Title : Research Manager 
Division : BBC Media Action
Reports to (title) : Country Director, Nepal
Direct reports : Senior Research Officer(s)
Location base : Kathmandu, Nepal
Contract : One year contract with the possibility of extension.
Organisation structure : The Research Manager reports into the Country Director.

Job Responsibilities and Accountability

BBC Media Action is recruiting an experienced Research Manager to oversee the Research and Learning (R&L) unit – in Nepal. The Research Manager is responsible for leading and managing the research staff and ensuring the research is technically well-designed, resourced, implemented, reported, and disseminated to a range of audiences.

The position will work collaboratively with the Head Office based research staff, research consultants and agencies, and the project and production teams to lead the design, coordination, and implementation of a variety of qualitative and quantitative, and digital research activities. These will inform and guide project strategy, content, and quality, and evaluate project impact, generating key audience and media insights.

The role also involves building and maintaining relationships with relevant stakeholders—academy, government, and civil society partners—for research partnerships and business opportunities. 

The position is based in Kathmandu with some regular travel to locations around the country as necessary.

Context

BBC Media Action uses media and communication to reach millions of people through creative communication and trusted media, helping people have their say, understand their rights, responsibilities and each other, and take action to transform their own lives.​​​ We work across a range of thematic areas including health, governance and rights, resilience and humanitarian response and we partner with civil society, local media and governments to deliver our work. 

We have been working in Nepal since 2007, giving us a well-developed understanding of Nepali audiences and significant experience of producing and evaluating media content on a range of issues to diverse target audiences. Our current work in Nepal is focused on media development, information disorder, climate change and resilience including DRR.

Main Duties

• Ensure that BBC Media Action research projects in Nepal are delivered on time, on budget, and to high quality standards.
• Ensure effective research management, monitoring and quality control—making sure research activities, the analysis, and the report are achieved.
• Lead and oversee the development of research plans, instruments, sampling design, and data collection for all research in-house and the commissioning of agencies for quantitative and qualitative research and ensuring the quality of research to inform media production, outreach, and capacity-building activities, and delivering evaluative research to meet donor requirements.
• Plan and monitor resource needs, including creation and input into Gantt charts and research, project and programme plans, and maintain and update delivery dashboard for projects.
• Undertake and oversee quantitative and qualitative data analysis and ensure that interpretation, reporting and dissemination of research findings is of high quality.
• Ensure AIM (BBC Media Action’s internal quality assurance process for research) is being used in every step of the research process.
• Manage the overall budget for research projects and work closely with finance and the project teams to develop, manage, and forecast research budgets; ensure research services and all research activities planned are delivered on time and within the forecasted budget.
• Engage proactively and collaboratively with non-research staff in the office, including the Country Director, and creative production, project and outreach teams to support the development and use of research in the production of BBC Media Action’s creative outputs.
• Understand the needs of the organisation to ensure that all research is tailored and relevant, to deliver simple and valuable insights.
• Prepare and deliver internal research presentations and reports to inform the creative process, monitor and evaluate project effectiveness, and contribute to project strategy.
• Synthesize insights from research findings for business development and overall organisation strategic development – also contribute to business development by developing research plans in proposals and engaging in donor discussions where appropriate.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with relevant stakeholders—academy, government, and civil society partners—for research partnerships and new business opportunities.
• Represent the Research team and BBC Media Action with external and internal stakeholders, including disseminating findings to donors and other interested parties.
• Liaise with colleagues in the central Research and Learning team to ensure research is delivered in line with organisational standards and requirements.
• Line management of Senior Research Officer/s; and oversee and support the research team for professional development, motivation and research skills improvement.
• Serve as a member of the BBC Media Action Nepal’s Senior Management Team.
• Factor safeguarding issues into the research design and ensure that relevant safeguarding due diligence is conducted with any research partners.
• Report any Safeguarding concerns immediately, either to the CD, or using the Whistleblowing Policy.
• Understand and comply with the BBC Media Action policies, e.g., the Safeguarding policy and the staff Code of Conduct, and more.
• Participate in relevant mandatory training on Safeguarding and Respect at Work.
• Lead the documentation and dissemination of learnings from all the research projects.

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Strong research management skills, including planning, budgeting, and resource management.
• Strong qualitative and/or quantitative research skills and experience, including method and instrument design, as well as data management, analysis, and reporting.
• Good quantitative analysis skills with knowledge of Microsoft Excel and other statistical software packages such as SPSS or similar.
• Experience of conducting digital research and innovative technology research, including the use of digital research tools and software and social media analytics.
• Experience of undertaking and managing fieldwork (including management of research agencies and freelancers) and adapting research methods to challenging and resource-constrained conditions.
• Strong research report writing and presentation skills, communicating in non-technical language to a range of audiences.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to engage appropriately with audiences, researchers, partners, senior project staff and donors, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Extensive experience of managing, motivating and developing teams as well as collaborating with diverse teams.
• Ability to plan resource, monitor research progress, manage risks and evaluate outcomes of research with minimal supervision.
• Excellent numeracy skills, including the ability to design, manage and track budgets and expenditures.
• Good organisational and time management skills, with the proven ability to prioritise across multiple tasks, work independently and maintain attention to detail.
• Track record of delivering research findings on time and to a high standard.
• A clear commitment to making a leading contribution to the research environment and producing high-quality research outputs.
• Proven ability to support or contribute to new business and proposal development.
• Fluent in written and spoken English.
• Experience of working in both the media/communications and development sectors, preferably both.
• Ability to travel and work outside of Kathmandu, with potential overnight stays.

Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Strong background knowledge and experience of media and communication and/or understanding of the media landscape in Nepal and the role that media can play.
• Knowledge of the Nepali development context, youth development, and policy environment.
• Experience working with media organisations to apply research findings to production of media outputs and broadcast strategy.
• Advanced skills and experience in large-scale data analysis/complex analysis.
• Experience working with research contexts aimed at informing project development by building a rigorous high-quality evidence base.