Job title : Senior Project Officer, Break the Chain
Reports to : Head of Project
Duration : 12 months fixed term (with potential for renewal)
Location : Delhi/Bengaluru
Closing date : 14 June, 2026
To apply: Send your CV along with a short cover letter outlining how you meet the requirements listed in the job description, with the subject line indicating the position title to: hr@in.bbcmediaaction.org on or before 14 June 2026
BBC Media Action
BBC Media Action is the independent international charity of the BBC, using media and communications to advance development outcomes worldwide. We work in partnership with civil society organisations, local media, governments, and other stakeholders to produce creative, evidence-based media content across platforms, while also strengthening the media sector through professional capacity building. BBC Media Action has been working in India since 2001, delivering impact in health, sanitation, gender equity, climate change and building inclusive societies. BBC Media Action has been working in India since 2001, delivering impact in health, sanitation, gender equity, climate change and building inclusive societies.
We follow the editorial standards and values of the BBC, but we rely on funding from donors and partners to carry out our work. We have worked with a range of international and institutional funders, including the Gates Foundation, H&M Foundation, World Bank, UNICEF, European Union, aligned to our core thematic priorities:
- A Safer, More Habitable Planet: Providing trusted information in humanitarian and climate crises, promoting sustainable living, and encouraging balanced discussion around conflict and environmental issues.
- More Inclusive Societies: Ensuring fair representation, challenging harmful gender norms, supporting disability rights, and improving access to health and education.
- Information Literacy: Supporting public interest media to enable active citizen participation, accountability, and informed public discourse.
Project background
Break the Chain is a two-year (2026-27) initiative that combines demand-led capacity strengthening for media practitioners, creative and informative media content for the public, and coalition building to foster a more resilient and inclusive media ecosystem in India. This project is most closely associated with our third priority area with the overall objective being to support a resilient and pluralistic local information ecosystem that upholds credible information flows, tackles information disorder, amplifies the voices and lived experiences of local communities, and promotes inclusive dialogue. It has two specific objectives: citizens demonstrate improved capacity to critically assess, verify, and engage with digital content; and media practitioners (including journalist students, regional content creators and media professionals) deliver accurate, balanced reporting and inclusive media content. Funded by the European Union, the project is implemented by a consortium comprising WAN-IFRA (World Association of News Publishers) and BBC Media Action.
Job purpose
The Senior Project Officer (SPO) will support the timely and quality delivery of the project by leading on day-to-day coordination and communication work. Reporting to the Head of Project, the SPO will be responsible for managing a team of two local coordinators and liaising with internal and external stakeholders, ensuring that activities are implemented according to project plans, risks are mitigated, and achievements are shared among diverse audiences.
Main duties and responsibilities
Project coordination
- Responsible for overseeing and delivering the project work plan, ensuring that targets are met on time and with high quality standards.
- Coordinate effectively with research, creative and production, and operations teams to organise the smooth execution of activities and continuous cross-team learning.
- Manage two local coordinators and supervise training sessions for media practitioners in four hubs: Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.
- Support two journalism trainers to deliver in-person and online training sessions for media practitioners, in collaboration with a BBC training specialist and BBC Media Action’s London-based online learning team.
- Work closely with the creative and production team to develop and implement an external communication plan for the project, aligned with donor and BBC Media Action policies.
- Together with the project’s partnership advisor, establish strong relationships with journalism institutes and community radio stations to engage participants for training sessions and to encourage adoption of training materials into relevant curricula and policies.
- Support the Head of Project and research team in implementing the monitoring, evaluation and learning framework for the project.
Documentation, knowledge management and visibility
- Document project progress and success based on the communication plan, including writing case studies and articles.
- Support the Head of Project to prepare ad-hoc and contractual consortium and donor reports.
- Support external stakeholder engagement by creating pitch notes and presentations and identifying opportunities to showcase the project in relevant forums.
- Contribute to the development of concept notes and proposals, as required by the business development team.
- Uphold the BBC Editorial Guidelines for all outputs and external communications produced for the project.
Safeguarding
- Factor safeguarding issues while ideating and implementing project activities.
- Ensure that relevant safeguarding due diligence is conducted with any local partner organisation that may be working with vulnerable adults or children as part of the project.
- Report any safeguarding concerns immediately, either to the Head of Project or Country Director, or by using BBC Media Action’s Whistleblowing Policy.
The person may also be required to take on such other duties and responsibilities as the Head of Project might request.
Ideal candidate should have:
- Overall experience of 4-6 years in the development sector; background in journalism or media development preferred.
- Graduate or post-graduate degree in social sciences, development studies, journalism or related fields.
- Proven ability to manage projects according to outlined scope, budget and timeline.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with sound presentation abilities.
- Proficiency in reading, writing and speaking English
- Strong team player with the ability to collaborate effectively across cross-functional teams and with external partners.
The position will be based in Delhi or Bengaluru. It will entail travel to the project hubs in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.
Important Terms of Reference
The successful candidate:
- Must be conscious of and maintain the values of the BBC Media Action in all matters.
- Will not have any copyright whatsoever over data analysis outputs and dashboards developed. All copyrights/ intellectual property rights to remain with BBC Media Action.
- Will be required to maintain strict data confidentiality. Data transgressions will be dealt through appropriate and applicable organisational policy.
- Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
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.
Diversity matters at the BBC. We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, enabling all our employees to thrive and achieve their full potential.
We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic background, religion and/or belief. We will consider flexible working requests for all roles, unless operational requirements prevent otherwise.
(This job description 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.)