The Research Officer holds day to day responsibility for research elements within delegated project(s). S/he carries out research, prepares reports and delivers presentations in line with project requirements. S/he supports the Research Manager (RM) as required.
Location: Tunis, Tunisia
Reports to: Research Manager
Contract duration: To March 31st 2018 (with possibility to extend subject to funding)
To apply:
You should send your CV / resume and a cover letter in English which outlines your experience and suitability for the role (PDF or MS Word format) to
recruitment@tn.bbcmediaaction.org with the title of the position in the subject line by 27 May 2017.
Please do not send certificates or other attachments. Applicants without a cover letter will not be considered. Please only apply if you meet the basic criteria under the person specification. National terms and conditions will apply. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
BBC Media Action in North Africa
Since the end of 2011, BBC Media Action has been working in Tunisia, Algeria and Libya to support better public service programming in the media, particularly the public and independent media. It pays great attention to serving all audiences with a content that helps them understand the challenges they face and engage in processes that affect their daily lives.
A particular focus of these past years has been the youth audiences in all the countries we work in and specifically in the North Africa region. A significant share of our work focuses on capacity building and mentoring young media practitioners, in their workplace or in the training facilities BBC Media Action has developed in Tunis. Another key aspect of work includes production outputs filmed with live studio audiences. These productions require excellent coordination between the production and project teams and audience members.
Our aim is to inform, connect and empower people around the world and our work is built on insights from our research and engagement with communities. For this reason, we seek to recruit a Research Officer to support this process.
Main Duties:
- Support the RM in the design and planning of both quantitative and qualitative research, including designing research tools and documents;
- Fieldwork coordination and logistics planning, including carrying out recruitment of research participants;
- Moderate Focus Group Discussions and conduct in-depth interviews as well as other qualitative methods;
- Data processing & analysis: In particular, undertake quantitative data analysis including cleaning and manipulating of large data sets in Excel, STATA or SPSS;
- Carry out statistical techniques including regression and factor analysis using STATA or SPSS;
- Undertake quantitative and qualitative data analysis, ensuring that the interpretation supports programme/project design;
- With support from the RM, write research reports, presentations and other dissemination products in a range of formats to fulfill the requirements of media creative and production teams, donors and the media for development communities. Presentation of research reports to internal project team and external partners;
- Support commissioning of agencies for qualitative and quantitative research including negotiations on technical issues such as sampling and recruitment, analysis, field supervision, instrument development and administration and data analysis;
- Engage proactively and collaboratively with non-research staff in country offices and in London to support the development and use of research in the production of BBC Media Action’s creative outputs;
- Support, train and mentor local researchers and/or individuals working with partner organizations to develop their research skills;
- Support development of new business by writing research contributions to project and programme proposals, working with the North Africa projects team as well as colleagues in the UK.
Required knowledge, skills and experience:
- At least five years experience in a similar role and with thematic specialisation in an area relevant to BBC Media Action’s work;
- Relevant higher education in the social sciences, preferably in development studies, project/ business management, mass-communication or other relevant educational background;
- Strong quantitative research skills, including instrument design;
- Strong data management and analysis skills and experience in working with large data sets, including cleaning, manipulating them;
- Practical experience in running, interpreting and reporting bivariate and multivariate analyses;
- Strong STATA and/or SPSS skills including using syntax. Experience using additional data analysis software such as Atlas.ti would be desirable;
- Working experience in designing and implementing qualitative research;
- Strong IT skills, including Excel, PowerPoint;
- Experience of working in cross-cultural or multi-lingual circumstances;
- Strong report writing and presentation skills, communicating in non-technical language to a range of audiences such as media and development practitioners;
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to engage appropriately with researchers and other NGO staff;
- Track record of delivering research findings on time and to a high standard;
- Ability to plan and conduct work with minimal supervision;
- Fluency in local languages (Arabic and French). Strong English language skills are also required.
- Ability to operate effectively in a difficult and highly politically sensitive environment;
- Willingness to travel within the region as required;
- Commitment to the aims and objectives of BBC Media Action.
Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
- Familiarity with international development issues relating to media, health, governance or resilience;
- Understanding of the role of media and communications in development;
- Experience in undertaking social research.
Relevant Competencies:
- Analytical Thinking. Is 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. Is 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. 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;
- 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.
