Broadcast Mentor, Kenya

[Admin]

Country: Kenya

Organization: BBC Media Action

Closing date: 22 Dec 2020

BBC Media Action

BBC Media Action is the BBC’s international development charity. BBC Media Action uses media and communications to reduce poverty and promote human rights in developing countries. Our aim is to inform, connect, and empower people around the world. We work in partnership to provide access to useful, timely, reliable information. We help people make sense of events, engage in dialogue, and take action to improve their lives. Audiences are at the heart of all we do. Our audiences include the journalists and others we train, as well as listeners and viewers. Our work is built on insights from our research and engagement with communities.

Job Purpose

BBC Media Action will be implementing a climate change project*.* The purpose of this project is to strengthen the capacity of media professionals and technical experts to respond to the climate and weather information needs of audiences living around the Lake Victoria shores. There is a particular focus on helping the journalists to report on plastic pollution and the circular economy. Through this project, we aim to provide weather and climate information that is practical, relevant, trusted and timely.

The Broadcast Mentor will be responsible for managing all aspects of the project’s production and media capacity building activities, ensuring that they meet the objectives of the project. S/he will play a critical role in building the capacity of three media partners by ensuring skills are developed in radio programming and organisational capacity. S/he will design, deliver and monitor training and mentoring plans; and build close working relationships with the media partners, journalism networks and technical weather and climate experts, maintaining and championing BBC values and editorial policy in all aspects of the job.

The Broadcast Mentor will be based in Nairobi but will travel frequently within Kenya and to Uganda and Tanzania. S/he will be part of BBC Media Action’s global team, with opportunities to share knowledge and develop skills.

Main Duties

Management

1. Take overall responsibility for the media capacity building and production of the project, defining direction, strategy and activities.

2. Take the lead in building and maintaining effective relationships with the project media partners to ensure that partners and networks are aware of the project goals and that the project’s capacity building and production is having the desired impact.

3. Ensure that any challenges or problems faced during implementation are channelled upwards, in the first instance to the Project Director.

Implementation

1. Design and deliver the capacity building plan for the project, including identifying training needs for partners, developing training modules.

2. Support media partners to develop appropriate, relevant, and creative plans for radio content. This includes setting up editorial processes where necessary, contributing ideas to the programme teams, and reviewing and providing feedback on radio programmes.

3. Ensure that mentoring and production strategy and activities are systematically captured for use when reporting internally and externally on the project.

4. Work closely with BBC Media Action’s Research team to design research activities that reflect and support the capacity building work and ensure that research findings are used to refine and improve the project’s production outputs and capacity building work.

5. Monitor and manage project risks and ensure the mentoring team is adhering to BBC health and safety standards.

6. Oversee and support the management of expenditure on all capacity building and production activities.

7. Oversee and support narrative and financial reporting on all capacity building and production activities.

8. Oversee and support other logistical and administrative activities, including workplans, monitoring systems, and coordination with other teams.

9. Work in close collaboration with relevant departments in the London Team as required (Editorial Development, Africa Regional team etc.).

10. Assist in recruiting specialist trainers/consultants as required.

External relations

1. To regularly present progress to project management and production teams and to assist in project presentations to partners and donors where required.

2. To represent BBC Media Action and liaise with the donors and other relevant stakeholders as required.

Safeguarding

1. Ensure that all production activities are designed with safeguarding in mind, and that production risk assessments reflect this.

2. Ensure that relevant consent forms are in place.

3. Ensure that all recruitment of production staff and freelancers complies with relevant safeguarding standards.

4. Ensure that all production staff and freelancers undergo relevant training in safeguarding and respect at work and have a briefing on the code of conduct before working with vulnerable groups.

5. Report any safeguarding concerns immediately, either to the Country Director, or using the Whistleblowing Policy.

Essential Knowledge, skills, and experience

· At least five years’ experience as a media professional, either in production or management.

· At least two years’ experience in designing and delivering training and/or mentoring to journalists in Kenya (or elsewhere in Africa).

· Strong editorial judgement, knowledge of BBC editorial guidelines and substantial radio production experience essential, including production of audience participation formats.

· Ability to design, plan, implement, monitor and adjust work based on the project’s strategy and objectives.

· Ability to conduct work with minimal supervision and good time management skills, with a track record of delivering results to deadline and to a high standard of quality.

· Strong presentation skills, communicating complex technical ideas using non-technical language to a wide range of audiences from journalists, production staff, researchers, donors and development practitioners.

· Excellent interpersonal and communication skills in English.

· Strong IT skills, including MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

· Willingness and ability to travel within Kenya and to Tanzania and Uganda frequently.

Desirable knowledge, skills, and experience

· Higher education in a relevant field, such as journalism, development studies, development communications, project/business management etc.

· Strong understanding of and commitment to issues of governance, transparency, accountability, financial sustainability and participation.

· Demonstrable interest in the potential of the media to achieve development goals.

· Experience of working in the field of media development, or communications for development.

• Knowledge of local languages an advantage.

Relevant competencies

· Analytical thinking: Ability to simplify complex problems, processes or projects into component parts, and to explore and evaluate them systematically. **

· Decision making: Ability to take the initiative, originate action and be responsible for the consequences of the decision made.**

· Planning and organization: Ability to think ahead in order to establish an efficient and appropriate course of action for self and others. Prioritizes and plans activities taking into account all the relevant issues and factors such as deadlines, staffing and resource requirements.**

· Developing others: 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.

· 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, as opposed to working separately or competitively.

· Resilience: Ability to maintain personal effectiveness by managing own emotions in the face of pressure, setbacks or when dealing with provocative situations. **

· Influencing and persuading: Ability to present sound and well-reasoned arguments to convince others.**

· Professional ethics: Ability to exercise sensitivity and moral judgment with conscience in all activities. Should be objective, independent and free of conflicts of interest.

How to apply:

Send cover letter and CV Purity.Wambui@Ke.bbcmediaaction.org by 5pm EAT on 22nd December 2020.

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