Working with the North Africa project teams and Country Director and colleagues in the London research team, the North Africa Research Manager will be responsible for leading on delivery of research under the North Africa projects (including all formative, monitoring and evaluation activities) with guidance and support from the Research Manager in London. They will be responsible for managing the rest of the North Africa research team (currently two Research Officers and one Research Assistant).
The North Africa Research Manager 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.
They will also contribute to business development activities through input into project proposals, advising on potential research approaches and costs, identifying useful research insights to inform project design and working with London research colleagues to develop appropriate log frames for monitoring and evaluation purposes.
The North Africa Research Manager needs to have a strong background in qualitative and quantitative research skills and evaluating the effectiveness of projects to specific intended outcomes, experience of managing research projects to deliver high-quality research to specific timelines and budgets and experience of managing a research team. They also need to have a collaborative attitude to working with other colleagues and teams and a pro-active approach to team development.
Location: Tunis, Tunisia
Reports to: Country Director, BBC Media Action
Duration: Fixed-term contract to end March 2019
To apply send a covering letter in English demonstrating how you meet the requirements of the post, along with your CV to: [email protected]
Main Duties
- Deliver high-quality research, with technical support and direction from the Research Team in London
- Design, and support others to design, robust research designs and qualitative and quantitative research instruments
- Undertake qualitative research data collection (e.g. focus group discussions and in depth interviews with training participants, audiences and key stakeholders)
- Undertake or oversee research agencies to undertake quantitative data collection (e.g. household surveys)
- Undertake, and support others to undertake qualitative and quantitative data analysis, ensuring that the interpretation of results supports development of project activities and contributes to organisational evidence of impact
- Write research reports, presentations and other dissemination products in a range of formats to fulfil the requirements of different audiences, including media creative and production teams, donors and the communication for development/media development communities
- Engage proactively and collaboratively with non-research staff in Tunis and London to support the development and use of research in the production of BBC Media Action’s creative outputs
- Ensure all research activities are conducted in accordance with BBC Media Action’s Assuring Integrity in Measurement (AIM) quality control and ethical standards and in line with GDPR legislation
- Travel throughout Tunisia and Algeria and other areas in the region when necessary. Willingness to travel to Libya (subject to BBC risk assessments and provision of suitable training) is desirable.
Required knowledge, skills and experience:
Overall skills
- Fluency in spoken and written English and Arabic. French desirable.
- Completed university degree (with relevant degree in social science, humanities or development studies etc.) Master’s degree an asset.
- Good IT skills, including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
- Understanding of the North African context and issues related to development
Research skills
- At least four years professional experience in market or social research in a developmental or research organization.
- A minimum bachelor degree in social science or other relevant discipline.
- Strong qualitative research experience (including designing qualitative research, moderating focus groups and interviews, analysing and interpreting qualitative data)
- Experience monitoring and evaluating complex projects
- Experience reporting research to donors
Communication and management skills
- Ability to communicate research clearly to different types of stakeholders (from journalists, production staff and development practitioners to donors and academics)
- Ability to establish good working relationships with colleagues and work as a member of a team, demonstrating good interpersonal skills
- Excellent organisational and administrative skills to plan and prioritise work, meet deadlines with minimal supervision and respond flexibly to rapidly changing priorities.
- Good time management skills, with a track record of delivering research findings to deadline
Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience
- Understanding of the role of media and communications in development
- Familiarity with international development issues relating to media, health, governance or resilience
- Quantitative research experience (including survey design, quantitative analysis and interpretation of quantitative data)
- Quantitative analysis software skills (ideally SPSS, or equivalent such as STATA with willingness to learn SPSS)
- Familiarity with qualitative analysis software (Nvivo, Atlas)
- Experience in managing a team and supervising the implementation of research activities of other researchers
- Experience in mentoring and training others in research methods
Relevant Competencies
- Analytical Thinking – Able to simplify complex problems, processes or projects into component parts, explore and evaluate them systematically. Able to identify causal relationships, and construct frameworks, for problem-solving and/or development.
- Managing Relationships and Team Working – Able to build and maintain effective working relationships with a range of people. Works co-operatively with others to be part of a team, rather than working separately or competitively.
- Planning and Organisation – 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.
- Discipline and rigour – The ability to follow procedures, guidance, toolkits and research processes in a disciplined and rigorous fashion.
- Developing Others.Is able to recognise potential (managerial, professional, artistic or otherwise) and is willing to foster the development of that potential. Creates a climate in which potential can be realised.
- 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.
- Resilience – Can maintain personal effectiveness by managing own emotions in the face of pressure, set-backs or when dealing with provocative situations. Can demonstrate an approach to work that is characterised by commitment, motivation and energy.
Closing date for applications: 5pm on Sunday 26 August 2018.