BBC World Service Recruitment for Business Development Associate

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 Business Development Associate, Southern & West Africa

Job Reference: BBC/TP/1394352/44169
Locations: Abuja or Lagos, Nigeria
Grade: Local recruit
Contract Type: Permanent – Full Time
Job Category: Technology, Systems & Delivery
Business Unit: News – WSG World Service
Reports to: Senior Business Development Manager, Southern & West Africa

Overall Purpose of the Job

• To maintain and enhance the BBC’s distribution in the media markets of Southern and West Africa with a special focus on Hausa-speaking Nigeria. This includes starting and developing partnerships across all media platforms. To ensure that these partnerships add new audiences to the BBC and that partners enjoy a high standard of customer service.

Main Duties

• To take responsibility for day-to-day partner management, including updating partners with content information and schedule changes, coordinating marketing activity and working on new initiatives.
• To be a media market expert, understanding and sharing key media market insights and changes, highlighting the activities of competitors and recommending appropriate action to influence the regulatory environment in the BBC’s interest.
• To work closely with partners in Nigeria and implement and maintain a strong clientfocused plan.
• To work with BBC lawyers and the Business Development team, assisting with contract negotiations wherever required, enabling the BBC to form long- term relationships and secure distribution outlets that make BBC journalism more widely available without compromising the BBC’s reputation, independence or editorial integrity.
• To liaise with partners on day-to-day queries, content placement and publicity and, where appropriate, invoice payments and debt collection.
• To help implement the strategy for exploiting market opportunities, including the identification of appropriate targets for business development.
• To work with the Business Development team for Southern and West Africa to deliver the Business Development Plan with accountability for agreed audiences, traffic and partner acquisition objectives for the market.
• To maintain and manage appropriate information and finance systems, reporting periodically on performance against targets. To be responsible for market and partner updates in the CRM system.
• To work closely with BBC Hausa, World Service English, other appropriate language services and BBC teams to ensure broadcasting and online partners receive the best possible customer service.
• From time to time to help organise specific BBC-led projects, training and events.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Considerable experience of working in a sales and marketing, business development and/or editorial environment.
• Ability to liaise authoritatively both within the BBC and with outside organisations, covering a range of editorial and business interests.
• Ability to gain a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of BBC Commercial and Editorial Guidelines and the BBC’s international strategy.
• Good knowledge of relevant BBC World Service output in all media.
• Fluency in, and a high standard of written Hausa and English.
• Experience in sales techniques including negotiating, influencing and networking skills
• A deep understanding of Nigeria’s media and telecoms environment and distribution/delivery systems with a strong contacts book and a detailed appreciation of likely market developments.
• A demonstrable ability to maintain and manage information and finance processes and systems.
• Demonstrable track record of delivering results to agreed timetables.
• First class presentation skills.

Competencies
The following competencies (behaviours and characteristics) have been identified as key to success in the job. Successful candidates are expected to demonstrate these competencies:

• Judgement – demonstrates balanced and objective judgement based on a thorough understanding of BBC editorial guidelines, target audience, programme and department objectives.  Makes the right decisions, taking account of conflicting views where necessary.
• Analytical Thinking – Able to simplify complex problems, processes or projects into component parts, explore and evaluate them systematically. Able to identify causal relationships, and  construct frameworks, for problem-solving and/or development.
• Decision Making – Is ready and able to take the initiative, originate action and be responsible for the consequences of the decision made.
• Imagination / Creative Thinking – Is able to transform creative ideas/impulses into practical reality. Can look at existing situations and problems in novel ways and come up with creative solutions.
• Planning and Organisation – Is 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 requirements.
• Resilience – Can maintain personal effectiveness by managing own emotions in the face of pressure, setbacks or when dealing with provocative situations. Can demonstrate an approach to work that is characterised by commitment, motivation and energy.
• Influencing and Persuading – Ability to present sound and well-reasoned arguments to convince others. Can draw from a range of strategies to persuade people in a way that results in agreement or behaviour change.
• Communication – The ability 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.
• Change Management – Can understand and anticipate the need for change.  Builds frameworks  to plan and manage the continuous process of change.
• Business Management – Is able to understand commercial imperatives and trading relationships, appropriately applies business principles in terms of costs, the market and added value.
• Managing relationships – Able to build and maintain effective working relationships with a range of people.
• Self-Development – Is able to identify and apply opportunities for learning and development.

Deadline: 6th October, 2019.

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

Click here for more Information (Pdf)

Note: A job specification is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.