Overview of the role
A production manager (PM) plays a key role in overseeing the organisational, scheduling, budgeting, and resource needs of an unscripted production, whether in a production office, on set, in studio or on location. In children’s TV they could be overseeing a wide range of unscripted programming, from a location based factual entertainment format with multiple shoots and edits to a studio show with pre school contributors or a sensitive current affairs documentary. Responsibilities on all projects include ensuring they run efficiently, on time and on budget, managing the production team, hiring crew and resources, and monitoring costs and reporting. In children’s TV, PMs must have an in depth knowledge of all of the regulatory frameworks involving working with children including child performance regulations and child licensing, all relevant health and safety, duty of care and safeguarding guidelines including the Ofcom Broadcasting code and any other broadcaster guidelines and ensure productions are supported to adhere to them at all times.
Production managers typically report to the production executive or Head of Production and line manage production coordinators and production secretaries.
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 size of the production company and team and the scale and budget of the production.
- Demonstrate an up to date awareness and understanding of how AI can be used in budgeting, scheduling, resource management and post production and ensure any uses on production are employed and disclosed transparently and in accordance with production company and broadcaster guidelines and UK and EU law.
- Implement data-handling processes, including material deletion, in line with company retention policies and all GDPR/data protection rules.
- Interpret programme format to establish production requirements in terms of people, scheduling, resources, and budget.
- Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders including health and safety, safeguarding, finance, HR, legal, technical crew, studios, locations, post-production, to determine resources, costs, and timelines to meet creative briefs.
- Work with the senior team (executive producer, producer, production executive) to develop production schedules, identifying the resources required for each stage in the production process, and allocating sufficient time to achieve objectives efficiently.
- Ensure the production sets and achieves all sustainability targets, meeting Albert guidelines.
- Ensure pre-production and production schedules are designed with working with children regulations in mind - from child casting including licensing, psychological assessments, fitness checks, chaperone and parental briefings, enhanced DBS checks, restricted duties, and relevant safeguarding training for staff and crew.
- Ensure risk assessments are in place for casting and recce processes.
- Ensure shooting schedules comply with child performance legislation, crew working hours, cast welfare and health and safety requirements.
- Incorporate child licensing requirements into post-production planning, including VO sessions.
- Liaise with departments to ensure equipment, personnel, and facilities meet schedule requirements.
- Insurance: confirm that crew and suppliers have their own insurance when required, arrange any additional cover for hazardous working, and production insurance policies and completion financing to meet requirements where appropriate.
- Record and mitigate risks related to locations, including health, safety, environment, access and child contributor welfare.
- Ensure facilities provide appropriate spaces, including break-out areas for child contributors.
- Negotiate and contract locations, ensuring permissions and contractual requirements are met.
- Support the PC and casting team through the child performance licensing process, ensuring compliance with agreed data handling and welfare procedures.
- Align contributor duty of care with company policies, anticipating access and welfare requirements.
- Organise duty of care, welfare, or safeguarding briefings for key personnel.
- Ensure psychological testing is completed where required, in line with duty of care policies.
- Complete all safeguarding checks and vetting, including DBS for on-screen talent.
- Arrange and issue contracts that meet legal, regulatory, and production requirements.
- Teams may decide to implement the principles of the Ofcom risk matrix to determine a project’s level of risk and include steps that will be in place to mitigate potential risks to contributors before, during and after production.
- Where necessary license any child contributors in line with child employment law; ensure working hours are monitored and recorded by chaperones and production coordinators.
- Ensure shooting schedules comply with child performance legislation, crew working hours, welfare and safeguarding and health and safety requirements.
- Ensure production staff have required safeguarding training.
- Verify necessary paperwork from talent and crew, including medical statements, signed contracts, self-declarations, and DBS checks.
- Create or approve risk assessments for all production activities in collaboration with editorial colleagues including that crew and suppliers are aware of the relevant health and safety requirements, are suitably qualified and certified.
- Maintain confidentiality of sensitive information in line with organisational procedures and escalate any breaches appropriately.
- Ensure public interactions with productions meet regulations.
• Working closely with the producer/series producer, confirm talent, crew and supplier availability, recruiting those suitable for the production by negotiating within union and trade guidelines and budgets, running tenders where appropriate and balancing creative requirements with budgets.
• Where needed, recruit and manage the production management team, fostering a transparent, responsible and creative working environment where all voices are heard. Instil inclusive and responsible practices with diversity and accessibility uppermost in mind.
• Ensure the team is trained in, and complies with, all working with children regulations, safeguarding and welfare, GDPR/data protection, the Ofcom Broadcasting Code and broadcasters’ editorial guidelines.
• Ensure roles and line management are clearly defined. Set achievable work and personal development goals for reports and offer regular feedback. Ensure teams know how to escalate any concerns they may have.
• Performance manage teams effectively, openly rewarding hard work, good ideas and shared results while identifying and addressing any issues promptly and escalating where necessary.
• Book chaperones and consultants as needed, ensuring training is current.
• Monitor crew and supplier performance to ensure contractual obligations are met.
• Establish communication systems with crew and suppliers for efficient information flow.
• Procure recording materials and storage for media in consultation to meet filming and insurance requirements.
- Monitor expenditure, update trackers, prepare cost reports and share with teams where appropriate, updating managers on variances.
