Research Manager, Risk Communication for Early Action (RiCA), Barbados (consultant/freelance)

Job Title: Research Manager, RiCA – Barbados (consultant/freelance)
Location base: Barbados (Right to work in Barbados required)
Contract: Consultant / freelance contract for 3-3.5 months (mid-March 2024 to 30 June 2024).

BBC Media Action
BBC Media Action is the BBC’s international development organisation. We believe in media and communication for good. We work in over 20 countries around the world reaching more than 100 million people a year – helping to save lives and improve health, protect livelihoods, challenge inequality and build more peaceful and democratic societies. Our work, in partnership with local organisations, strives to ensure people have better access to accurate, credible and balanced information they can use to make decisions. We believe that media and the creative industries are critical for engaging people on disaster risk, increasing knowledge, amplifying voices (especially the most vulnerable), motivating action among individuals, groups and institutions across society, and holding decision-makers to account.

Risk Communication for Early Action (RiCA)
The Risk Communication for Early Action (RiCA) project is running from now until June 2024. This project aims to increase stakeholders’ ability to communicate effectively about risk for Early Warning and Early Action through supporting the development of global tools and supporting stakeholders in target countries. The stakeholders for this project are those that contribute to inclusive, responsive and accountable early warning systems including National and sub-national governments and related departments; Technical experts; Media and communication professionals and Local community actors / Civil society representatives.

Job Description
Please see below for a full job description. Applicants must have the right to work in
Barbados and the successful applicant will be engaged on a consultant/freelance basis.
Research Manager, RiCA – Barbados (consultant/freelance)
Organisation structure
The Research Manager, Barbados (consultant/freelance) reports into the Senior Research Manager,
Global (based in London). The role will liaise regularly with the Project Director.
Role responsibilities and accountabilities
BBC Media Action requires an experienced Research Manager to oversee research activities under
the Risk Communication for Action (RiCA) project in Barbados, running from now until June 2024.
The Research Manager is responsible for managing and overseeing the research in Barbados,
ensuring that research activities are conducted effectively and to a high standard. The position
requires working collaboratively with the Project Lead – Barbados, London-based project director,
senior research manager for RiCA and other staff on the project to ensure smooth project
operation.
The position is based in Bridgetown and will involve some travel within Barbados.

Context
BBC Media Action uses media and communication to reach millions of people through creative
communication and trusted media, helping people have their say, understand their rights,
responsibilities and each other, and take action to transform their own lives. We work across a
range of thematic areas including health, governance and rights, resilience and humanitarian
response and we partner with civil society, local media and governments to deliver our work.
BBC Media Action is running the Risk Communication for Action (RiCA) project – in multiple
countries, including Barbados, Somalia, and Cambodia. We seek an a Research Manager to deliver
the research activities in Barbados.
The aim of the project is to increase the capacity of target stakeholders to communicate about
risk for Early Warning and Early Action. Target stakeholders include the key actors necessary to
create inclusive, responsive, and accountable early warning systems: (1) National and subnational
governments and related departments; (2) Media and communication professionals; (3)
Technical experts; (4) Local community actors / Civil society representatives.
Main Duties
The Research Manager will be responsible for delivering work in the following areas:
• Key informant interviews – conduct (and/or support project leads to conduct) key informant
interviews with key stakeholders for this project, including donors, NGOs, government
officials, media professionals, technical experts, and community actors. Support the reporting
and communication of findings that will feed into the project design.
• Understanding the media and communication landscape – This role involves talking to key
stakeholders and being across the data that is available to advise on what type of research is
required to understand the media landscape fully.
o This could include an initial desk review to understand what data is currently available
on the media landscape with a focus on disaster risk communication and hard to reach
populations (including in rural areas).
o It may be followed by additional research and this position would be responsible for working out how to conduct it (e.g. through procuring an agency or freelancers, conducting research themselves, or adding questions to existing surveys). In all cases the researcher would work with the Senior Research Manager in London to design, implement, quality assure, analyse and report.
• Training Workshops with key stakeholders – Work with the Project Director and the Project Lead, Barbados, to support the delivery and facilitation of the training workshops for key stakeholders.
• Handbook – contribute to the development of a handbook on how to design a risk communication strategy, by supporting the Senior Research Manager, RiCA to write about the role research plays in risk communication.
• Project Learning & Evaluation – lead and implement a small study to measure the impact of this project in Barbados. This could include conducting pre and post interviews with stakeholders who attended the training workshops and writing a short report.
Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience
• Excellent qualitative and quantitative knowledge, skills and experience, with demonstrable experience of designing research tools, conducting the research, data analysis and reporting.
• Ability to conduct a literature review on the media landscape with a focus on disaster risk communication and hard to reach populations – and critically evaluate ideas and information. Be aware of digital research and experience of working with media landscape data.
• Experience in commissioning and managing a research agency or freelancers and conducting quality assurance during fieldwork.
• The ability to work proactively and flexibly in terms of suggesting how to generate media data, including talking to stakeholders, and looking for opportunities to gather media information.
• Research Management skills, experience managing research, working with multiple stakeholders, managing timelines, assuring quality and ensuring that the research generates insights tailored to key stakeholder needs.
• Excellent communication and collaborative skills to network effectively at different levels including senior global stakeholders for this project (government officials, media professionals, technical experts, and community actors).
• Excellent spoken and written English language skills
• Organisational skills, attention to detail, with the ability to deliver work on time, to budget and to high quality.
• Right to live and work in Barbados.
Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience
• Strong understanding of the role that media and communication can play in disaster risk management, and early warning, early action.
• Knowledge and experience of planning, producing and support with facilitating training workshops for diverse groups of participants.
• Ability to travel and work outside of Bridgetown, with potential overnight stays – if relevant.