IREX is looking for media development consultants

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IREX is looking for a pool of consultants for the five-year CEMP project, funded by USAID, and implemented by Zinc Network together with IREX, with a view to strengthening the financial sustainability of independent media outlets (primarily digital outlets) in Central Europe (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia).

The project will work to provide a combination of grant support and technical assistance to media outlets in the five countries, and we are looking for consultants with expertise in different areas of media development, ranging from supporting business strategy and revenue development to the adoption of data-driven content production, and strengthening audience engagement.

IREX is looking at concluding long-term agreements with a number of consultants for providing expert advice, coaching or mentoring to media operations or the leadership of media outlets during the course of the five-year project. The type of support would range from online coaching to onsite visits and a combination of both, as well as online or in-person workshops for representatives of a number of outlets.

Duties and responsibilities

  • Designing a series of workshops on business development for media outlets
  • Delivering the workshops to the partner organizations online and in-person, availability to travel
  • Work closely with assigned outlets to provide long-term, in-depth support to reach their business development goals

Skills and experience

  • Experience working in Central Europe region preferred
  • Strong background working with media outlets
  • English language skills required; regional language skills preferred
  • At least three years’ experience working in one or more of the below areas preferred:
  • Organizational development and business strategy and planning, including:
    • support in organizational development
    • leadership coaching
    • improving decision-making processes
    • development of business strategy/models
    • design, review and evaluation of business strategy
    • branding and reputation
  • Revenue development and diversification, including:
    • in-depth support in understanding and realizing revenue models, including advertising, subscriptions, and membership/donation schemes
    • identifying areas for potential audience growth
    • strengthening channels and campaigns
    • advertising sales
    • marketing
    • monetization of content/syndication/dissemination
  • Community engagement, including:
    • understanding audience engagement and fostering audience loyalty/supporter retention
    • newsletter development
    • design and management of member events
    • building membership/donations base
    • social media best practice
    • support in conducting audience surveys
  • Data-driven digital strategy and content production, including:
    • ensuring data from audiences feeds into business and editorial decision-making
    • adoption of real-time data in newsroom operations
    • user needs model for newsroom
  • Editorial content and journalism standards, including:
    • editorial team management
    • training in investigative reporting
    • OSINT skills
  • Content production and dissemination, including:
    • podcast development
    • short-form video
    • development of innovative content formats
    • datavisual journalism

More information about the application process can be found here.

IREX is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to building a more just, prosperous, and inclusive world by empowering youth, cultivating leaders, strengthening institutions, and extending access to quality education and information.