Head of Production

Location:

London-based (minimum 2 days in office)

Reporting to:
Executive Director

Term: 4 days (32 hours) per week

Pay: £40,000 per annum (pro rata of £50,000 full time equivalent)

What we do

We make progressive media. From standalone documentary projects such as Overshoot (audio) and Boomerang (video), to regular podcasts like Macrodose, our productions seek to bring radical ideas, critical histories and original storytelling to wide audiences.

Why we do it

With the centre ground crumbling and the far right on the rise, progressive movements urgently need more effective ways to communicate their visions and ideas. Planet B aims to foster a diverse new media ecosystem, building agile products designed for an era in which audio visual and social media driven content shapes public discourse and civic debate.

Over the past few years, our part time and freelance collaborators have seeded new media projects that challenge the reactionary dominance on digital platforms. We are now looking to scale up our permanent operations, with the appointment of a Head of Production as an integral first step in this next phase of Planet B's growth.

How we do it

Planet B is based in North London and operates with a small, collaborative core team alongside an extensive network of freelancers. Projects are developed in house through this network or via commission by external partners. We also run regular live events to expand the reach of our work.

Summary

The Head of Production at Planet B will be responsible for turning ambitious editorial ideas into high quality, scalable productions across audio, video and live event formats. In the short term, this is a highly hands on role: leading the development of Planet B's new in house video podcast studio, establishing production workflows and directly producing and delivering a slate of new studio based video podcasts for platforms such as You Tube, Instagram and Tik Tok.

Working closely with the Executive Director and Head of Operations, the Head of Production will combine practical production leadership with strategic oversight - managing budgets and schedules, coordinating freelance producers, technicians and editors and ensuring projects are delivered efficiently and to a high technical standard. As Planet B scales its output and operations, this role will increasingly focus on building and managing an in house production team alongside our freelance network.

This role offers a significant leadership opportunity within a fast growing organisation at the cutting edge of progressive digital media, with meaningful scope to shape Planet B's creative and editorial direction.

Key Responsibilities

Production Lead, Strategy and Planning

Work with the Executive Director and creative collaborators to scope, prototype and refine new Planet B productions, with a primary focus on studio based video podcasts.

Lead production planning from initial brief to final delivery, developing project specific production workflows and providing accurate resource projections to inform organisational strategy.

Provide senior technical oversight across audio and video production, setting production standards and making key decisions on formats, workflows, equipment and delivery specifications.

In the short term, take a hands on role in leading day to day production for new video podcasts and studio outputs, including directing recordings, overseeing shoots and troubleshooting technical issues as they arise.

Project and Budget Management

Prepare and manage project level production budgets - prepare costings, monitor spend, manage changes and report to the Head of Operations.

Build and manage detailed production schedules for multiple concurrent projects, ensuring deadlines for deliverables are met without overloading the team.

Oversee day to day production across development, pre production, recording/shooting and post production.

Act as the senior point of technical decision making during production, able to answer high level questions from freelancers and collaborators and resolve production challenges efficiently.

Lead on production risk management, including health and safety, insurance, safeguarding and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements across locations and platforms.

Provide production data to support impact, outreach and funder reporting.

People and Freelance Management

Work with and develop Planet B's existing roster of freelance producers, technicians, editors, designers and other creatives.

Work with the Executive Director to build project specific production teams, briefing and managing freelance talent to ensure clear scopes of work, timelines and deliverables.

Other Responsibilities

Con to ongoing conversations around company wide editorial and financial strategy, bringing a production first perspective to organisational decisions.

Provide monthly updates to the Planet B board on production timelines.

Support the production of live events where…