Background
Form of Employment: Full-time
Starting Date: As soon as possible
Duration: Two years, with the possibility of extension
Location: Berlin
Democracy Reporting International (DRI) is a non-partisan, independent, not-for-profit organisation registered in Berlin. DRI promotes political participation of citizens, accountability of state bodies, and the development of democratic institutions worldwide.
DRI’s Digital Democracy team works to protect and promote healthy democratic debate online. Through our offices and projects around the globe, we monitor the effects of social media and other evolving technologies on public discourse; engage with governments, experts and tech companies for effective regulation; and train citizen groups on how to assess their local digital environment and debates. Our work touches on such issues as political disinformation, hate speech, inauthentic behaviour, political advertising, platform design and algorithms.
Given currently expanding work, the Digital Democracy team is looking for a Programme Associate to support its activities on several projects related to social media’s role in elections and democratic discourse, including for the coming German elections. Working with the broader team, the Programme Associate will conduct social media monitoring and analysis and will support in the effective coordination of projects and outreach.
Your tasks
Social Media Research
- Conduct social media monitoring using online listening tools
- Perform intermediate level data analysis, identifying patterns and trends
- Contribute to drafting DRI publications and online pieces that interpret and summarize findings
- Carry out desk research on existing methodologies to inform future analyses
- Occasional travel to conferences and meetings.
Programme Management Support
- Support the effective co-ordination of DRI projects between in-house units at HQ and Country Offices, and partners
- Support in the procurement and management of external experts
- Support the organisation and implementation of online and offline events
- Assist in maintaining project files, workplans, databases and other resources
- Support on regular internal and donor reporting
- Conduct research for project development (possible countries, donors, themes), monitor calls for proposals, and assist in the preparation of applications
- Provide input into the overall programmatic implementation and design
- Perform other tasks as can be reasonably expected in the role
Your skills and experience
Required:
- University degree in public policy, political science, statistics or related fields
- Good understanding of the German political and regulatory landscape
- Previous experience in social media research, digital rights, political communications or election monitoring work
- Working knowledge of social media research techniques including but not limited to natural language processing, network mapping or OSINT techniques
- Solid knowledge working with R, Python and other programming languages
- Excellent writing and research skills.
- Strong communication skills and ability to work as part of a culturally diverse team
- Ability to be flexible, well-organized and self-sufficient
- Full professional fluency in German and English essential
Preferred:
- University degree with specialisation in digital democracy fields such as online disinformation, extremism, regulation or hate speech
- Previous experience in collecting data via APIs is an asset, as well as experience with marketing research platforms such as Talkwalker, Buzzsumo, CrowdTangle and others.
- Experience working with Content Management Systems (WordPress), Mailchimp and online servers/databases such as Sharepoint
- An understanding of EU/ global debate on social media regulation and tech policy in general
- Prior experience with projects, event management or fundraising, particularly within an NGO context
- Knowledge of additional languages (particularly Arabic, French, Spanish)
What we offer
DRI offers you a job with flexible working hours, 30 days of annual leave, a contribution to public transport (company ticket with BVG), a health ticket (Gesundheitsticket Plus) to be applied towards health and wellness activities of your choosing, travel health insurance, vocational training for every employee, and the opportunity to work in a diverse team in the heart of Berlin, where everybody is on first name terms with each other.
Application instructions
If you are interested in this position, please submit your application (cover letter and CV) here. This position is subject to funding.
Closing date for applications: Wednesday, 7 April. The position may be filled before the deadline has been reached, so early applications are encouraged.
DRI is committed to diversity and treats everybody equally, independent of gender identity, sex, pregnancy, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, age, ability, socio-economic status, political opinion (as long as respectful of democratic principles), or any other status protected by the laws in the locations where we operate.
Organisation responsible for this vacancy:
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