Head of Video
Reform UK · City of Westminster
Location: Westminster, London
Salary: Competitive
Reporting to: Executive Editor
The Role
Reform UK is seeking an exceptional Head of Video to lead a major expansion of the party's original video output from its Westminster headquarters. This is a senior role responsible for building a modern, seven-day operation capable of producing high-impact long-form, short-form, live and event video at national scale.
The Head of Video will own video strategy, formats, schedules, quality, resources and performance across YouTube and the wider digital estate. The role will maximise the potential of Reform UK's new Westminster studio, develop premium interviews, debates, packages, explainers, live programmes, documentaries and events, ensuring output is consistent, strong and distributed intelligently across platforms.
What you'll do
- Own the video strategy and build the operation
- Lead, inspire and develop the Video & Live team, setting a clear creative direction, production standards, responsibilities and ambitious audience KPIs.
- Translate Reform UK's digital strategy into a practical seven-day video schedule balancing premium long-form, live programming, events, rapid response and platform-native short-form output.
- Build repeatable production systems, rotas and workflows that allow the team to deliver more original material without sacrificing quality, speed or resilience.
Key Responsibilities
Create distinctive formats that can grow at national scale.
Develop and commission premium interviews, debates, explainers, documentaries and other long-form programmes capable of becoming destination viewing rather than disposable clips.
Build repeatable short-form and rapid-response formats that can react quickly to the news while remaining recognisably Reform UK in tone, quality and presentation.
Own the development of live output, introducing formats carefully with appropriate editorial, technical, moderation and legal safeguards.
Ensure every major speech, visit, conference session or political event is approached as a video opportunity with a clear before/during/after production and distribution plan.
Continuously test hosts, formats, durations, packaging and production approaches, scaling what works and stopping ideas that fail to justify the resource.
Maximise the Westminster studio and production investment
Make Reform UK's Westminster studio a reliable engine for high-quality output across long-form, live, national addresses, explainers and rapid-response content.
Work closely with the Studio Engineer/Technical Producer to maintain excellent sound, lighting, camera, streaming, recording and failover standards.
Plan studio time, shoots, crews and edit resources efficiently so expensive production capacity translates into visible audience and content gains.
Protect resilience with clear technical ownership, rehearsals, backups and acceptance standards, especially for live and high-profile productions.
Package and distribute every strong production
Ensure one original production generates a full content waterfall: full programme, website treatment, articles, transcripts, vertical cuts, social assets, email and ReformGo opportunities where appropriate.
Work with the Head of Social and Website Editor so video is planned for multiple destinations from the start rather than cut down as an afterthought.
Develop platform-specific packaging, especially YouTube titles, thumbnails, opening hooks, chapters, descriptions and release timing, and test them rigorously.
Maintain a clear asset, archive and publishing workflow so clips, source material and high-performing moments can be found, reused and measured efficiently.
Use data to drive audience growth
Own video performance against agreed KPIs for reach, watch time, retention, returning viewers, subscribers, engagement, non-follower discovery and distribution efficiency.
Use analytics to understand why formats, subjects, hosts, titles, thumbnails and edits succeed or fail, and turn those findings into concrete changes.
Performance and Leadership:
- Set clear creative and journalistic standards for production, editing, graphics, sourcing, tone, pacing and technical quality across every level of output.
- Manage staff performance, rotas, leave and development so the team can sustain a demanding seven-day schedule without creating avoidable single points of failure.
- Stay close enough to the work to edit, produce, troubleshoot or reshape output when necessary, while creating space for senior team members to take genuine ownership.
- Work closely with the Executive Editor, Website Editor, Head of Social, Policy, Operations, Communications, Campaigns, Events and other stakeholders to align high-value video opportunities with the wider agenda.
- Communicate production requirements, schedules, risks and performance clearly to senior figures, including when an idea is not operationally realistic or does not justify the resource.
- Maintain a comprehensive understanding of media law, copyright, defamation, privacy, contempt, election-period requirements, live risk and relevant compliance procedures.
- Handle sensitive material, political talent and high-profile guests with discretion, strong editorial judgement and calm leadership under scrutiny.
THE PERSON
We are looking for a senior digital video leader with a proven record of audience growth, strong editorial instincts and the practical production credibility to lead from the front.
Essential experience and capabilities
- Significant experience leading video for a national publication, broadcaster, digital media brand, political organisation or comparable high-profile operation.
- A proven track record of delivering meaningful digital audience growth through original video, not simply increasing output volume.
- Strong hands-on editing and production skills, with enough technical understanding to challenge work, solve problems and maintain credibility with the team.
- Excellent journalistic and editorial judgement, including the ability to shape interviews, live formats, explainers and rapid-response coverage around a clear audience proposition.
- Proven management experience, including building teams, managing rotas, developing staff, setting expectations and creating a positive performance culture.
- Strong operational skills: able to build schedules, coordinate shoots, allocate edit capacity and deliver complex production efficiently under pressure.
- Advanced understanding of YouTube and video analytics, including watch time, retention, returning viewers, packaging and the relationship between format and audience behaviour.
- Comprehensive understanding of legal and compliance requirements relevant to video, live output, copyright, contributors, defamation, privacy and political content.
- Outstanding communication and stakeholder-management skills, including confidence working with senior political figures, presenters, guests, suppliers and technical specialists.
- A strong interest in British politics and the professionalism, resilience and discretion required to lead a high-profile function inside a mission-led political organisation.
- Willingness to work full-time from Reform UK's Westminster HQ and flex around live output, breaking news, major events and campaign periods, including evenings and weekends.
Highly desirable
- Experience building or scaling a YouTube-first or creator-style video operation with substantial audience growth.
- Experience commissioning premium long-form interviews, debates, documentaries or studio franchises and turning them into repeatable audience propositions.
- Experience running live programmes, remote contributions, phone-ins, streaming or other technically complex real-time output.
- Strong understanding of titles, thumbnails, packaging, A/B testing and platform-native distribution across YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and X.
- Experience designing or commissioning studio workflows and working closely with engineers, directors, camera teams and remote galleries.
- A track record of organisational change: improving production systems, raising standards and increasing output and impact.
Why join Reform UK?
This is an opportunity to build a national political video operation at a moment when direct-to-audience media is becoming increasingly important. The successful candidate will have unusual freedom to create formats, shape the studio, build the team and establish what Reform UK video looks and feels like at scale.