Media Development Manager – Thomson Reuters Foundation

Join a team which has unique expertise combining the power of journalism and the law to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies, and promote human rights.

For more than 35 years, we have promoted the highest standards in journalism by training reporters around the world to cover issues relevant to their local context, accurately and impartially. Today, we work to strengthen local and national journalism, improve media ethics, standards and regulation, combat misinformation, and explore and shape the future of the profession. We do this through newsroom consultancy, journalism training and mentoring, capacity-building, and via our funding of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford.

We are seeking a highly organised Media Development Manager with excellent management skills and knowledge of media development to support the Foundation’s Media Freedom team. The function of the team is to provide technical oversight to media development projects, develop new and innovative approaches and products to address emerging and longstanding issues faced by the media, explore collaboration and research with external stakeholders and engage and support our network of over 20,000 alumni.

The ideal candidate must be a self-starter with the ability to deliver on competing tasks, communicate and solve problems effectively. As TRF projects are multi-layered and leverage the expertise of a variety of teams, they require a high-level of cross-team coordination. Accordingly, the candidate will also have risk-management, trust-building and prioritisation skills to achieve project success in a fast-paced organisation.

About the Role

As the Media Development Manager at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, you will work with the Media Freedom team and other TRF teams to strengthen our media development programming. This involves management of several workstreams: key internal initiatives, including working closely with the Senior Media Initiatives Manager to setup, launch and run a Quality Management System to ensure highest quality assurance of our Learning & Development work, and liaising with requisite teams to update and maintain our databases and produce analysis reports; as well as management of external-facing initiatives plus engaging with key stakeholders including our TRF alumni and TRF consultant communities.

• Manage discrete internal and external initiatives, as described above, Plan and track activities and providing regular and accurate reports as appropriate.
• Maintain and develop TRF’s media development (or learning resources) resources, producing regular data and analysis reports on consultants, training workshops, alumni and other topics as needed to support Media Freedom thought leadership, product development and stakeholder engagement
• Research and build our network and relationships across media, policy, academia, government, civil society groups, and international bodies
• Build and manage relationships with a range of stakeholders most notably TRF consultants and alumni
• Stay abreast of the latest developments in Media Freedom and Media Development sectors
• Act as the Media Freedom programme focal point for other teams
• Coordinate and provide support across all Media Freedom team workstreams, providing logistical and administrative support as needed.
• Assist with other duties as required

About You

To be our Media Development Manager, you will have:

• Strong understanding of journalism, capacity building, the media legal environment or demonstrable strong willingness and capacity to learn.
• A pro-active, highly motivated self-starting and problem-solving attitude, including paying attention to detail and being good on follow-through with ability to work independently or in a team environment
• Excellent communication, risk management, prioritisation and relationship-building skills
• Prior experience in a relevant project management/ development work including with project inception, planning, execution, monitoring and close phases.
• Prior experience in building relationships and working with networks and communities across organisations, and working constructively with a diverse range of people
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to work with changing priorities and time pressures.
• Experience of administrative or finance processes and excellent numerical skills. Competency with Microsoft Office. Experience with databases (e.g. Salesforce) would be an advantage
• Fluency in English. Other languages desirable
• At least 3 years of relevant working experience

Please note, this is a fixed term contract of 24 months with an opportunity to extend.

What’s in it For You

At the Thomson Reuters Foundation, our people are our greatest assets. Here are some of the benefits we offer for your personal and professional growth:

• Global Perspective and Impact: Interested in working for a dynamic global organization with a focus on social impact? With hubs all over the world from Bangkok to Madrid to Rio de Janeiro, join a truly international team with a shared goal of helping to build societies around the world that are free, fair and informed.
• A Unique Approach: Our expertise in media and the law is world class; we combine the power of both to address the critical issues faced by humanity.
• Our Relevance: With a focus on advancing media freedom, fostering more inclusive economies and promoting human rights, our work has never been more needed than right now.
• Benefits: We offer competitive salary packages and market-leading benefits.
• Learning & Development: We are dedicated to the continual professional development of our employees and offer access to both in-house and external training opportunities.

About Thomson Reuters Foundation

The Thomson Reuters Foundation is corporate foundation of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information services company. As an independent charity, registered in the UK and the USA, we work to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies, and promote human rights. Through news, media development, free legal assistance and convening initiatives, we combine our unique media and legal services to drive systemic change.