Leo Sands named London hub breaking news reporter and editor for The Washington Post

These breaking news hubs have become integral to The Post’s newsroom since their launch a year ago. Leo joins us as part of an expansion under which the London and Seoul operations will grow by 40 percent this year, to 14 full-time staffers in each location. Leo will work primarily as a reporter but will occasionally shift into an editing role.

Leo is a senior journalist on the world desk of the BBC News website, based in London, where he commissions, edits and writes breaking news and quick-turn explanatory stories. He also devises plans for global-news coverage, uses audience data to curate the BBC’s multiple global-facing homepages and takes charge of non-U.K. stories published on the BBC site during overnight hours.

Before pivoting to the BBC’s digital arm, Leo was part of its television team. He worked as a producer on multiple news shows, including “Beyond 100 Days,” a prime-time evening broadcast that was anchored by Katty Kay that covered U.S. and U.K. news. Leo’s work included multiple stints in Washington, including a three-month assignment during the U.S. election campaign in 2020. Leo also reported and produced “Jobfished,” a 45-minute BBC News television investigative documentary exposing a fake London company that successfully duped 52 people around the world into working remotely during lockdown.

Leo is a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, with a BA in history and an MPhil in American history. He speaks French. He will start on Oct. 10.