Business Developer radio stations in refugee camps

Help start and run community radio stations in refugee camps. Imagine helping refugee communities by giving them a voice and a platform to thrive trough the power of radio, thereby improving their lives and livelihoods. We are looking for the Business Developer at REF FM to identify key partner organizations in refugee camps, support them in setting up radio stations, and ensure these become vibrant community hubs that can sustain themselves. Someone who can potentially take over the managing role at Stichting REF FM.

Who we are

Stichting REF FM (REF FM) is a foundation initiated 5 years ago by senior Dutch media experts who want to help the world become a better place for refugees and host communities. REF FM establishes community-based radio stations run by and for refugees, some of whom have been living in these large camps, far from their homes, for generations. REF FM helps refugees to raise their voice, to create a community with peers, to improve their lives and livelihood, and (last but not least) to get entertained by fellow refugees and host community membrs.

Our mission is to build participatory radio that airs entertaining programs encouraging livelihood-challenged refugee communities to improve their well-being and standard of living. We help refugees to become active participants, making a decent living for themselves and their families.

REF FM Radio offers unique opportunities for employment for refugees and serves as a powerful medium that can reach everyone in the camp. It can connect people, shape society, and help the community flourish, reaching between 100.000 and over 300.000 individuals per camp.

REF FM does not establish these stations directly but finds a local partner, helps this partner to obtain a license / FM frequency, to roll out a station, and to make the station self-reliant within one year. We are a small but focused organization of mostly volunteers.

In the last few years, we have helped to establish 4 radio stations: in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. (www.ref-fmkk.com, www.ref-fmukerewe.com, www.ref-fmkyangwali, and www.bidibidi.fm) This year we plan three more stations (in Rwanda, DRC and a European country). And our aim is to help start many more.

What are you going to do?

As a Business Developer at REF FM, you will bring a voice to refugees in camps through the power of radio. In this dynamic role, you will:

• Select/commit solid partner organizations
  - Scout, select and bind partner organizations, with which you will set up a station.
• Start and support radio stations:
  - Plan, implement and complete radio station projects, based on the REF FM Manual (21-step plan) and the REF FM Franchise Agreement that you conclude with the partner organizations in the refugee camps.
  - Follow up on running radio stations.
• Provide financial management:
  - Oversee the account and bookkeeping to ensure efficient financial operations.
  - Make financial report for the Supervisory Board.
• Troubleshooting, just in case (really happened!):
  - The 50-meter transmission tower of one of the REF FM stations falls over in heavy weather.
  - The assistant station manager appears to be robbing the radio studio at night.
  - The internet (for the web radio version of the REF FM station) is constantly out of service because half the refugee camp taps the free Wi-Fi.
  - The other aid organization with which you set up the REF FM station does not consider it important that the radio station publishes monthly financial reports, while this is a very important requirement in the business-like approach of REF FM.
• Grow the REF FM network:
  - Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders such as local NGO's (including UNHCR), the Supervisory Board, governments and companies.
• Lead fundraising initiatives:
  - Spearhead fundraising campaigns to secure the financial resources necessary to launch and sustain our radio stations.

This role offers an unparalleled opportunity to combine your project management skills with a commitment to social good. You work from home, and your phone and laptop are your most important tools to set up community-based radio stations from scratch. You will work with the local communities to support them over time. You will travel to scout partner organizations and kick-start radio stations in refugee camps. You work intensively with the (volunteer) initiator/ Managing Director of REF FM. Over time if it works out to satisfaction of both parties, you will take over the management role.

The Supervisory Board has a stimulating and advising function towards the Business Developer.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for a passionate and dynamictenacious go-getter who is committed to making a meaningful impact and who has worked in Africa before, initiating and running (media) projects with and for different local organizations. You should excel in diverse cultural and international environments and have a strong drive to bring people together to achieve shared goals.

Key qualifications:

• Experienced Business Developer / Project Manager.
• Goal-oriented and able to translate ideas into practice.
• Proactive, resilient, solution-oriented, tenacious go-getter.
• Capable of thriving in unstructured environments and creating structure.
• Effective in mobilizing and motivating people.
• Persistent and outgoing, with a talent for fundraising and development work.
• Skilled in stakeholder management and cultural sensitivity.

What do we offer?

If you are driven by a desire to good, create meaningful change, and have a proactive and entrepreneurial spirit, this is the perfect opportunity for you. Join us in empowering refugee communities and making a real impact! But we have more to offer:

• A competitive salary for a parttime job.
• Opportunity to travel.

If you have any questions, you can contact Geert van Asbeck, founder of REF FM, at HR@ref-fm.online. You can send your resumé and motivational letter to HR@ref-fm.online before October 30th. And you can check out our website here: www.ref-fm.online