Job purpose:

To lead the development and implementation of country strategy. Responsible for building and developing a team to develop and deliver projects to agreed targets and objectives, ensuring compliance with BBC editorial standards in all outputs.

Key responsibilities and accountabilities:

  • Provide dynamic, inspirational leadership and management to production, training, research and administrative teams.
  • Provide sound management and editorial leadership to the country team, ensuring all outputs adhere to the BBC editorial standards.
  • Manage and develop a diverse team, ensuring that staff are appropriately inducted, trained and developed, and performance is appropriately managed.
  • Represent and be accountable for the organisation and ensure its work in the country is relevant and appropriate.
  • Ensure all activities are delivered within agreed standards, timescales and budgets.
  • Develop and implement country strategy, including identifying future business development opportunities and writing new project proposals.
  • Lead the expansion of the organisation’s portfolio in the country, including identifying future business development opportunities and writing new project proposals.
  • Develop and manage effective relationships with funding agencies, stakeholders and partners, including development of new funding opportunities.
  • Report regularly to BBC headquarters on editorial, operational, legal and financial issues.
  • Oversee the registration of country office as a branch office or equivalent, making sure it complies with local law.
  • Oversee the establishment of a new office where required, including establishing systems and processes to ensure delivery and growth.
  • Ensure effective office management so that finance and administrative functions are carried out in line with BBC guidelines and local regulatory requirements.
  • Ensure the security, health and safety of staff are prioritised, that training and support are adequate and BBC security and safety procedures are adhered to.

Knowledge, skills, training and experience:

  • Considerable experience of working in the media or development sector, preferably both.
  • Substantial experience living and working overseas.
  • Demonstrable field-based knowledge of the development and/or media context in continent.
  • Substantial experience in the management of diverse teams of staff, including recruitment, management, discipline and professional development.
  • Proven ability to deliver complex projects to deadlines and within budget, with good record of donor liaison and reporting.
  • Significant budget management experience, demonstrating effective use of resources and responsibility for large budgets.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, including experience working with colleagues whose first language is not English.
  • A record of forming effective relationships with a range of local and international partners, including at the highest levels of government and media, managing effective teamwork between partners and stakeholders, including those with differing agendas.
  • Record of developing and securing international development or media projects, including the ability to develop new project ideas and present these persuasively to potential partners and funders, and write successful proposals.
  • Strong understanding of and commitment to international development, including the use of media for developmental goals.
  • Demonstrable understanding of, and preferably experience in, media with the potential to acquire strong editorial skills in order to make complex editorial judgements at a senior level.
  • Excellent written and spoken English.
  • Dynamism, proactivity, personal resilience and demonstrable ability to adapt to changing and uncertain circumstances.

Desirable:

  • Experience working in the relevant country or on projects related to the country.
  • Relevant language skills to the country.

Decision making:

  • Reports to Regional Director or equivalent
  • Identify a vision along with the plans which need to be implemented to meet the end goal. Evaluate situations, decisions, issues, etc, in the short, medium and longer-term.
  • Create a vision and inspire others.
  • Present sound and well-reasoned arguments to convince others, draw from a range of strategies to persuade internal and external stakeholders in a way that results in agreement or behaviour change.
  • Build and maintain effective working relationships with a range of people. Adopt a range of styles, tools and techniques appropriate to the audience and the nature of the information in order to get the message clearly understood.
  • Take initiative, originate action and be responsible for the consequences of the decisions made.
  • Think ahead in order to establish an effective and appropriate course of action for self and others. Prioritise and plan activities taking into account all the relevant issues and factors such as deadlines, staffing and resources requirements.

Scope:

  • Manage a budget and contribute to budget setting.
  • Recruit, manage and develop a team.
  • Lead on multiple projects.

This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved

This vacancy is archived.

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