Position: News Portal Business Planning/Sustainability Expert
Location: Beirut, Lebanon
Reports To: Executive Director of the local media partner
Division: MTCS
About IREX
IREX is an international nonprofit organization providing thought leadership and innovative programs to promote positive lasting change globally. We enable local individuals and institutions to build key elements of a vibrant society: quality education, independent media, and strong communities. To strengthen these sectors, our program activities also include conflict resolution, technology for development, women and youth.
Founded in 1968, IREX has an annual portfolio of over $70 million and a staff of over 400 professionals worldwide. IREX employs field-tested methods and innovative uses of technologies to develop practical and locally-driven solutions with our partners in more than 100 countries.
Summary of Position
IREX is looking for an expert to provide short-term consultancy for its Arabic-language independent media partner (the organization) to develop a sustainable news portal (the website) in Lebanon. The website is promoting media freedoms and was recently launched with a grant from USAID’s Promoting Active Citizen Engagement (PACE) program jointly implemented with other partners. The objective of the assignment is to develop a detailed, practical, and achievable business plan to ensure the sustainability of the news portal, keeping in line with the editorial policy and vision of the portal.
Content for the portal is developed by a team of journalists working with the local Lebanese media partner and about 60 journalism students from six Lebanese universities who earn academic credit in exchange for completing internships with the news portal. Since its launching in summer of 2013, the portal has received positive feedback from media professionals and academics, steadily expanding its reach. The organization is committed to ensuring the sustainability of the website beyond the duration of the PACE grant.
To that end, the organization seeks to engage a short-term expert to help the organization develop a business plan that will ensure sustainability of the portal.
main tasks & estimated timelines
The short-term expert is expected to carry out the following tasks, working closely with the organization’s key personnel:
• Desk review: Review website’s news content and relevant project documents (to be provided by the organization), including but not limited to the portal’s editorial policy, Memorandums of Understanding signed with the six partner universities, project reports, Facebook page posts and comments, the organization’s own website, and draft marketing plan for the portal. Estimated timeframe: 2 days.
• Market analysis: Identify competing portals and review their content; research market trends, market size and revenue potential (using combination of desk research and key informant interviews as necessary); and identify the organization’s competitive advantage as compared to the competition. Estimated timeframe: 3-5 days.
• Stakeholder meetings: Hold meetings with key personnel of the news portal to deepen understanding of its visions and goals, assess portal’s strengths and weaknesses, and determine the yearly running costs of maintaining. Estimated timeframe: 2 days.
• Business plan drafting: Develop a business model and draft a business plan that identifies various options for generating income and ensuring sustainability of the portal over the next three years. Estimated timeframe: 10 days.
• Business plan presentation and feedback sessions: Present the business plan draft in hard copy and in an oral presentation, and collect feedback both orally and in writing. Estimated timeframe: 2 days.
• Business plan finalization: Incorporate feedback into the draft business plan and finalize the document. This may require several drafts and meetings until the business plan is accepted as final. Estimated timeframe: 5-7 days.
DELIVERABLES
• Competitive analysis summary (1-3 pages): After completion of the desk review and market analysis, the expert should provide a brief summary of the competitive advantage of the news portal as compared to competing websites. This analysis will be refined over the course of the assignment and a final version will be incorporated into the business plan.
• Draft business plan (25-30 pages): The expert will draft a business plan identifying viable options for ensuring sustainability of the portal over the next three years. The document should include the following at a minimum (the order and title of these sections may be changed as needed to ensure a clear structure):
¾ Executive Summary
¾ Overview and Objectives of the news portal
¾ Market Analysis/Trends
¾ Market Size and Revenue Potential
¾ Competition and Competitive Advantage
¾ Business Model and Action Plan to Ensure Sustainability (over the next three years, by year)
¾ Marketing Plan
¾ Financial Plan (over next three years, by year)
¾ Staffing Requirements (over next three years, by year)
• Draft business plan presentation (PowerPoint): After drafting the business plan, the expert will develop and deliver a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes key points and recommendations for discussion and feedback. The presentation is expected to last about one hour and to be followed by a question-and-answer session.
• Final business plan (10-25 pages): Based on feedback on the draft business plan (both oral and written), the expert will finalize the document, producing as many drafts as necessary until the document is accepted as final.
SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS
• At least 5 years of experience in business development/marketing of media outlets and websites.
• Professional experience in news portal development, particularly areas related to marketing, generating advertising revenue, fundraising, syndication, and related fields.
• Demonstrated prior success in developing viable business models for similar media platforms.
• Familiarity with the Lebanese media environment.
• Fluency in spoken and written Arabic is a must.
TO APPLY
Go to http://www.irex.org/careers and click on Current Openings. Then click on the corresponding position and apply through our website. Please supply a resume and a cover letter with your application. If you are creating a new profile you need to do so and then go back in to apply for a position.
NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE
AA/EOE/M/F/D/V
