Research Manager (Media Development) at BBC Media Action

BBC Media Action is the BBC’s international development organization, and we believe in the power of media and communication for good. We work in more than 25 countries around the world, supporting the independent media essential to democracy and development. Each year our projects and programmes reach over 100 million people facing poverty, inequality and insecurity with information they can trust, helping to improve health, bridge divides, challenge prejudice, and save and change lives. We follow the editorial standards and values of the BBC, but we rely on funding from donors and partners to carry out our work.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Research Manager (Media Development)

Job Reference: 18575
Location: Abuja
Contract type: Fixed Term Contract until September 2026
Band: D
Reports to: Senior Research Manager

Job Introduction

• The Research Manager (Media Development) will be responsible for ensuring research and Monitoring & Evaluation are well designed technically across the two multi-country media development projects, and is appropriately implemented, reported and disseminated to a range of audiences. 
• Reporting to a Senior Research Manager, the Research Manager (Media Development) will work with local counterparts in BBC Media Action country offices and consortium member organisations to conduct research to build an evidence base which can be used to support project decision making, demonstrate project impact, and support global learning on effective media development. 
• As more BBC Media Action projects focus on developing capacity of media and supporting healthy information ecosystems, the Research Manager (Media Development) will specialise in conducting research which will help to understand media development and advance organisational understanding and management of media resilience metrics, as well as the measurement of the impact of media development projects.

Main Responsibilities

• Commission research activities including: content analysis, audience analytics, social media/digital analytics, in-depth interviews, outcome harvesting/mapping, and process tracing. 
• Undertake – and support others to design and undertake – research and analysis that will help to inform project activities, monitor behavioural change and policy outcomes, and produce insights about effective media development. 
• Coordinate research activities across the two project consortia, ensuring timely, high-quality, and coordinated implementation of research and Monitoring & Evaluation activities. 
• Communicate project Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning insights in a simple and intuitive format for all stakeholders, supporting interpretation and utilisation of the findings, working in partnership with in-country research teams to deliver such analysis.
• Develop organisational knowledge on demonstrating impact of media development and media ecosystems projects. Support teams to increase their understanding of outcome-oriented Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning models for behavioural change, policy change, and systems change. 

Are you the right candidate?

• Skills in designing and running qualitative research, including organizational/capacity assessments, social listening, in-depth interviews, focus groups, process tracing, and content analysis. 
• Skills in analysis, visualisation and interpretation of data. Skills in some or all of the following are a great benefit: statistical modelling tools (e.g. SPSS, R, Python, STATA), data visualisation tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) and/or social listening tools (e.g., Brandwatch, Meltwater, CrowdTangle/Meta Content Library).
• Experience working with a range of results frameworks and evidence-based performance reporting, including good technical understanding of Monitoring & Evaluation approaches and standards in an international development context. 
• Experience designing and implementing a system to digitally collect, analyse and present research data which can be used by a range of partners.
• Knowledge and experience of working constructively with a range of stakeholders to design and deliver media development research, including practitioners, journalists, and researchers. Experience and understanding of applying and training others to use audience research and Monitoring & Evaluation tools. 
• Experience monitoring trends in broadcast and digital media usage. 
• In-depth knowledge of one or more of the following countries/regions would be an advantage: Latin America, MENA, South Asia, South-East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa.

Application Closing Date
17th February, 2025.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online