Leigh Tavaziva, the BBC's Chief Operating Officer, is stepping down as the UK national broadcaster undergoes a period of leadership upheaval. This comes as no surprise, given the recent string of high-profile exits, including the resignation of Director-General Tim Davie and News Chief Deborah Turness over a controversial Donald Trump edit. Tavaziva's departure is set for September, marking the end of a five-year tenure during which she earned nearly £470,000 ($624,000).
In an internal email, Tavaziva expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to reflect on her role and decide it was time to pursue new challenges. She emphasized the honor of working for an organization that matters and the privilege of contributing to its mission. Tavaziva also mentioned her plans to work closely with Rhodri Talfan Davies, the interim director-general, to ensure a smooth transition and support the new director-general.
One of the key changes Tavaziva announced is the creation of a new unit called BBC Media Tech, led by Storm Fagan, the current Chief Product Officer, who will take on the newly-created role of BBC Chief Technology and Product Officer. This move aims to unite product and technology teams from public service and BBC Studios into a single group, potentially leading to a commercial division focused on digital services like iPlayer and the BBC Sounds app. This unit is part of Project Ada, a BBC initiative to save at least £100M ($132M) by restructuring its workforce to compete with tech giants. The project, named after Ada Lovelace, a pioneering 19th-century British mathematician, could result in the outsourcing of thousands of non-content jobs to private sector companies.
