Job band:EContract type:Permanent, full-timeDepartment:Strategy and TransformationLocation:London, Salford, CardiffSalary range:£70,000 -£85,000 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.
The closing date for applications is 13th July 2026
Purpose Of The Role
The Lead Project Manager will play a central role within the BBC’s Generative AI Team, leading a small number of medium to large-scale innovation projects. This role will work across business, data and delivery teams to take projects from a prioritised hypothesis through to a validated hypothesis, pilot delivery and effective handover to the business for scaling. The role requires strong project discipline, sound judgement and the ability to operate confidently in a fast-moving, evolving and matrix-managed environment.
Key Responsibilities and Impact
- Lead a small portfolio of medium to large-scale innovation and optimisation projects within the GenAI team, ensuring they are well-scoped, well-governed and delivered to agreed outcomes.
- Oversee end-to-end delivery, from an initial prioritised problem space through discovery, validation and pilot execution, to successful handover into the business for scaling.
- Work closely with business leaders, process experts, data engineers, change specialists, and where needed legal and procurement colleagues, to coordinate delivery and resolve issues at pace.
- Build strong relationships across a wide range of stakeholders in a matrix-managed environment, enabling teams across divisions to plan, prioritise and deliver work effectively together.
- Establish and maintain clear project gates, decision points, delivery plans, resource assumptions and risk management, ensuring stakeholders have clarity on progress, dependencies and trade-offs.
- Support rapid experimentation while maintaining appropriate project rigour, with a clear focus on key deliverables, business readiness and adoption.
- Work closely with the GenAI team’s senior leaders to ensure projects are delivered in a way that supports wider programme priorities and sustainable business change.
Skills and Experience
- Strong experience of complex and innovation projects in large organisations from early-stage problem definition through structured experimentation to pilot delivery and effective handover into operational teams.
- The ability to balance pace, rigour and risk in the delivery of complex initiatives, ideally in areas involving new technologies or organisational change.
- Experience of creating delivery environments that support collaboration, learning and continuous improvement, particularly where innovation or experimentation is involved.
- Strong project management skills, including experience of working in cross-functional teams to deliver high quality planning, governance, risk management, resource oversight, dependency management and reporting against key milestones and decision points.
- Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to articulate complex delivery issues, diverse stakeholder considerations, subject matter expert viewpoints and project choices clearly and credibly.
- Experience working in environments that involve emerging technologies or innovation.
- Experience working with multidisciplinary teams that include business process redesign, data science and change management functions.
EEO Statement
We welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. 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 at reasonable.adjustments@bbc.co.uk.
Benefits
- 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 pension scheme 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.
BBC Group and Public Services, Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London, United Kingdom, W1A 1AA. BBC Studios Distribution Limited, company no: 01420028, registered address: 1 Television Centre, 101 Wood Lane, London, United Kingdom W12 7FA.
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