Research Manager – BBC Media Action عودة إلى الفرص

Job Title: Research Manager, BBC Media Action North Africa

Location: Tunis, Tunisia

Reports to: Country Director, BBC Media Action North Africa

Technical Line Manager: Senior Research Manager in London

Contract duration: Fixed-term contract to August 2021 (with possibility of extension dependant on funding)

Desired Starting date: As soon as possible

Context  

BBC Media Action is the BBC’s international development charity. In a world where media can be divisive and untrustworthy, we believe in the power of media and communication to do good.

Our work reaches millions of people facing insecurity, inequality and poverty with information they can trust. We support the independent media essential to democracy and development. And we inform, connect and inspire change in our audiences, providing trusted information, stories and ideas that generate debate and discussion and bridge divides.

We reach more than 100 million people a year – helping to save lives and improve health, protect livelihoods, challenge inequality and build more peaceful and democratic societies.

Our work in North Africa covers Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, with our office based in Tunisia. Current projects include:

• Capacity strengthening of the Algerian media to promote the development of media that better meets the needs of the Algerian population, including information on Covid-19 and supporting Algerians to make and make money wisely.
• Provision of content that improves Libyans’ access to information and encourages social cohesion in Libya through the El Kul Facebook page.

Research at BBC Media Action

BBC Media Action places significant importance on research, both as a means to help us design better projects and as a mechanism to measure (and demonstrate) the impact and value of our work. The organisation has a strong reputation for research within the sector.

We conduct research to support the design and delivery of our projects/programmes, and to evaluate their impact. This includes research with target audiences, the media organisations/practitioners that we work with and other relevant stakeholders. For example:

• Formative research at the start of a project to better understand the lives of our target audiences and to help us frame our project communication to have the most impact (e.g. using literature reviews, qualitative interviews, quantitative surveys)
• Pre-testing/piloting of media outputs with audiences, to allow production teams to make changes to our media content based on audience feedback
• Monitoring project progress including audience engagement and reaction to our media content
• Tracking the performance of our content (e.g. using social media analytics)
• Evaluation of the impact of our projects (e.g. conducting qualitative research with audiences who have watched/listened to our content, using a national survey to measure the reach of our content).

BBC Media Action has an integrated team of up to 100 specialist qualitative and quantitative researchers based both in the UK and our country offices. Our London team provide technical support and oversight and help facilitate collaboration and learning between our teams of researchers in different countries. As a Research Manager in one of our Country offices you will be responsible for managing the research in your country/region, but you will also be part of the global research team (with opportunities to contribute to/learn from our research work across the globe).

Job Purpose

Working closely with the North Africa project and production teams and Country Director and colleagues in the London research team, the North Africa Research Manager will be responsible for leading on delivery of research under BBC Media Action’s projects in North Africa (including all formative, monitoring and evaluation activities), with guidance and support from the Research Manager and Senior Research Manager in London.

They are also responsible for managing the rest of the North Africa research team (though currently there is no funding for any other posts beyond the Research manager – this is unlikely to change under this fixed-term contract) and any freelancers/research agencies commissioned by BBC Media Action North Africa.

The North Africa Research Manager will work collaboratively with London based research staff, research consultants and agencies and the project and production teams to lead the design, co-ordination and implementation of a variety of qualitative and quantitative research activities which will inform, guide and evaluate project activities through key audience and media insights.

They will also contribute to business development activities through input into project proposals, advising on potential research approaches and costs, identifying useful research insights to inform project design and working with London research colleagues to develop appropriate log frames for monitoring and evaluation purposes.

The North Africa Research Manager needs to have a strong background and skills in either qualitative or quantitative research (a mixture of skills is advantageous), experience of evaluating the effectiveness of projects to specific intended outcomes and experience of managing research projects to a high-quality and to specific timelines and budgets. The ability to identify practical insights and communicate these to non-technical audiences is essential.

They also need to have a collaborative attitude to working with other colleagues and teams and a pro-active approach to team development.

Main Duties 

• Deliver high-quality research, with technical support and direction from the Research Team in London
• Design robust research designs and qualitative and quantitative research instruments/tools (e.g. topic guides and survey questionnaires)
• Undertake qualitative research data collection (e.g. focus group discussions and in depth interviews with training participants, audiences and key stakeholders)
• Undertake or oversee research agencies to undertake quantitative data collection (e.g. household surveys)
• Undertake, and support others to undertake qualitative and quantitative data analysis, ensuring that the interpretation of results supports development of project activities and contributes to organisational evidence of impact
• Write research reports, presentations and other dissemination products in a range of formats to fulfil the requirements of different audiences, including production teams, donors and the communication for development/media development communities
• Engage proactively and collaboratively with non-research staff in Tunis and London to support the development and use of research in the production of BBC Media Action’s creative outputs
• Ensure all research activities are conducted in accordance with BBC Media Action’s Assuring Integrity in Measurement (AIM) quality control and ethical standards and in line with GDPR legislation

Travel throughout Tunisia and Algeria and other areas in the region when necessary. Willingness to travel to Libya, subject to BBC risk assessments and provision of suitable training, is desirable (N.B. Given the current level of risk, there is no expectation that the Research Manager would travel to Libya. This would only become desirable if the security situation were to improve).

Relevant Competencies

• Analytical Thinking – Able to simplify complex problems, processes or projects into component parts, explore and evaluate them systematically. Able to identify causal relationships, and construct frameworks, for problem-solving and/or development.
• Managing Relationships and Team Working – Able to build and maintain effective working relationships with a range of people. Works co-operatively with others to be part of a team, rather than working separately or competitively.
• Planning and Organisation – Able to think ahead in order to establish an efficient and appropriate course of action for self and others. Prioritises and plans activities taking into account all the relevant issues and factors such as deadlines, staffing and resources requirements.
• Discipline and rigour – The ability to follow procedures, guidance, toolkits and research processes in a disciplined and rigorous fashion.
• Developing Others. Is able to recognise potential (managerial, professional, artistic or otherwise) and is willing to foster the development of that potential. Creates a climate in which potential can be realised.
• Communication – The ability to get one’s message understood clearly by adopting a range of styles, tools and techniques appropriate to the audience and the nature of the information.
• Resilience – Can maintain personal effectiveness by managing own emotions in the face of pressure, set-backs or when dealing with provocative situations. Can demonstrate an approach to work that is characterised by commitment, motivation and energy.