Research and Data Manager (Nigeria) at BBC Media Action

The BBC is an international multimedia broadcaster on radio, TV, online and social networks with a weekly global audience of 320 million. As part of an historic multi-million pound expansion of BBC Africa, the BBC World Service is introducing a wide range of new and exciting language and regional content to serve African and global audiences.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Research and Data Manager (Nigeria)

Location: Abuja, Nigeria (Right to work in Nigeria required)
Contract: Fixed-term employment
Duration: Three years
Reports to: Head of Research & Learning
Accountable to: Project Director

Job Purpose

• The BBC Media Action office in Nigeria is looking for a Research and Data Manager to lead the timely and efficient implementation of all aspects of research for a BBC Media Action reproductive health project in northern Nigeria.
• The Research and Data Manager will be responsible for communicating, reporting and disseminating learnings to the donor, project partners and a range of audiences within time, budget and quality guidelines.
• They will work closely with the Head of Research and Learning to ensure that all research on the project is technically well designed and implemented.
• The role will report to the Head of Research and Learning and have a dotted line to the Project Director, being accountable to all deliveries to the Project Director.
• They will also work, where appropriate with the technical research support cross country team (including Senior Research Managers and Head of Research).
• The position is based in Abuja and will require travel to other states within the country.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Accountable for the delivery of a range of research activities that will be implemented under the project, including acting as the main contact point to the donor on all research-related requests and deliverables.
• Seek technical research assistance from the Cross Country team where required to support delivery and communication of research.
• Lead on engaging with project partners and agencies to design, coordinate collection of data and analysis to generate data on reach and effective reach of project outputs and activities, including designing and managing weekly face to face sentiment interviews in each project focal state with the procured agency and carrying out pre-testing.
• Manage and analyse quantitative and qualitative data across projects states to produce insights to support project strategy, enabling evidence-based decision-making for content and outreach activity design, production and broadcast/implementation.
• Work with the data engineer to generate learning quarterly from the monitoring data to share with Gates Foundation and partners. This will also include conducting specific analysis e.g. how a specific campaign is faring or understanding a specific audience segment in more detail among other data utilisation needs.
• Coordinate quarterly data/learning reviews with Gates Foundation and partners that helps to continuously apply insights and learnings to project design, implementation and strategic decision making.
• Build relationships with key partners for this project (including project teams, other implementing partners and stakeholders, evaluation partner and Gates Foundation), and lead on day-to-day coordination and liaison.
• Plan and monitor resource needs that supports effective research design, implementation and uptake on the project.
• Communicate complex research clearly to diverse audiences, including the Gates Foundation leadership, non-research staff, donors, and media partners. This includes preparing and presenting research presentations and insights that inform the production process, partner outreach activities, and feedback to Gates Foundation.
• Introduce new and innovative ways to design, deliver and report on research, and support teams/partners to take up research insights.
• Perform any other duties that may be assigned.

Required skills, knowledge and experience

• Minimum of a First Degree in the Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Behavioural Sciences, the Humanities or any other relevant field
• Previous research experience working with NGOs or development projects would be an advantage.
• The Research and Data Manager will be an experienced researcher with demonstrable research design, implementation, data management, analysis and partner coordination skills.
• Evidence of experience conducting research and evaluation for development projects or similar experience in conducting social/market research in any research agency and/or media and communication research.
• Good knowledge of family planning, especially for the northern Nigeria context.
• Experience in multi-partner coordination and liaison with ability to provide effective leadership that contributes to project success.
• Proven experience evaluating social impact interventions using a range of methods, adapting to challenging contexts.
• Ability to plan, design and manage mixed method research.
• Competent in qualitative and quantitative research implementation, data analysis and reporting.
• Knowledge and skills in social media/digital research design and evaluation is desirable.
• Strong fieldwork experience, including in rural and geographically challenging areas.
• Ability to undertake or manage fieldwork and adapt methods to challenging and resource-constrained conditions.
• Good communication skills, and the ability to clearly communicate the findings of our research and what these insights mean for the users of our data.
• Knowledge and understanding of the importance of and application of ethical procedures in research.
• Demonstrable understanding of cultural diversity and cross-cultural research within Nigeria.
• A good grasp of, or enthusiasm to learn about, communication strategies and development issues.
• Experience of writing precise and clear reports and briefing documents.
• Ability to work on own initiative and good time management skills, with a track record of delivering research findings to deadline within a range of often conflicting deadlines, juggling priorities to meet research needs and objectives.
• Result oriented and commitment to excellence.
• Transparent judgement and decision-making, and high level of professionalism.
• Good IT and data dashboard management skills, including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and data analysis softwares such as SPSS, Atlas.ti, NVivo etc.
• Ability to work closely with non-research teams in applying research findings to media outputs.
• Ability to forge strong working relations quickly and gain the trust of colleagues and partners, for example in other international NGOs, in media houses, research agencies and elsewhere.
• Ability to manage and develop staff, including mentoring, capacity building, and remote team leadership.
• Ability to speak and write one or more of the following Nigerian languages: Hausa, Yoruba and / or Igbo.

Application Closing Date
12th December, 2025.