Television floor manager : Employers and vacancy sources

The BBC and independent television companies employ small numbers of floor managers. The BBC employs a handful of floor managers directly and they are used as first choice for any programme it is producing. When necessary, they will use freelance floor managers to cover any programmes their own staff cannot manage. The BBC usually recruits two trainee floor managers per year (typically in London): one for studio and the other for outside broadcasts.

Other employers include:

• satellite, cable and digital broadcasters;
• local television;
• news specialists.

Digitalisation has had a great impact on employment within the television sector, with a large increase in the number of stations broadcasting. This has led to more programmes being made and so more opportunities for work in this sector. There is an increasing trend, however, towards floor managers using past technical experience or gaining further training to increase employment prospects. By combining essential technical or production roles with floor management responsibilities, production costs can be reduced.

Most floor managers are freelance, moving between employers on contracts that can last a few days or months at a time. Once you establish a good relationship with a director, it is quite common for your services to be requested for their next programme.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Ariel
• BBC Jobs
• Broadcast
• Channel 4
• Guardian Jobs - media section.
• ITV
• PACT Directory of Independent Producers
• Production Base

Recruitment agencies rarely handle vacancies. Like most jobs in the media, many vacancies are never advertised and are secured through persistent speculative applications and effective networking. There are, however, some freelance agencies, such as TOVS , which may assist professional floor managers.

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