Department: BBC Media Action Nepal

Grade: 9

Reports To: Country Director

Based: Kathmandu, Nepal with frequent travel within the country

Duration: Till 31st December 2019 with possibility of extension subject to funding

Job Purpose:

The Head of research is responsible for the delivery of all research activities conducted to inform the strategy, content and quality and to evaluate the impact of BBC Media Action's media development and development communications projects in Nepal. She/he is responsible for leading and managing a team of research staff and ensuring the research is technically well designed, resourced, implemented, reported and disseminated to a range of audiences. The role includes line management of research managers and senior research officers and building their research and project management skills as they act as research project delivery leads. This role includes coaching and mentoring all levels of research staff in project delivery including agency recruitment, research instrument design and piloting, qualitative and quantitative fieldwork, analysis and interpretation. She/he is responsible for supporting staff to deliver quality analysis and interpretation, ensuring that the research is useful and used by BBC Media Action production and creative teams. The Head of Research will work collaboratively with London based Research staff, research consultants and agencies and the project team to lead the design, co-ordination and implementation of a variety of qualitative and possibly quantitative research activities which will inform, guide and evaluate project activities through key audience and media insights.

Main Duties:

• Strategic research input: To provide the country director, senior project managers and other senior editorial and project staff with strategic research support for business development, project design, implementation, donor relations, pre-testing and impact assessment of BBC Media Action’s work in Nepal
• Leadership: To lead the Nepal research team, working in close consultation with the R&L team in London, and with external entities including research agencies, donors, media partners, academic institutions and NGOs. To be an active member of the wider Nepal senior management team, working with the country director and other senior staff to define and lead implementation of the BBC Media Action Nepal country strategy
• Delivery of research activities and products: To oversee the design, commissioning and delivery, to time and budget, of all research studies for projects that the BBC Media Action Nepal office undertakes, determining appropriate strategy, methodologies and analysis protocols; ensuring research meets project needs; and signing off research designs and deliverables in accordance with BBC Media Action’s global QA process
• Representing Research: To liaise with and represent BBC Media Action and R&L nationally and internationally to a range of stakeholders including donors, producers, project managers, research firms, academic institutions, NGOs, media and government counterparts
• Innovation: To lead on the development of new concepts, methodologies, projects and outputs, particularly during business development, project extensions and renewals. To liaise with the global R&L team to disseminate innovation and look for opportunities to implement global learning locally
• Business development: In conjunction with the country director and the R&L team in London, to lead on research and learning activities for business development related to the Media Action’s project proposals including research budgets for work in Nepal
• Staffing and mentoring: To line manage research managers and senior research officers and to train and mentor all research staff on research operations, analysis, project and human resource management
• Dissemination of research findings: To take overall responsibility for internal and external dissemination of Nepal research findings, supporting staff from R&L and project teams to prepare publications, presentations, blogs, articles and other outputs

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Strong qualitative or quantitative research skills and experience of designing and managing mixed method research in support of practical outcomes
• Substantial experience of planning and coordinating research and analysis with multi-discipline teams
• Substantial experience of managing fieldwork and adapting methods to challenging and resource-constrained conditions
• Substantial experience of applying research to support practical outcomes
• Excellent project management skills, including planning, budget and resource management
• Experience of delivering research training and building research capacity with junior researchers
• Experience managing staff, including technical research oversight, personal development and performance management
• Strong presentation skills and experience of adapting oral and written research outputs to present in non-technical language to diverse audiences at multiple levels
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to engage appropriately with audiences, journalists, local researchers, contractors and donors
• Excellent written and fluent spoken Nepali and English

Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Strong skills and experience in both quantitative and qualitative research methods
• Experience working with media organizations in applying research findings to production of media outputs and broadcast strategy
• Experience working with development organizations to apply research findings to develop health, governance, humanitarian response or resilience interventions

Competencies:

The following competencies (behaviors and characteristics) have been identified as key to success in the job. Successful candidates are expected to demonstrate these competencies.

• Strategic Thinking – Can identify a vision along with the plans that need to be implemented to meet the end goal. Evaluates situations, decisions, issues, etc. in the short, medium and longer-term
• Analytical Thinking – Able to simplify complex problems, processes or projects into component parts, and to explore and evaluate them systematically. Able to identify causal relationships, and construct frameworks, for problem-solving and/or development
• Decision Making – Is ready and able to take the initiative, originate action and be responsible for the consequences of the decision made
• 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 Organisation – Is able to think ahead in order to establish an efficient and appropriate course of action for self and others. Prioritizes 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 characterized 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
• Self-Development – able to identify and apply opportunities for learning and development