Senior Project Manager (Nigeria), BBC Media Action at BBC

Job Reference: BBC/TP/788768/57126
Contract Type: Fixed Term Full Time
Job Category: Project Management
Business Unit: News - Media Action

Job Summary

• The BBC Media Action office in Nigeria is looking for a Senior Projects Manager to provide overall leadership of the management and delivery of our donor funded projects.
• Reporting to the Country Director, Nigeria, the Senior Projects Manager will be responsible for ensuring that our projectsare delivered on time, on budget and to high quality.
• The role requires a high degree of personal resilience and a flexible approach to implementing development projects in a challenging, resource-poor, multi-cultural context.
• The Nigeria office has a talented team of staff, and is a supportive and inspiring environment in which to work.

Context

• BBC Media Action is the BBC’s international development charity, which uses media and communications to help reduce poverty, address development goals, and support people to understand their rights.
• We do this through partnering with media, civil society and others to produce creative programmes and other outputs which inform and engage audiences on key development issues.
• We also strengthen the media sector through building professional capacity and infrastructure of local media organisations in the countries in which we work.
• BBC Media Action delivers a portfolio of projects in Nigeria. It seeks to expand this portfolio of work, but also to ensure that existing projects are delivered on time, on budget, to the highest standards and in accordance with BBC editorial values as well as Media Action methodologies.

Overall Purpose of Job

• This exciting and influential role will be responsible for the overall management and delivery of a range of development projects which use the power of media to tackle issues ofgovernance, health and resilience.
• The Senior Project Manager will oversee a diverse, multidisciplinary team to ensure the agreed targets and objectives are met; and will ensure the quality and cohesion of project outputs.
• Maintaining relationships with donors and ensuring accurate and timely financial and narrative donor reporting will be a key part of the role, as will identifying further funding opportunities related to meeting development priorities in Nigeria and taking the lead on writing successful proposals.
• The Senior Projects Manager will be responsible for overseeing the overall delivery and budget management of projects, and for reporting on progress to the Country Director, partners and donors.
• Upon request of the Country Director, the Senior Project Manager will represent Media Action in country to key stakeholders and will ensure effective relationships and partnerships with a wide range of partners including broadcasters, NGOs, international development agencies and others.
• BBC Media Action works to ensure that everyone we work with remains safe during their time with us. The Senior Projects Manager will support the Country Director in ensuring that safeguarding is factored into project design and budgeting, staff and freelancers receive relevant safeguarding training, and relevant safeguarding due diligence is conducted with any local partner organisations that may be working with vulnerable adults or children as part of our projects.
• The role reports to the Country Director Nigeria and will work closely with other members of the Senior Management Team.

Main Duties

• Reporting to the Country Director, take responsibility for overseeing the planning and implementation of country projects and activities.
• 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.
• Manage a diverse project management team, supporting them to build their capacity and develop their skills such that they are able to both make an effective contribution to planned activities and ensure successful implementation.
• Ensure the design and implementation of project activities adhere to workplan and logframe commitments and remain in line with BBC editorial standards and values and BBC Media Action’s best practice.
• The Senior Projects Manager will support the development of media content insofar as ensuring it links to the project ‘theory of change’ and intended development outcomes.
• Lead in the development of relevant project management tools that support the effective design and implementation of project activities, to include but not limited to theory of change, logframe/results framework and workplans.
• Work collaboratively with other members of the Senior Management Team and staff in a leading role to develop/provide oversight to knowledge management systems and processes that help to collect, organize, store and share BBC Media Action Nigeria’s information/knowledge assets in a manner that such can be readily available, accessible and effectively used for the benefit of the organization.
• Safeguarding responsibility for staff, volunteers, partners, and contributors. The role has responsibility for ensuring that all project activities comply with BBC Media Action and donor standards around safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults. The role requires detailed knowledge and expertise of safeguarding policy and best practice.
• Support the CD and other SMT members in the delivery of relevant safeguarding training to all staff, freelancers and (sub)contractors contracted directly by the office.
• Ensure that relevant safeguarding due diligence is conducted with any local partner organisations that may be working with vulnerable adults or children as part of the projects.  Where any risks are identified, ensure that projects are designed to mitigate these risks.
• Lead the reporting process, both internally to BBC Media Action and externally to partners, donor(s), and other interested parties.
• Work closely with the Research teamin the design and coordination of monitoring and evaluation activities and regular review and feedback sessions, and adjust project delivery as necessary based on research and feedback findings.
• Develop good working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders including donors, local broadcasters, relevant NGOs and CSOs, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Lead in the development of specific new business development activities; such as seeking opportunities through networking, leading the development and writing of new proposals, or working as part of a global team responding to international and sub-regional funding opportunities.
• Work with the other BBC Media Action staff in Nigeria and elsewhere to identify trainingpriorities linked to the needs of staff, including greater development of in-house capacity, and to ensure that training meets BBC Media Action’s high standards.
• Serve as a member of the Senior Management Team in Nigeria, with the ability to support the Country Director and deputise as Acting Country Director as needed.

