• Develop and nurture existing presenters and contributors and continue to deliver new and exciting on air faces for our viewers to engage with.
• Define and champion the department's brand and voice and ensure it aligns with the overall business goals and company values.
• Ensure that our output continues to be an uncompromising champion for diversity, representation, and inclusion.
• Present regular updates and briefings to VMTV senior leadership team.
• Full responsibility for the department budget, utilising it to ensure the department and content can remain agile and reactive to a rapidly changing environment.
• Foster an environment that supports all teams, with a focus on delivering pathways for new and emerging talent to grow and thrive within the organisation.
• Work closely with the Head of Broadcast Operations to deliver an aligned output strategy that maximises facilities and talent.
• Manage key talent and Executive Producers.

The above list is not exhaustive. You will be expected to perform duties as necessitated by your changing role and the overall business objectives of the Company, as directed.

The Person:

• Industry trailblazer who has a proven track record of delivering high quality content.
• Highly motivated and ambitious individual with a passion for programme making.
• Strategic thinker who can plan short to long term while still being agile and able to course correct in an evolving landscape.
• Eager to enact change and challenge the status quo, embracing new opportunities to grow the business on a continuing basis.
• A decisive leader who can inspire others, mentor and develop a high performing team while fostering a collaborative and positive work environment.
• Ability to deliver and present vision to wider stakeholders and management team.
• Proactively addresses challenges and finds innovative solutions.
• Exceptional communicator who can engage with all stakeholders, ensuring alignment of approach across programming department.

Skills & Expertise:

• Exceptional editorial and a clear understanding of Virgin Media Television's audience, output and values, and a genuine enthusiasm for creating engaging, diverse and relevant programming.
• Experience in leading and growing shows to ratings success.
• Experience building and leading teams, collaborating with wider internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to identify and develop revenue streams from content.
• Will have worked on a broad range of productions across multiple genres.
• Demonstrated ability to control costs and optimise spending across multiple projects.
• Skilled in aligning content production with commercial goals, ensuring projects are profitable and sustainable.
• Experience addressing production and broadcast issues quickly and effectively.