Overview of the role
The development assistant is attached to the development team and provides administrative and creative support. They are responsible for coordinating the activity of the team, including managing diaries, arranging meetings, organising documents and providing transport. They carry out research tasks to help the development of new ideas. They may also act as personal assistants to the creative director or managing director (MD).
Core responsibilities
These core responsibilities are provided as a guide and are not exhaustive. The exact responsibilities in a particular job will vary depending on the scale / budget band / genre of the production.
- Watch output from a wide range of broadcasters and platforms
- Follow industry news and update the development team with highlights (including recently commissioned programmes, significant hires and commissioner briefing notes)
- Compile ‘watch-lists’ of new and relevant programming
- Research ratings using overnight/consolidated viewing figures and trade magazines (where possible) and share these with the development team
- Find and distribute relevant background information about commissioners, including their professional history and previous commissions
- Liaise and build relationships with personal assistants of commissioning editors, arrange meetings and organise travel or links to video conferencing platforms where necessary
- Assist in the organisation of pitch materials, including formatting, proof-reading and printing written materials
- Take careful notes during brainstorms - type and circulate these to the development team
- Save brainstorming notes and other relevant documents in appropriate folders in a shared drive
- Contribute ideas and perspectives in brainstorming sessions where appropriate
- Source and book rooms for internal and external meetings, supply lunch and/or provide teas, coffees etc
- Be a central point of contact for the development department, answer external queries, keep a record of calls and emails and inform the appropriate people
- Assist in placing adverts for development jobs, monitor CVs and save appropriately following GDPR rules, and share these with the head of development
- Tidy and organise folders into a shared drive - make the team aware of any systems in place
- Carry out research tasks where needed, including helping the team to collect and collate facts and stats
- Search for images for pitch decks and presentations and source user generated content or found footage for use in sizzles
- Research and create long lists of talent for specific development projects
Skills
Check out role specific skills, transferable skills and attributes for the role of development assistant.
- Actively engage with the output of a range of broadcasters and platforms and become familiar with the commissioning landscape
- Organise and contribute to the design and production of pitch materials
- Liaise with other departments and external organisations, acting as the first point of contact for the development team
- Act as a central point of support for the varied activity of the development team
- Communication: communicate the requirements of the development team with a variety of internal and external organisations and individuals
- Planning: assist with practical requirements for transport, refreshments, meetings and diary coordination
- Attention to detail: an ability to carefully follow detailed and specific instructions in an administrative or organisational capacity
- IT skills: familiarity with a range of software to support the team in the logging, development and design of ideas
- Deliver under pressure: responding quickly to the needs of the team and urgent deadlines calmly and efficiently
- Enthusiasm: an active interest in learning more about the industry, including consuming content from a range of different broadcasters and platforms
- Discretion: able to respond appropriately to a wide range of internal and external communications, be privy to confidential information and understand the importance of maintaining this confidentiality
- Independent working: the ability to work unsupervised, exercising initiative and assessing priorities but referring issues upwards where appropriate
- Ethics and integrity: honest and principled in all actions and interactions
- Respectful and inclusive of others and meets the ethical requirements of their profession
- Flexibility: the ability to operate flexibly, to work as a member of a small team and to manage a variable workload
- Professional development: develop an ethos to learn and seek out learning and networking opportunities, identifying those that will be most beneficial