IT will require a nose for a good story and – more importantly – very thick skin.
BBC Scotland is about to advertise for what will surely be one of the most politically sensitive jobs in the country: a new referendum editor.
An official job description is still being drawn up, according to insiders at the corporation's Pacific Quay HQ in Glasgow, but it is known the new editor will work behind the scenes, heading up a £5 million unit created to produce a series of documentaries and debates in the run-up to next year's independence vote.
The new referendum editor will report to BBC Scotland's head of news and current affairs, John Boothman, partner of former Labour minister Susan Deacon.
A BBC Scotland spokesman said: "The referendum is of huge significance for Scotland and this additional investment – bringing up to 50 new temporary jobs – will ensure audiences here get the comprehensive output they expect from impartial journalism."
In a show of just how closely the appointment is being followed by campaigners, Scottish Labour media chief Paul Sinclair tweeted: "BBC Scotland to get £5m to cover referendum. Hope Yes Scotland declares it to the Electoral Commission – its biggest donation so far."
Not to be outdone, Newsnet Scotland, the pro-independence website, stepped up its long-running campaign against the BBC, accusing it of "pro-Union favouritism".
MSPs also signalled their interest in the appointment, suggesting the new editor should face questions from a Holyrood committee.
Senior BBC Scotland sources have revealed the new editor will not appear in front of cameras but will take charge of themed programmes, live debates and local hustings coverage.
The BBC is bound by strict guidelines designed to ensure impartial reporting of the referendum, but which also ensure, of course, it is accused of bias by both sides.
Nationalist campaigners last year protested outside the corporation's Glasgow HQ at what they described as "misleading and negative reporting" and "institutional political bias" against independence.
Last month, they were angered by a BBC Scotland report in which Irish minister Lucinda Creighton said an independent Scotland would have to apply for EU membership. They also accused BBC Scotland of imposing a "virtual news blackout" on former Chancellor Denis Healey's admission this week that the Labour government underplayed North Sea oil's value in the 1970s.
Scottish Labour has also been at loggerheads with BBC Scotland for months, claiming it favours the pro-independence campaign, with the party irked by what it saw as hostile coverage of leader Johann Lamont's conference speech in Inverness last month.
It also complained about BBC Scotland coverage in March, when a leaked Cabinet paper revealed Finance Secretary John Swinney's private concerns about the Scottish economy. Labour claimed BBC Scotland tried to "bury" the story.
Meanwhile, Stewart Maxwell, the convener of Holyrood's Culture Committee, said the new editor could be called to give evidence in October. The committee has raised doubts about BBC Scotland's ability to cover the referendum after a wave of job cuts.
He said: "The referendum editor is facing a very tough job to provide neutral, even-handed information to everyone across the country. We might well see the new referendum editor before us. That's an individual the committee would be very interested in hearing from."
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