Seven new Assistant Commissioners appointed at the BBC

The BBC has revealed the next seven Assistant Commissioners who will be joining BBC commissioning teams across the UK.

The candidates will be joining a year-long placement with development opportunities within the corporation.

Five of the new Assistant Commissioners will be based in the Nations and Regions, four based in Factual and one in Children’s & Education.

The Assistant Commissioner roles based in Wales and Scotland and the Assistant Commissioner, Documentaries role based in Northern Ireland will report jointly to both the Nations and Network Heads of Commissioning.

The Assistant Commissioner, Children’s role based in Northern Ireland will report to the Head of BBC Children’s Commissioning & Acquisitions 0-6.

In addition, two new Assistant Commissioners will be based in London, one in Unscripted and one will be in Scripted, as part of the Elevate pipeline which aims to develop and progress deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent talent.

The seven new Assistant Commissioners are:

• Gillian Burke – Children’s 0-12 Animated Content, Northern Ireland
• Mark Harrison – Current Affairs, Midlands and North of England
• Sidra Khan –Factual Entertainment & Events, Scotland
• Raphaëlle O’Loan –Documentaries, Northern Ireland
• Denise Mather – Specialist Factual, Wales
• Caroline O’Neill – Unscripted, London
• Rhianna Adams-Christie – Scripted, London

Dawn Beresford, Director of Talent, Commissioning says: ‘We’re excited to welcome the seven new Assistant Commissioners to our commissioning teams. The recruitment process has demonstrated the strength of talent in the Nations and Regions and from deaf, disabled and neurodivergent talent pools and I look forward to seeing this new intake continue to flourish in their careers.”

Nichola Garde, Creative Diversity Lead, Disability says: “It has been a fantastic experience meeting so many talented deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent candidates. We are excited that this will support more opportunities at senior level and looking forward to continuing to work towards strengthening that pipeline.”