Trainee Production Specialist/Production Specialist

The Role

9-12 month fixed term contract

Starting July/August 2025

The team

Our ITV News teams deliver high quality, trustworthy and impartial journalism to millions of people on television and online. It’s a fast moving environment with a huge variety of roles on offer and plenty of challenges. We operate from 11 main news production centres across England, Northern Ireland, Wales and the Channel Islands. We also have a Political Unit based in the heart of Westminster and produce a range of current affairs & factual programming at ITV Wales, UTV and ITV Border.

The role

ITV News West Country are looking for a talented Trainee Production Specialist/Production Specialist.

As a Trainee Production Specialist/Production Specialist you will work as part of a multi-skilled team providing technical, craft, operational and administrative skills across all areas of the news service, primarily based at our newsroom and studio in Bristol.

2025/2026 is going to be an exciting year for ITV West Country. The Bristol newsroom will be the first to ‘Go Live’ with Project Vision - part of a £20m investment to replace the broadcast technology and sets across our nations and regions. This is a great opportunity for a positive, enthusiastic individual to help support the Bristol based team with the launch of Project Vision and shape the future of operations within ITV News.

To be eligible for this role, candidates will ideally be multiskilled and familiar with craft editing or live studio operations. Proven skills in, or knowledge of areas including editing, programme timing, vision, sound, bulletin directing, media ingest and transfer, production administration or scheduling is an advantage.

You must be willing, and have the aptitude, to develop new skills (with appropriate training) and to move between different duties on a daily basis as the needs of a busy and vibrant news operation requires. You’ll also be required to share your own skills with others.

As a Trainee Production Specialist/Production Specialist, you will be a highly motivated individual as well as friendly and approachable. You will be committed to working as part of a successful team, sharing the responsibility for supporting news production. Above all you will be an excellent communicator who is quick thinking and calm under pressure with strong and decisive decision-making skills.

If you have a passion for News and Technology and are looking to expand on your current skills and experience this could be the perfect role for you.

Everyone in the Production Team will have a core skill in one or more of the following areas on appointment but increase their skills over time:

• Live studio and location operations, including Directing, Vision mixing, Sound, Gallery PA-ing, Autocue, Newsroom and Studio Cameras and Floor Management
• Media Ingest & Transfer, Playout, Ingest
• Production Technology Support assistance
• Scripts, Scheduling, Rosters, Logging, Clearance and Returns and other Programme administration and support
• ITVX/Digital support
• Editing and templated Graphics
• Studio systems technical operation, first line fault finding and maintenance and issue reporting
• Server management and Media storage

ITV West Country is a richly diverse region and we're looking for a person who will help ensure our coverage is as representative of the people and backgrounds of all those who live here as possible.

Please note, the rostered hours for this role will include weekend working , late shifts as well as early morning shifts and Bank Holidays. The working pattern will incorporate late shifts (typically 23:00 finish) as well as early morning (typically 05:00 start). You are expected to provide your own means of transportation to and from your main workplace.

Because of the nature of news production, there will be occasions when you are required to work long and unsociable hours at short notice.

Skills you’ll need (minimum criteria)

• You must have a core skill in one or more of the following areas: Editing, Sound, Directing, Programme Timing, Vision, Media Ingest & Transfer, Production Technology Support
• The ability to multi-skill and shift seamlessly from one task to another if necessary, often under pressure, is key
• The ability to be proactive
• Experience of working effectively as part of a team
• Confident and clear communication skills
• Proven ability to learn and apply new skills

Other things we’re looking for (key criteria)

• Proactivity, drive and resilience
• A positive attitude to work
• Excellent attention to detail
• Social Media/Digital awareness
• Candidates should demonstrate passion, enthusiasm, a knowledge of the business, an understanding of technology, and an awareness of production methods
• Candidates should be informed about the news agenda both nationally and for the region/nation.

Newsrooms are busy and pressurised environments, involving live news production, which often requires colleagues to make quick decisions under pressure. We also need people who are able to use their initiative.

We need to test these abilities at the interview stage to understand how candidates will react when operating in a pressurised environment. This is a fundamental requirement of the role. We will always consider any request for reasonable adjustments as part of the interview process, for example sharing key themes when that is requested in connection with a neurodivergent condition, whilst still ensuring that we are able to test a candidate's ability to operate in the specific environment of a newsroom.

Closing date - 22nd June 2025

Interview date/s - 2nd July 2025

Please note the notice period for this role is 2 months (this will include any new contracts/ secondments)