BBC Media Action uses various forms of media and communications to tackle poverty and contribute to long-term change in some of the world’s least developed countries. To achieve this, we partner with civil society, local media and governments to:
- Produce creative programmes in multi-media formats which inform and engage audiences
- Strengthen the media sector through building professional capacity and infrastructure
The Research & Learning (R&L) Group is based in London and in each of our country offices, focuses on four key activities: (1) providing BBC Media Action projects with audience and market insights to guide project strategies; (2) conducting quantitative and qualitative research studies to capture the impact of Media Action interventions; (3) building capacity in research skills and methodology and (4) documenting and disseminating the insights and learning from BBC Media Action’s projects internally and to the wider development community.
BBC Media Action’s Bangladesh office is one of its biggest. The Bangladesh office is currently implementing three large projects under the Governance, Health and Resilience thematic areas, funded by the UK Department for International Development; along with an adolescent SRH project, Generation Breakthrough, funded by Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Research and Learning department, as a result, has also been managing and delivering a large portfolio of research programmes for all four projects. As the projects’ are well underway, R&L’s area of focus is currently on the evaluation of the research activities.
Overall purpose:
The Research Officer (RO) will support the delivery of research activities of BBC Media Action's media development and development communications projects, under the guidance of the Research Manager (RM)/Senior Research Officer (SRO). The RO will be responsible for the quality of analysis and interpretation, ensuring that the research is of a high standard and is used by BBC Media Action production and creative teams, and other partners of the project. The RO will report to the Research Manager/Senior Research Officer, and will be coached and mentored by the Research Manager/Senior Research Officer.
Main Duties & responsibilities:
- Lead on- the development of research plans when assigned a research project, under the supervision of the RM/SRO.
- Assist the RM/SRO to manage the day to day research operations including designing research, fieldwork activities, project planning, timelines and delivery;
- Support the formulation of Quantitative research designs, preparing RFPs/research briefs, and implementing or monitoring fieldwork (where appropriate) to complete of the research in consultation with the RM/SRO;
- Design and review quantitative research instruments such as survey questionnaires prepared by internal clients/Research Assistants, with guidance from the RM/SRO;
- Lead the field research team, and liaise with agencies in conducting fieldwork including briefing the field team and supervising the piloting of the research instruments and recruitment of research participants as needed;
- Monitor and control the quality of fieldwork/survey. Look for ways to improve data collection, research design, moderation and analysis of quantitative data;
- Work closely with RM/SRO and Research Assistants in analysis of quantitative data; lead Research Assistants in analysing and drafting research reports;
- Assist the RM/SRO in presenting findings creatively, and disseminating key findings and the strategic recommendations to internal/external stakeholders.
- Train, and share knowledge with Research Assistants, helping to build their research skills and project management knowledge.
Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience
- A minimum Bachelor degree from Statistics/Applied Statistics, Economics, Development Studies, Social Science disciplines and any other relevant disciplines;
- At least 2 years professional experience in social and market research in a Development or Research organization/agency of repute;
- Have knowledge in conducting FGDs and IDIs, qualitative data analysis and interpretation of results and reporting. Skill in moderating PRAs and ethnography is an added benefit;
- Good knowledge and/or experience on research methodology and techniques such as mapping suitable method, sampling, data collection or cleaning, data management, coding, analysis and interpretation;
- Good written and spoken Bangla and English;
- Strong report writing skills, ability to communicate complex technical ideas using non-technical language to a wide range of audiences such as production staff and development practitioners;
- Have good command in SPSS or other statistical software.
Desirable Skills:
- Previous experience in climate change, media and capacity building related research will be an added advantage.
- Previous experience of dealing with qualitative formative and evaluative study including data management and analysis as well as managing quantitative data sets and data analysis;
- Strong time management skills, with a track record of delivering research findings to deadlines. Ability to work on multiple projects at one time; and
- Demonstrable understanding of cultural diversity and cross-cultural research within Bangladesh.
Relevant Competencies
- Strategic Thinking – Can identify a vision along with the plans that need to be implemented to meet the end goal. Evaluate situations, decisions, issues in the short, medium and longer-term.
- 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.
- Imagination / Creative Thinking – Is able to transform creative ideas/impulses into practical reality. Can look at existing situations and problems in novel ways and come up with creative solutions.
- Planning and Organization – Is 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.
- Resilience – Can maintain personal effectiveness by managing own emotions in the face of pressure, setbacks or when dealing with provocative situations. Can demonstrate an approach to work that is characterised by commitment, motivation and energy.
- Influencing and Persuading – Ability to present sound and well-reasoned arguments to convince others. Can draw from a range of strategies to persuade people in a way that results in agreement or behaviour change.
- 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.
Applications: Interested applicants should carefully complete the BBC Media Action job application form and email to applications@bd.bbcmediaaction.org mentioning the position in the subject field. The deadline for submitting applications is 5th May 2016.
The BBC is an equal opportunity employer.
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