Requirements
Essential Skills and Experience:

• Considerable experience developing and managing large-scale, donor-funded projects in a developing-country context, preferably in Africa.
• Proven ability to develop and secure new donor-funded international development projects, including ability to develop new business ideas and present these persuasively to potential partners and funders. Proven experience writing successful donor-funded proposals that incorporate project research and development, logframes, budgets, etc.
• Strong financial management skills, with proven experience managing complex medium to large budgets for donor-funded international development projects and knowledge of the reporting requirements of donors.
• Experience managing teams, preferably within a developing-country context, and developing and improving internal management systems and processes.
• Proven ability to forge strong working relations quickly and gain the trust of local partners and counterparts (such as other NGOs, local media, donors and other stakeholders).
• Demonstrable editorial judgement skills and understanding of BBC editorial values, or demonstrable potential to acquire strong editorial skills in order to help make sensitive editorial judgements at a senior level.
• Confident public speaker with experience of presentations to colleagues, donors and stakeholders.
• Good judgment and decision-making skills, including the ability to adapt, react and respond to crises, and to evaluate risk.
• Experience working on own initiative and organising time effectively within a range of often conflicting deadlines and demands.
• Excellent written and spoken English.

Desirable skills and experience:

• Experience working in one or more of BBC Media Action’s key thematic areas in Nigeria: governance (particularlysocial / political inclusion and accountability), health (e.g. maternal and child health, sexual and reproductive health including family planning, epidemic/pandemic response), childhood education, media ecosystems / media freedom, security and justice, and/or disability inclusion.
• Experience of working in both the media/communications and development sectors.
• Experience in managing a portfolio of multiple, simultaneous complex projects.
• Knowledge of the Nigerian or West African development context.
• Experience mainstreaming disability inclusion into projects or managing projectsfocused on disability inclusion.

Key Competencies:

• Managing relationships and teamwork: 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 others to realize an identified vision.
• 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.
• Change Management: Able to understand and anticipate the need for change and to build frameworks for planning and managing the continuous process of change.
• Planning and Organization: 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 characterized by commitment, motivation and energy.
• Decision Making: Able to take the initiative, originate action and be responsible for the consequences of the decision made.

Safeguarding Commitment:

• BBC Media Action has zero tolerance of all forms of abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people.
• All staff are required to undergo safeguarding training and maintain behaviour that is consistent with BBC Media Action’s code of conduct.
• The role involves managing staff who havedirect contact with children and adults at risk of harm. 
• The role is based in a country where poverty, police corruption and criminal impunity may be significant risk factors. Informal contact with children and vulnerable adults is likely to be frequent, including when not at work.
• The successful candidate will need to undergo enhanced DBS and/or related background checks.