Department           : BBC Media Action 
Reports To            : Country Director 
Based                    : Kathmandu, Nepal
Duration                : Fixed term contract to 31 March 2016, with possibility of extension subject to funding 
Start date              : ASAP

Job Purpose
Reporting to the Country Director, the Research Manager will manage all research undertaken by the Nepal team. The post holder will line manage  Research Officers and any Research Assistants employed in the team. The Research Manager will lead research to support project and production teams’ requirements, and to report on impact to donors. S/he will be responsible for ensuring the research is technically well designed, resourced and implemented; findings are synthesized, reported and disseminated to a range of audiences. Generating insights from research to support the Country Director and other project heads for business development will be an important responsibility for the post holder. The role includes coaching and mentoring junior research staff to manage the research, including support to staff to undertake agency recruitment, research instrument design and piloting, qualitative and quantitative fieldwork, analysis and interpretation. The post-holder 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 position is based in Kathmandu and will involve regular travel within Nepal. Some international travel may be required.   

Main Duties 

• Managing all research delivered by the BBC Media Action Nepal research team. 
• Deliver and assure quality of research, to inform media production, outreach and capacity building activities and to deliver evaluative research to meet donor requirements. 
• Lead and oversee the development of research plans, instruments and sampling design, commissioning of agencies for quantitative research, qualitative and quantitative analysis and interpretation, reporting and dissemination of research findings on time, to budget and to high quality.
• Ensure AIM (BBC Media Action’s internal quality assurance process for research) is being used in every steps of the research process.  
• Plan and monitor resource needs, including creation and input into gantt charts and research, project and programme plans, and maintain and update delivery dash board for projects responsible for.
• Manage overall budget for research projects, have oversight of research services and ensure all research activities planned are delivered in time and within the forecasted budget.   
• Support and develop the research team, including coaching, mentoring and/or training to develop their research and project management skills. 
• Liaise with Research and Learning colleagues in London, to ensure research is delivered in line with organizational standards and requirements. 
• Undertake quantitative and/or qualitative data analysis, ensuring that the interpretation supports development of media products and is thematically appropriate. 
• Engage proactively and collaboratively with non-research staff in the office, including the Country Director and creative, production, project and finance teams to support the development and use of research in the production of BBC Media Action’s creative outputs. 
• 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.   
• Line management of Research Officers and Research Assistants, when employed on the team, including supporting professional development motivation and technical support. 

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience Criteria 

• Experience of designing and managing qualitative and quantitative research in support of practical outcomes. 
• Strong quantitative and/or qualitative data analysis using SPSS or similar software or qualitative analysis software. 
• Experience of undertaking or managing fieldwork and adapting methods to challenging and resource-constrained conditions. 
• Excellent project management skills, including planning, budget and resource management. 
• Experience of delivering research training and building research capacity. 
• Strong ability to communicate technical concepts to colleagues. 
• Experience of managing staff including technical research oversight, professional 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 from grassroots to senior levels, including NGO staff, non-researchers, academics and donors. 
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to engage appropriately with audiences, journalists, local researchers, contractors, senior project staff and donors. 
• Excellent track record of delivering research findings on time, on budget and to a high standard. 
• Ability to quality assures quantitative or qualitative analysis and reporting.
• Fluent in written and spoken English and Nepali. 

Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience Criteria 

• Understanding of development issues in Nepal. 
• Experience working with media organisations in applying research findings to production of media outputs and broadcast strategy. 
• Experience working with development organisations to apply research findings to develop health, governance, humanitarian response or resilience interventions. 

Relevant 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. Prioritises 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 characterised 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.

TO APPLY,

If you are interested in applying for this position, please send a CV and covering letter outlining your interest in the role, and demonstrating how you fulfil the essential skills and experience, by 13 October, 2015 to [email protected]  (with job title in subject line).