Head of Drama at BBC Media Action

BBC Media Action is the international development charity of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), working in over 25 countries across the world. BBC Media Action works in partnership with local media agencies, civil society organisations, and governments to achieve long term development goals. We produce creative media content to inform and engage audiences, and strengthen the media sector by building professional skills and technical capacity.
BBC Media Action promotes development through three main thematic areas:

• Health
• Governance and rights
• Humanitarian and emergency preparedness

BBC Media Action, the international charity arm of the BBC, is seeking talented professionals with the right experience to join our Nigeria team in the position below:

Job Title: Head of Drama

Location: Abuja

Job Discretion

• The position is Abuja based but may involve travelling to the focal states in Nigeria. The projected start date is June 2015 with a probation period of 3 months. Initial contract is for 1 year with possibility of renewal subject to availability of project funding.
• At present, BBC Media Action in Nigeria addresses issues of health and governance through a number of different outputs, including drama programming on radio.
• We are looking to expand the reach of our drama Outputs using digital, mobile and TV platforms while strengthening our current radio productions.
• To help us do so, we are looking for a dynamic, creative and inspiring leader to play stead role as Head of Drama in our production department.

Job Purpose

• This is a senior role within the production department. The Head of Drama will use her/his strong enthusiasm for storytelling, extensive drama production experience, desire to build the skills and capacity of others and passion to positively impact lives to oversee our drama outputs.
• The Head of Drama will take overall lead of, and act as the creative sounding board for, all strand leaders in the Nigeria drama team to facilitate the development of culturally and socially relevant programmes with innovation, style and an approach which leads the industry.
• Building the creative skills of our staff to help them grow into creative leaders in their own right is a key responsibility of this job.

Duties
Main Duties will include, but not limited to the following:

• Take overall responsibility for the planning, production and delivery of our drama outputs, and to develop and maintain systems to ensure we produce high-quality work on time and to budget.
• Provide creative leadership for the drama production teams, from researching storylines, planning the overarching themes for each series and overseeing the scriptwriting process through recording, post.- production, final edit and delivery.
• Supervise, train and mentor the producers and assistant producers of each drama output to enable them to hone the creative skills that will allow them to deliver engaging, high quality programs that appeal to audiences and meet BBC Media Action project objectives.
• Working with the Production Manager and Head of Operations, ensure that resources (both human and material) are strategically allocated, scheduled, and shared between different teams to meet the demands of a busy production schedule.
• Working with the Executive Editor, help identify, recruit, and retain staff and freelancers to enable us to maintain a creative edge in the industry while continually refreshing our talent pool.
• Working with the Project Management team, ensure that our drama outputs meet overall project goals and objectives.
• Working with the Executive Editor and others, help lead the expansion of our drama outputs onto digital, mobile and TV platforms.
• Ensure drama outputs fully comply with BBC Editorial guidelines and values. Work with the Executive Editor to manage any editorial issues that may arise.
• Keep fully across programme budgets and spending to ensure they comply with our project donor requirements, and working with the appropriate Project Manager and the Production Manager on issues of budgets arid contracts.
• Explore collaborative opportunities with other parts of the BBC or other Nigerian media as appropriate.
• With the Executive Editor, ensure that BBC Health and Safety guidelines are observed on all drama productions, staff are trained and briefed to manage risk in a highly challenging environment, and support is provided to others to take appropriate measures to minimize exposure to perceived risks. Advise and support the Executive Editor to manage risk related to production on all the projects.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience
Essential:

• Substantial experience producing drama for radio, TV or other platforms.
• Highly advanced storytelling and other creative drama skills and instincts, including the demonstrated ability to originate new ideas and see them through production or completion.
• Demonstrated experience supporting the professional development of staff in creativity, editorial judgement, technical skills and decision-making.
• Experience of managing and co-ordinating drama production teams to deliver outputs, preferably experience co-ordinating multiple teams simultaneously.
• Strong editorial decision-making experience and judgement.
• A passion for drama and other forms of storytelling - and the demonstrated ability to translate that passion into creative, cutting edge programming.
• Excellent interpersonal leadership and people management skills. Experience of leading and managing talent and production teams, as well as managing diverse teams.
• Understanding of the latest production-related technology and techniques for radio, TV or digital platforms.
• Production budget management experience.
• Knowledge of or ability to learn, 880 editorial values, aims and objectives.
• Excellent communication skills in English (verbal and written).

Desirable:

• Evidence of experience and skill in using radio, TV or other media platforms to address developmental issues -for example, governance and health.
• Demonstrated interest in the evolving models of creative communication in a development context.
• Experience of overseeing a multi-media production project especially using mobile technology.
• Hausa language skills would be a strong advantage.
• A degree in Theatre Arts, Mass Communication. Communication Arts, English or the Social Sciences or any other relevant field would be an advantage.

Key Competencies

• Creative Thinking - able to transform creative ideas into practical reality. Can look at existing situations and problems in novel ways and come up with creative solutions.
• Strategic Thinking - can identify a vision along with the plans which need lobe implemented to meet the end goal. Evaluates situations, decisions, issues etc. in the short, medium and longer-term.
• Decision Making - Is ready and able to take the initiative, originate action and be responsible for the consequences of the decision made.
• Planning and organisation - able to think ahead in order to establish an efficient and appropriate course of action for self and others. Prioritises and plans activities taking into account all the relevant issues and factors such as deadlines, staffing and resources.
• Communication - able to get one's message understood clearly by adopting a range of styles, tools and techniques appropriate to the audience and the nature of the information.
• Influencing and persuading - able to present sound and well reasoned arguments to convince others. Can draw from a range of strategies to persuade people in away that results in agreement or behaviour change,
• Managing relationships and team working -able to build and maintain effective working relationships With a range or people. Works co-operatively with others lobe part of a team, as opposed to working separately or competitively.
• Leadership - able to create a vision and inspire others to realise it irrespective of circumstances
• Developing Others - is able to recognise the potential (managerial, professional, artistic or otherwise) and is willing to foster the development of that potential. Creates a climate in which potential can be realized.
• Resilience - manages personal effectiveness by managing emotions in the face of pressure, set hacks or when dealing with provocative situations. Demonstrates an approach to work that is characterised by commitment, motivation and energy.
• Flexibility - adapts and works effectively with a variety of situations, individuals or groups. Able to understand and appreciate different and opposing perspectives on an issue, to adapt an approach as the requirements of a situation change. and to change or easily accept changes in one’s own organization or job requirements.

Application Closing Date
28th May, 2015

Method of Application
Interested candidates should please send in their application/cover letter with a capability statement stating their capability for the job, as well as a detailed curriculum vitae (word document please) with names and addresses of at least 2 professional referees (including their telephone, fax and email addresses) to: [email protected] with the position applied for clearly stated on the application letter.

Note:

• Women are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.