EXTERNAL JOB POSTING

Senior Research Officer, Research and Learning

BBC World Service Trust

Job Title: Senior Research Officer

Duty Station: Vietnam. To be confirmed.

Reports To: London research team

Duration: 1 year (Contingent on completion of three-month provisional period)

Joining Date: As soon as possible

CONTEXT

The BBC World Service Trust is the BBC’s international development arm, which uses media to advance development worldwide. As part of one of the world’s leading media organisations, the Trust is committed to improving the quality of people’s lives in developing and transitional countries through the innovative use of media.

Extensive research is undertaken at all stages of the project by the Research & Learning (R&L) Group. The R&L Group focuses on four key activities:

(1) Providing Trust projects with audience and market insights to guide project strategies;

(2) Conducting qualitative and quantitative research studies to capture the impact of all Trust media interventions;

(3) Building capacity in audience research skills and methodology on projects in country, and

(4) Documenting and disseminating the learning from the Trust’s projects internally and to the wider development community.

The Trust is seeking a Senior Research Officer in Vietnam to work on a 7-country project relating to public understandings of environmental issues in Asia. The Senior Research Officer will be an experienced quantitative and qualitative researcher. He/she needs to have excellent data analysis skills and experience moderating focus groups and conducting depth interviews. He/she should have strong report-writing and presenting skills. Any experience of undertaking audience research to inform communications on the environment and related issues is highly desirable. The candidate will have strong written and spoken Vietnamese and English.

At the BBC we respect each other and celebrate our diversity so that everyone gives their best. The BBC positively encourages applications from all parts of the community and is committed to promoting equality of opportunity.


Duties:

· Management: Work with Research Manager(s) to develop detailed timelines for in-country research. Manage individual workload and ensure timely delivery of work.

· Research: Be involved in adapting project research design for Vietnam, preparing and circulating requests for proposals (where appropriate), evaluating proposals, finalising and commissioning research, organising and supervising freelance staff in consultation with line manager.

· Methodology Design: Work with Research Managers based in London to design, draft and translate research instruments for Vietnamese context. Adapt cross-country research design for Vietnam work, including sampling, recruitment and logistics. Review research instruments (questionnaires, discussion guides) prepared by agencies.

· Liaison with Agencies/Fieldwork teams: Brief fieldwork teams and supervise the pretesting/piloting/recruitment of the research instruments, as needed. Monitor and control the quality of fieldwork/data collection, ensure timeliness of project delivery.

· Conducting fieldwork: Moderate focus groups and conduct depth interviews. Explore ways to improve data collection feeding into research design, moderation and analysis of data.

· Analysis and reporting: Analyse qualitative and quantitative data, draw out key findings and work with colleagues in other countries to compare data and produce project reports.

· Presenting Findings: Assist in the dissemination of key findings and strategic recommendations to end users of the research in Vietnam.

· Training - Travel to Delhi, India to participate in a regional training workshop. Participate in other Research and Learning workshops, and represent the Trust in knowledge-sharing workshops related to project activities and delivered by project partners. .

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

· A minimum bachelor degree in social sciences, statistics/applied statistics or another relevant discipline.

· At least 2-3 years professional experience in qualitative and/or quantitative market or social research in a development or research organization.

· Experience using qualitative/interview research methodologies.

· Strong IT skills, including Excel, Powerpoint and Word.

· Experience with statistical software packages such as SPSS. SPSS data analysis skills (including multivariate and segmentation techniques) would be an asset.

· Experience in/knowledge of research project management in Vietnam.

· Strong written and spoken Vietnamese and English.

· Excellent report-writing and presentation skills, communicating complex technical ideas using non-technical language to a wide range of audiences including journalists, production staff and development practitioners.

· Ability to plan and conduct work with minimal supervision.

· Good time-management skills, with a track record of delivering research findings to deadline.

· Demonstrable understanding of cultural diversity and cross-cultural research within Vietnam.

· Excellent interpersonal and diplomatic skills: ability to communicate and conduct business at all levels from grassroots to the highest levels of governments and media.

· Ability to travel to other areas of the country, including at weekends.

DESIRABLE SKILLS

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· Previous experience in audience media research

· Knowledge of environmental issues

· Previous research experience working with NGOs, including conducting rural participatory appraisals

Applications: Interested applicants should send a one page cover letter detailing why they are suitable for the job and CV to Sonia Whitehead, Research Manager at . The deadline for receiving applications is October 17th 2011.

The BBC is an equal opportunities employer.