Media Officer at Search for Common Ground (Search)

Search for Common Ground (Search) is an international non-profit organization that promotes the peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC and Brussels, Belgium, Search’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict - away from destructive approaches towards cooperative solutions. With more than 600 staff worldwide, Search implements projects in more than 30 countries across the globe.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Media Officer

Location: Ebonyi

Position Summary
A professional, motivated, and creative Radio Producer and Coach who will be responsible for the capacity-building, relationship-building, coaching of partner radio stations and co-production of radio programs under the project. Specifically, the Radio Producer and Coach will be responsible for:

• Organizing trainings of journalists and co facilitating the trainings on conflict sensitive programming;
• Support to local radio stations in their planning, production, publicity, outreach and broadcast of two weekly radio programs: a weekly radio talk show and a weekly radio magazine.
• Monitor the work and airing of partner radio stations, collect feedback from listeners
• The position requires an experienced radio producer/ media professional who has experience in producing high quality radio programs using a range of different radio formats, having experience in elections or politics related radio program and in the themes of conflict transformation and peace building will be an added advantage. The position also requires patience and ability to build the capacity in a nurturing and respectful work environment, hence teaching / capacity building experience is important.
• S/he will work under the direct supervision of the National Media Manager and will work closely with the Design, Monitoring and Evaluation team, and other project team members. The position holder will supervise and closely monitor the work of the radio producers based in the partner FM radio station. The Radio producer and Coach will cover Ebonyi (location: Ebonyi)

Roles and Responsibilities
The roles and responsibilities include:

• Lead the selection of partner FM radio stations, radio producers and presenters;
• Plan and organize trainings for partner radio stations in Ebonyi
• Co-facilitate trainings of partner radio station on Conflict Sensitive journalism
• Nurture positive relationships with partner radio station and producers of these radio station
• Support to local radio station in their planning, production, publicity, outreach and broadcast of two weekly radio programs: a weekly radio talk show and a weekly radio magazine.
• Radio talk show: The program will bring elected officials, candidates, political party representatives, citizens, community leaders, and civil society together to discuss different policy issues. These issues will be selected to correspond with topics focused on in the project as a whole and can include anti-corruption approaches, addressing the needs of minorities, and gender equality policies. Search will coordinate with IRI to determine the discussion topics and talk show guests to complement the other project activities. Listeners will be invited to call in and send SMS messages to contribute to the discussion and pose questions for the guests of the program.
• Radio Program: The program will include different segments such as news, feature stories, drama, and interviews. The segments will focus on engaging citizen throughout the electoral period, highlighting the importance of inclusive elections and accountability for elected officials, as well as providing information on different policy issues. Topics will include economic policies, particularly as they relate to the recent recession; regulations and policies for natural resource extraction, including oil and mining sectors; information on public health programs; policies relating to the rights of minorities, youth, and women; and state-specific issues such as preventing violent extremism in the Northeast. Listeners will be invited to call in and send SMS to share their perspectives and reflect on the topics of each episode
• Develop activity work plans, radio program production and broadcast plans and strategies;
• Lead the curriculum process using Search’s common ground approach to develop the intended outcomes, knowledge, attitude and behaviour change objectives for the radio programs, determine the target audience, and key messages of the radio programs;
• Develop and implement the promotion, publicity and outreach plan and strategy to promote and publicize the radio programs among its target audience;
• Support the Media Manager and Grants Coordinator to prepare Terms of Reference and Contracts for the Partner FM stations and the Radio Producers;
• Oversee and ensure the quality of the production of the radio programs;
• Keep track of media logs, monitor the broadcast of the radio programs and provide regular feedback to the partner FM radio station;
• Listen and report all aired episodes of radio program and provide constructive feedback to the producers and presenters;
• Provide regular coaching and mentoring support to the radio producers and presenters;
• Coordinate with the program teams to integrate program messages into media programming streams;
• Track organization’s news coverage through online and traditional sources;
• Provide support in writing, formatting and editing communications/media/outreach materials;
• Develop relations with media actors and assist in mobilizing media for events where necessary;
• Manage social media profiles relating to the project, including publishing and distributing content, running campaigns and monitoring progress;
• Capture photos and success stories in all Search meetings, trainings and events;
• Provide monitoring data to the DM&E manager and share success stories and impact stories as a result of radio programs;
• Provide media reports and documentation and share progress, challenges, and lessons learned  to support the Project Manager to write periodic progress reports;
• Perform any other task as may be assigned by supervisor.
• As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key duties.

Qualifications
Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in Radio Production, Media, Journalism, Communication, Development Communications or a related area;

Required Experience:

• At least 3 years of experience in producing and coordinating radio programs and radio teams;
• Track record of producing successful radio programs in Nigeria, preferably using radio magazine, discussions, talk  shows formats;
• Ability to communicate in local languages will be a big advantage;
• Experience of producing and coordinating politics or elections-related radio program will be an added advantage;
• Significant experience designing and conducting training courses in journalism and media;
• Experience in media program design, including drama, spots, news & current affairs;
• Track record in delivering effective media/communications/advocacy strategies in support of  campaigns and advocacy programmes;

Other Relevant Requirements:

• Understand key opportunities in Nigerian media markets and a thorough understanding of requirements of different kinds of media i.e. print, TV, radio, and online;
• A good understanding of target audience, intended outcome programming, behavior change communications, and edutainment approaches;
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills;
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment and strong interpersonal skills.

Application Closing Date
13th September, 2019.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Application Instruction
To apply, interested candidates should send the following below:

• Current Resume
• Cover Letter (which includes expectations of compensation and projected start date)
• Please compile your writing sample and resume into one document as the system only has the functionality to upload two documents per application. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Note: Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please.