JOB DESCRIPTION
JOB TITLE: Head of Programmes, Ethiopia
LOCATION: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
REPORTS TO: Country Director
DURATION: 2 years (with possible extension)
CONTRACT: Local terms and conditions. Only eligible for Ethiopian nationals or those legally able to work in Ethiopia
BBC Media Action
BBC Media Action uses media and communications to reduce poverty and promote human rights in developing countries. To achieve this, the BBC Media Action partners with civil society, local media and governments to:
Manage creative projects in multi-media formats, based on robust research, which inform and engage audiences around key development issues.
Manage relationships with partners in line project objectives
Strengthen the media sector through building professional capacity and infrastructure.
BBC Media Action delivers a portfolio of media projects in Ethiopia. It seeks to expand this portfolio of work, but also ensure that existing projects are delivered to time, budget and the highest standards, and in accordance with BBC editorial values as well as Media Action methodologies.
Overall Purpose of Job
The Head of Programmes will be responsible for the overall management and delivery of a range of media projects. The Head of Programmes will ensure the agreed targets and objectives of country projects are met while ensuring the quality and cohesion of project outputs. This will include managing the Outreach Manager and the Senior Research Officer.
The Head of Programmes will be responsible for overseeing financial management of projects and in conjunction with Head of Production reporting on editorial and operational progress to the Country Director, liaising with the relevant teams in the London headquarters and with donors. Upon request of the Country Director the Head of Programmes will represent BBC Media Action in country to key stakeholders and will ensure effective relationships and partnerships with a wide range of partners including broadcasters, NGOs, INGOs, government, international development agencies and others.
The Head of Programmes will support the Country Director with business development with the aim of expanding the current health and resilience portfolio of work.
Main Duties:
Programme Management
Reporting to the Country Director, to take responsibility for overseeing the planning and implementation of country projects and activities.
To ensure that the design and implementation of project activities adheres to work-plan and log-frame commitments, and in conjunction with Head of Production ensure this remains in line with BBC editorial standards and values and best practice.
To negotiate and mediate if conflicting views or priorities arise within the project, working through these to lead project teams effectively.
To identify and liaise with broadcast partners, including negotiating partnership agreements, coordinating capacity building, securing slots and ensuring their timely delivery
To provide guidance and support the Research team to ensure that design and coordination of monitoring and evaluation meets project goals and objectives
To organise and conduct regular project review meetings, drawing on findings from monitoring and research reports, and adjusting project delivery as necessary upon approval.
To set up robust systems to review project outputs and ensure quality.
To manage project budgets and ensure the delivery of the outputs is in accordance with that budget and in line with Media Action’s financial procedures and the funder’s operating guidelines.
To lead the reporting of progress, both internally to the BBC and externally to partners, the donor, and other interested parties.
Participate actively in the Media Action’s country senior management team.
Strategic Partnerships and Business Development
To develop good working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders including the BBC World Service and local broadcasters.
To develop good working relationships with relevant government ministries (health, agriculture, environment, women and children) media partners, INGOs etc. and ensure these relationships are managed effectively.
To support business development activities as required. This will involve working with the Country Director and local staff to pursue appropriate funding opportunities in country, as well as working as part of a global team responding to international and sub-regional funding opportunities. This will include taking the lead in writing concept notes/proposals, drawing on expertise within the country and London teams.
Staff Management
To manage and support the Outreach Manager and Senior Research Officer to meet agreed objectives, and to mentor and develop their skills as required.
To work closely with the Head of Production to ensure that production outputs meet project goals and objectives and timelines.
To work with the senior management team in Addis Ababa and Project Manager in London to identify training priorities linked to the needs of staff, including greater development of in-house capacity, and ensure that training meets Media Action’s high standards.
Required skills, knowledge and experience:
• Experience of senior project management, in Ethiopia, with demonstrated capacity to manage large-scale projects effectively.
• Fluency in English and Amharic.
• Excellent networking skills at a senior level in Government and INGO sectors.
• Excellent report writing skills.
• A sound understanding of monitoring and evaluation.
• Experience of mentoring and capacity building within teams essential.
• A proven track-record in international development.
• Experience in the use of media to achieve development goals is an advantage.
• Keen interest in media both as a consumer and as a development tool essential.
• Experience of managing teams of local and international staff, preferably within a developing country context, at a level which demonstrates experience in developing and leading on systems and processes.
• Strong financial management skills, with proven experience managing large budgets, including accurate and timely reporting to donors.
• Awareness of the BBC's editorial values and an understanding of how they work in media development projects.
• The potential to acquire strong media editorial leadership skills in order to make sensitive editorial judgments at a senior level.
• Ability to work on own initiative and organise time effectively within a range of often conflicting deadlines.
• Capacity to juggle competing priorities and a busy programme of work while working to an agreed strategy.
• The ability to forge strong working relations quickly and gain the trust of media partners, INGOs, NGOs and senior figures in the media sector.
• Previous experience of all aspects of writing successful proposals, including project research and development, log frames, budgets, etc
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
Key competencies
The following competencies (behaviours and characteristics) have been identified as key to success in the job. Successful candidates are expected to demonstrate these competencies.
• Managing relationships and team work: able to build and maintain effective working relationships with a range of people. Works co-operatively with others to be part of a team, as opposed to working separately or competitively. Values individual's differences and demonstrates a commitment to knowledge sharing and informal learning, for the benefit of the team.
• Strategic thinking: Able to identify a vision and create plans for implementation of that vision to meet the end goal. Evaluates situations, decisions, and issues in the short, medium and long-term
• Leadership: Ability to inspire those working for you and able to develop capacity of junior staff.
• 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.
• Planning and Organisation: Able to think ahead in order to establish an efficient and appropriate course of action for self and others; planning of 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.
• Decision Making: Able to take the initiative, originate action and be responsible for the consequences of the decision made.
• Communication: Excellent written and spoken communication skills for presenting our work and report/proposal writing.
• Taking initiative: seeing where activities, polices or systems could be improved and taking action to improve them.
• Imagination and creative thinking: able to understand our approach and come up with new ideas for ways of working
Candidates should write a covering letter, explaining why they are the right person for the job. The letter should be sent, with C.V attached to the following email address:
ethiopia@bbcmediaaction.org (The job title should be in the subject field of your email).
Deadline for applications: 8th of May 2014.
The BBC is an equal opportunity employer.
