Biographies

Head of Africa and Middle East Region, BBC World Service

Jerry Timmins has been the Head of the Africa and Middle East Region since March 2003, when he immediately took charge of coverage of the Iraq war and launched a significant expansion of the BBC Arabic service which led to the launch of Arabic TV alongside radio and online.

He is editorially and managerially responsible for the BBC's broadcasts and multimedia services for Africa and the Middle East across radio, online and television in Arabic, English for Africa, French for Africa, Hausa, Kirundi/Kinyarwanda, Portuguese for Africa, Somali, and Swahili languages.

Jerry is is accountable for their performance. He is also responsible for ensuring the delivery of high-quality training to all BBC World Service staff.

Jerry has nearly 30 years' BBC experience as a producer and reporter in radio and TV.

He trained as a studio manager with the BBC and joined the BBC World Service in 1980, subsequently working as a writer and producer.

In 1988 he became Head of the BBC's Caribbean Service as it relaunched to the region. He then transferred to BBC Television where he worked on the BBC's flagship current affairs programme, Newsnight, for two years.

In July 1992 Jerry returned to BBC World Service where he ran two departments before becoming Head of the Americas Region.

In 2001 Jerry led a project in the BBC World Service to help define how World Service is now using digital technology.

In 2002, he worked with the then BBC Director-General Greg Dyke on the BBC's major internal change project, Making It Happen.

He is a long-standing member of the Board which runs BBC World Service and regularly deputises for the Director.