Senior Partnerships Manager at BBC Media Action

Salary: The successful applicant will be employed and based in their home country, with salary set according to BBC Media Action’s local pay scales in that country 
Contract type: 24 Fixed Term Contract - Extension Possible
Location: The role will be based in one of BBC Media Action’s offices in Africa, Asia or the UK. Current BBC Media Action offices are in the following cities, and the role could be based in any of these, subject to the prevailing security situation at the time of appointment: Abuja, Addis Ababa, Dar Es Salaam, Delhi, Dhaka, Freetown, Hargeisa, Jakarta, Juba, Kabul, Kathmandu, London, Lusaka, Nairobi, Phnom Penh, Tunis, Yangon. Applications are welcome from anyone with the existing right to work in any of those countries

We’re happy to discuss flexible working. Please indicate your choice under the flexible working question in the application. There is no obligation to raise this at the application stage but if you wish to do so, you are welcome to. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.
 

If you need to discuss adjustments or access requirements for the interview process please contact the [email protected].  For any general queries, please contact: [email protected].

This role may involve working with groups of vulnerable children, youth, and adults. For the successful candidate, mandatory training will be provided on BBC Media Action’s safeguarding policy and staff code of conduct. BBC Media Action operates a zero-tolerance policy concerning all forms of abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people. A police background check may form part of the recruitment process

BBC Media Action

We are the BBC’s international charity. We use media and communication to help deliver stronger democracies, a safer, more habitable planet and inclusive societies. We bring together a unique blend of journalistic, creative, research and international development expertise; deep local knowledge of our audiences in the places we work; our strong networks of local partners; and our invaluable link to the BBC and everything it stands for.

We support the BBC’s determination to pursue truth with no agenda, and to bring people together. We champion impartiality, creativity, and diverse representation in some of the most vulnerable international media and information landscapes. While we benefit from strong partnerships with the BBC, we rely on the generous support of donors to continue our vital work. 
With our partners, we reach more than 100 million people in need around the world, in more than 30 countries and 50 languages!  

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Partnerships Manager. This role sits within the Central Business Development Team. The post holder will report to the Head of Global Partnerships and be part of a small team focused on large-scale and/or strategically important new business opportunities across the organisation.
 

Please note this role will be mapped to the CPF role title: Senior Project Manager

Job Introduction

The Central Business Development Team performs multiple functions to drive business development efforts at BBC Media Action. It cultivates and nurtures central relationships with key institutional funders and partners; leads the development of multi-regional and global funding applications and bids including frameworks and strategic opportunities; provides targeted support to country-specific business development efforts; and furnishes the organisation with donor intelligence, tools and resources to support country teams to conduct business development.

This role is aimed at increasing creative capacity to develop and secure projects, in addition to managing external relationships with a diverse range of donors. The post holder will lead and manage key donor relationships as well as building relationships with other partners and stakeholders, representing BBC Media Action externally. This includes strategy development and profile-raising with the aim of increasing the organisation’s reputation for delivering development projects with impact and at scale. The post holder will work closely with Regional Directors and Country Directors, who remain responsible for the delivery of individual projects within their region as well as other teams e.g. advisory and research. The post holder will be expected to drive innovation, including the adaptation and introduction of successful media formats and platforms in new territories, to reach new audiences.

Main Responsibilities

• Cultivate and nurture relationships with institutional funders (bilateral government donors, multilateral agencies and private foundations), development partners and other stakeholders. Leading particular priority funder/partner relationships with an account management approach.
• Proactively identify and contribute ideas to develop new business development opportunities and partnerships, particularly within the media development sector. 
• Work with colleagues in the Central Business Development Team and wider teams (e.g. programmes, advisory, digital and research) to pursue and win global, regional and country specific opportunities, including frameworks and consortium bids. This includes leading the development of grant proposals and contract bids that are well designed, realistically budgeted, creative, editorially compelling, in line with BBC Media Action methodologies and approaches and cognisant of donor compliance requirements. 
• Provide targeted support to country-specific bid development as necessary across a range of contexts and regions including Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA); Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia.
• Contribute to business development-related processes, tools and resources, knowledge sharing and policy development across the organisation.
• Work with cross-disciplinary teams to raise the profile and visibility of BBC Media Action with external actors.
• Support regional and country teams by providing information on new business opportunities, along with organisational tools for others to use in business development.
   

Are you the right candidate?

• Proven ability to raise funds from institutional donors, including bilateral government donors (e.g. UK FCDO, USAID, European Commission) and private foundations. Experience with USAID and US contractors/INGOs highly desirable. 
• Proven track record of building and managing external relationships with international development donors and partners.
• Strong technical understanding of the communications for development sector, including media development and social and behaviour change communications (SBCC) - across our impact areas of stronger democracies; a safer, more habitable planet (include climate mitigation and adaptation); and inclusive societies.
• Proven track record in designing and successfully winning effective media development and SBCC programmes. Track record of this specifically in the climate sector highly desirable.
• Excellent and well-practiced communication (spoken, written, listening), interpersonal and influencing skills with the ability to bridge business and cultural differences.
• Significant experience coordinating colleagues to shared goals, operating under tight timescales and managing competing priorities.
   

About the BBC

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC for different reasons and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.

We don’t focus simply on what we do – we also care how we do it. Our values and the way we behave are important to us. Please make sure you’ve read about our values and behaviours here.

Diversity matters at the BBC. We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, enabling all of our employees to thrive and achieve their full potential.

We want to attract the broadest range of talented people to be part of the BBC – whether that’s to contribute to our programming or our wide range of non-production roles. The more diverse our workforce, the better able we are to respond to and reflect our audiences in all their diversity.

We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We will consider flexible working requests for all roles, unless operational requirements prevent otherwise.