- Anticipate and report overspends, liaising with producers on plans to rectify or rebalance the budget if needed.
- Manage payroll, sign off timesheets, and authorise expenditure in line with policy.
- Provide accurate cost information to stakeholders such as broadcasters, insurers, and consultants.
- Brief production team members about expenditure control and monitoring systems at appropriate times.
- Ensure cast, crew, and production team are paid accurately and on time.
- Track progress against plans and schedules identifying discrepancies and suggesting solutions.
- Ensure compliance with legal, contractual, safeguarding and health and safety requirements.
- Document, distribute and communicate relevant risk assessments to all production and crew members before shooting commences.
- Confirm that appropriate arrangements have been made for travel and accommodation for contributors, on-screen talent (including children) and crew.
- Notify colleagues of changes affecting schedules or budgets without delay.
- Resolve disputes and escalate contributor issues to producers/series producers.
- Ensure post-production resources are in place and schedules are shared with all relevant staff.
- Brief team and, where necessary, contributors at appropriate times on studio or location about codes of practice including safeguarding, working with children and any health and safety requirements.
- Oversee the set-up of location/studio shoots ensuring that signs and notices explaining and specifying access requirements and restrictions are clear and visible.
- Negotiate with crew about tasks above and beyond their regular duties.
- Prepare and implement plans to ensure that long-term scheduling needs are on target.
- Deal with urgent matters when they occur and in collaboration with appropriate production personnel.
- Alert the Head of Production and/or production executive to any problems which may have serious implications to production schedule or budget.
- Liaise with relevant departments to ensure smooth post-production workflow and maintain frequent cross-department communication.
- Identify and ensure the clearance of materials for inclusion in the programme, ensuring documentation and permissions are secured.
- Build and approve rushes workflow and ensure it is adhered to during production.
- Collaborate with senior team to build sign-off processes and schedules.
- Oversee viewing of rough cuts to ensure compliance and resolve copyright issues.
- Incorporate child licensing into post-production planning re VO sessions.
- Track post-production schedules, report overruns, and implement realistic scheduling solutions.
- Ensure production coordinator is on track to deliver the programme and all production paperwork to the planned schedule.
- Deliver production paperwork, rushes, and final reports in line with company retention policies.
- Work with senior team to finalise budgets and end-of-production reports.
- Monitor and report post-production spend.
Skills
Check out the role specific skills, transferable skills and attributes for the role of production manager in unscripted children's TV.
- Industry awareness: strong understanding of trends in content and formats, industry standards and budgets across the children’s industry nationally and internationally.
- Compliance expertise: thorough knowledge of all relevant legislation on working with children on content for young audiences, including child licensing, health and safety standards, legal and safeguarding.
- Planning and workflow: skilled at developing compliant production workflows and schedules within children’s content production across pre-production, filming, and post-production to ensure delivery on time and within budget.
- IT skills and a familiarity with a range of software to build industry standard reporting and documentation.
- Financial management: competent in budget preparation, negotiation, cost tracking, and variance reporting, with a focus on efficiency and accountability.
- Communication: excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to adapt style for different audiences (crew, talent, parents/guardians, suppliers, broadcasters). Empathy with and relatability to young contributors.
- Collaboration: strong team player, able to build relationships with internal departments and external partners.
- Problem-solving: quick to identify issues, implement contingency plans, and resolve conflicts calmly and effectively.
- Leadership and management: ability to lead teams, delegate effectively, mentor junior staff, and inspire confidence across production.
- Technical awareness: familiarity with production technologies, equipment, and post-production processes to support practical decision-making.
- Management and leadership: lead an inclusive production team, upholding ethics and maintaining respect when dealing with others.
- Support, encourage and mentor junior members of the team.
- Communication: interpreting other’s requirements and communicating department requirements to staff and colleagues.
- Team-working: collaboration within own and with other departments.
- Ability to interpret regulations and legislation and translate into practical workflows and policies.
- Negotiation: agreeing cast, crew and logistics, costs and contract terms with staff and suppliers.
- Research and analytical: planning practical requirements against brief breakdown and production vision.
- Problem-solving: contingency planning and resolving issues so that productions remain on schedule.
- Deliver under pressure: respond quickly to the needs of the team and respond to urgent deadlines calmly and efficiently.
- Financial skills: provide effective financial control and management of budgets on productions.
- Resilient and enthusiastic: remains positive and adaptable in high-pressure environments, meeting deadlines despite challenges.
- Proactive: seeks out opportunities to improve processes, explores innovative ways of working which will enhance and deliver the best results for the production.
- Flexible: open to changing priorities, responsive to evolving production needs, and adaptable in managing shifting demands.
- Productive: highly organised, with strong time-management skills to deliver results within tight deadlines.
- Driven: demonstrates initiative and energy, able to motivate teams and ensure tasks are completed under pressure.
- Ethical and inclusive: acts with honesty, integrity, and fairness; respects diversity and promotes inclusive working environments.
- Leadership: leads with diplomacy and respect, motivates and supports teams, challenges constructively, and resolves conflicts effectively.
- Attention to detail: maintains accuracy and thoroughness in managing paperwork, budgets, schedules, and compliance requirements.
- Calm under pressure: handles complex or urgent situations with composure and clarity.
- Interpersonal skills: builds trust and strong working relationships across teams, departments, and cast.