JOB DESCRIPTION

Summary of the Role:

BBC Media Action is recruiting Senior Research Officer (SRO) to support research activities related to our humanitarian response activity in Bangladesh. The role will be based in Cox’s Bazar with occasional travel to Dhaka and field locations. The SRO will be responsible for designing and implementing the research activities to inform, evaluate the humanitarian projects undertaken by the Bangladesh office. This role will also include a certain level of management activities of line managing Research Officer/Research Assistants and supporting them for personal development, motivation and technical support. S/he will also be responsible for research project management in Bangladesh including budgeting and resource management. As such SRO is expected to have substantial experience in research methods and research project management.

Context:

Established in 1998, BBC Media Action is the BBC’s international development charity. Working with media and communication to help reduce poverty and support people in claiming their rights, our aim is to inform, connect and empower people around the world. BBC Media Action reaches some 200 million people through local broadcast partners, BBC channels (especially the BBC World Service), online, mobile and print platforms and through interpersonal communication. We are currently delivering projects in 28 countries, including in Bangladesh. BBC Media Action has been working on communication for development projects in Bangladesh since 2005, giving us a well-developed understanding of Bangladeshi audiences and significant experience of producing and evaluating media content on a range of issues to diverse target audiences.

The Research & Learning (R&L) Group 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 all Media Action media 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.

Job Purpose

The Senior Research Officer (SRO) will support the delivery of research activities conducted to inform the strategy, content and quality and to evaluate the impact of BBC Media Action's humanitarian projects, under the guidance of the Head of Research where appropriate. S/he will work with the HoR to ensure the research is technically well designed, resourced, implemented, reported and disseminated to a range of audiences. The role includes line management of one or more Research Officers/Research Assistants and building their capacity to manage elements of research, such as research instrument design and piloting, and qualitative/quantitative fieldwork, analysis and interpretation. The SRO will be responsible for the quality of analysis and interpretation, ensuring that the research is useful and used by BBC Media Action production and creative teams. The SRO will report to the Head of Research and will be coached and mentored by the HoR who will provide technical support on research activities where appropriate and professional development opportunities.
 
Main Duties

1. Lead on the development of research plans when assigned a research project, including research instruments and sampling design, commissioning of agencies for research, analysis and interpretation, reporting and dissemination of research findings on time, to budget and to high quality, under the supervision of the Head of Research. 
2. Manage day-to-day workflow of reactive and ad-hoc research activities connected to humanitarian programmes, ensuring that humanitarian information products are delivered on time and to a high level of quality.
3. Plan and monitor resource needs, including creation and input into research planning documents, project and programme plans and input into budget design for research elements of projects, with support and guidance from the Head of Research.
4. Support and develop Research Officers and Research Assistants, including coaching, mentoring and/or training to develop their research and project management skills.
5. Undertake, and support others to design and undertake data collection, analysis and reporting, ensuring that the interpretation supports development of media products.
6. Engage proactively and collaboratively with London based research staff, Finance and Admin staff, Production and Communications staff, with minimal supervision from the HoR to ensure research supports wider organisational/programme objectives and is properly resourced and reported.
7. Lead on organising and implementing a research review process for key research deliverables (proposals, reports) with project stakeholders, with support and guidance from the HoR.
8. To prepare and present research presentations that informs the production process and monitor and evaluate project effectiveness for internal and external audiences including producers and project managers, research firms, academic institutions, donors and NGOs.
9. Line management of Research Officers and/or Research Assistants including supporting personal development, motivation and technical support.

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience

1. Highly competent in qualitative and/or quantitative data analysis and/ data and reporting.
2. Ability to plan and design qualitative and/or quantitative research and design and manage mixed method researches.
3. Strong field work experience, especially in rural and geographically challenging areas. Ability to undertake or manage fieldwork and adapt methods to challenging and resource-constrained conditions.
4. Experience/knowledge in research project management in Bangladesh including budgeting and resource management.
5. Experience in commissioning research to agencies/third parties through bidding and short listing and manage them to ensure quality and timely delivery.
6. Strong written and spoken Bangla and English.
7. Strong report writing and presentation skills, communicating complex technical ideas using non-technical language to a wide range of audiences from journalists, production staff and development practitioners.
8. Ability to plan and conduct work with minimal supervision.
9. Good time management skills, with a track record of delivering research findings to deadline.
10. Demonstrable understanding of cultural diversity and cross-cultural research within Bangladesh.
11. Excellent interpersonal and diplomatic skills: ability to communicate and conduct business at all levels from grassroots to the highest levels of governments and media.

Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience

1. Experience in and understanding of the humanitarian sector
2. Previous experience in international development or media research.
3. Previous research experience working with NGOs

Applications: Interested applicants should carefully complete the BBC Media Action job application form by downloading from the link and email to applications@bd.bbcmediaaction.org mentioning the position in the subject field. The deadline for submitting applications is 6 January 2019.

The BBC is an equal opportunities employer.