iMedia Genius

What are Senior Job Roles?

Senior job roles sit at the top of a production team or department. These roles include producers, directors, project managers, heads of department, editors-in-chief and senior designers or developers.

They are responsible for planning, decision-making and quality control. Senior staff make sure the project meets the client brief, stays within budget and is completed on time while following legal and ethical guidelines.

Key points you must remember

Senior roles focus on leadership, management and final decisions.
They communicate with clients and coordinate creative and technical teams.
They manage budgets, schedules and resources.
They are often responsible for legal compliance and sign-off of work.
Strong communication, organisation and problem-solving skills are essential.

Senior Job Roles at a Glance

These infographics summarise who leads a media project, what decisions they make and how they link to the client and the rest of the team.

Where Senior Roles Sit

Senior roles at the top of teams, departments and entire productions.

Overall project: producers, executive producers, project managers.
Creative leadership: directors, series producers, creative directors.
Department heads: heads of camera, post-production, sound, design or development.
Editorial leadership: editors-in-chief, senior editors, content leads.
Business & strategy: commissioners, channel controllers, senior marketing managers.
Exam link: highlight how senior roles coordinate teams and take responsibility for outcomes.

Leadership · Strategy · Oversight

Key Senior Responsibilities

What senior staff actually do day to day – and how to phrase it in exam answers.

Planning & scheduling: create work plans, milestones and deadlines for the team.
Budgeting: allocate money to staff, equipment, travel and marketing and monitor spend.
Managing staff: hire, brief, motivate and review the work of creative and technical teams.
Client communication: update clients, pitch ideas and negotiate changes to the brief.
Quality & risk: check that the product meets legal, ethical and technical standards.
Exam tip: when evaluating a project, mention how senior roles would solve problems and keep it on track.

Planning · People · Quality

Video Overview

▶

Watch on YouTube R093 · Senior Job Roles

iMedia Matters Podcast

Flashcards & Mind Maps

For flash cards and mind maps, use our NotebookLM for this topic. It includes quick-fire revision prompts and visual links between key ideas.

📘 Open NotebookLM for Senior Job Roles

Topic Slides

Download these slides for an in-depth look at the topic — perfect for revising key ideas and strengthening your understanding.

📑 Download Topic Slides (PDF)

Games to Practise Senior Job Roles

Use these games to practise how senior roles make decisions, oversee teams and take responsibility for meeting the client brief and audience needs.

Media industry

Sector Sorter

Drag-and-drop game sorting traditional vs new media, products and job roles. Perfect for Section A media industry questions.

MCQs Sectors Job roles

Recall · Classification

▶ Play

All topics

The flagship exam-style quiz covering every R093 question type: MCQs, short answers, binary questions, bonus rounds and timed scoring.

Exam-style All R093 content Mixed difficulty

Knowledge · Reasoning

▶ Play

Product design

Client Brief Detective

Race the clock to find key information in client briefs: purpose, audience, timescales, ethos and constraints.

Short answers Client brief Constraints

Reading · Interpretation

▶ Play

Exam Practice – Senior Job Roles (AI Marker)

Write your answers in the boxes below, then click Build & Copy AI Marking Prompt. Choose an AI tool and paste the prompt to get examiner-style marking and feedback.

Q1. State one responsibility of a producer in a TV production. (1 mark)

Technique: Give one clear responsibility such as managing the budget, organising the schedule or hiring key staff.

Q2. Explain one reason why a client might want to meet with the project manager during production. (2 marks)

Technique: Make one point about communication, progress updates or changes to the brief, then explain how this helps the project stay on track.

Example structure: “Meeting the project manager helps because… This means that…”

Q3. Describe one difference between the role of a producer and the role of a director. (3 marks)

Technique: Identify a clear difference (e.g. producer manages budget and logistics, director focuses on creative vision and performance) and then develop your answer with an example.

Q4. Explain two skills a senior editor-in-chief needs when managing a team of writers for an online magazine. (4 marks)

Technique: Give two separate skills (e.g. leadership, attention to detail, understanding of audience). For each, explain how it helps maintain quality and consistency.

Q5. A media company is producing a multi-platform campaign for a new game release. Discuss the senior job roles that would be involved in planning and leading the campaign and explain how their decisions affect the final products. (9 marks)

Technique: Cover several senior roles (e.g. executive producer, project manager, creative director, head of marketing). Explain their responsibilities, how they coordinate teams and how their decisions shape the campaign. Finish with a justified conclusion.

Paragraph 1–2: Describe key senior roles and their main responsibilities.
Paragraph 3: Explain how they work with creative and technical staff.
Paragraph 4: Link their decisions to the success of the campaign (audience reach, brand image, budget).
Final paragraph: Conclusion – which role or decision is most critical and why.

Level 2 → Level 3 Boost (Q5)

As you type, this will spot what’s missing for top-band answers.

Start typing your answer to see tailored targets.

Open an AI tool:

Can You Now…?

Name at least three senior job roles and describe what they do.
Explain how senior roles support and lead creative and technical teams.
Suggest which senior roles would be needed for different media projects.