Title: Research Associate 
Grade: 5
Based: Kathmandu with possible travel to field locations
Duration: 6 Months (possibility of extension subject to funding)

Context

Established in 1998, BBC Media Action is the BBC’s international development charity. BBC Media Action uses media and communications to help reduce poverty and support people in claiming their rights, our aim is to inform, connect and empower people around the world. We do this through our focus on health, governance and rights, resilience, and humanitarian response, partnering with civil society, local media and governments to produce creative programmes in multi-media formats which inform and engage audiences and strengthen the media sector through building professional capacity and infrastructure.  

BBC Media Action Nepal is seeking potential applicants for the position of “Research Associate”. 

“The role may involve working with groups of vulnerable children and adults. For the successful candidate, mandatory training will be provided on BBC Media Action’s safeguarding policy and staff code of conduct. BBC Media Action operates a zero-tolerance policy concerning all forms of abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people.”

Job Purpose

Research Associate will be accountable for supporting BBC Media Action’s ongoing research projects. The Research Associate will undertake research to support project team and production teams’ requirements. The position is based in Kathmandu and may involve regular travel within Nepal.

Main Duties 

• Support research team to implement and deliver audience research in order to ensure that activities meet quality, standards and are completed within budget and deadline requirements.
• Support research team to analyse and synthesize audience research results, applications and innovations with a view to define best practices and support producing contents that are tailored to local audiences. 
• Support research team to analyse qualitative and quantitative data as required and support project planning and development.
• Moderate focus group discussion and/or interviews, collect data, monitor and control the quality of fieldwork/data collection, and analyze and present them into standard format for further decision making.
• Supervise the field researchers and maintain the quality of data by checking the interviews notes and support team on data management.
• Participate in Research and Learning workshops and represent BBC Media Action in other knowledge sharing workshops related to our project activities and project partners. Train and share knowledge with the research assistant where appropriate. 
• Support reporting requirements in terms of providing analysis and recommendation for quick understating and decision making. This includes designing ways of reporting figures in an effective and strategic way. 
• Support the review of latest trends and developments in research methodologies related to behavior change, impact assessment and communications research, and evaluating the same for adoption in the Research and Learning work.
• Understand and comply with the Safeguarding policy and the staff Code of Conduct.
• Participate in relevant mandatory training on Safeguarding and Respect at Work.
• Report any Safeguarding concerns immediately, either to the Country Director, or using the Whistleblowing Policy.
• Any other research and learning task as per requirement.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Minimum University degree in relevant field with progressive 2 years of experience in research implementation.
• Strong experience in qualitative and quantitative market/social research, including questionnaire designing, interviews and discussions moderation, and data analysis.
• Experience with data analysis software packages such as SPSS. 
• Strong computer skills, including Excel and PowerPoint. 
• Excellent knowledge of written and spoken Nepali and English. 
• 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.
• Ability to plan and conduct work with minimal supervision.
• Track record of delivering research findings to deadline.

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 Organization – Is able to think ahead in order to establish an efficient and appropriate course of action for self and others. Prioritizes and plans activities considering 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 behavior 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