Form of Employment: Part time (60%, national contract) or long-term consultancy
Starting Date: As soon as possible
Duration: One year, with the possibility of extension
Location: Remote, provided you can stay at regular intervals in the Tunis office for coordination and training of partners, in addition to several shorter travels to other partner countries
Background:
DRI is a non-partisan, independent, not-for-profit organisation registered in Berlin. DRI accompanies and engages people who are working to build, preserve and defend democratic and accountable institutions – especially in moments of significant change. The organisation supports the building of democracies through public debates, participation and accountable policymaking, and helps defending democratic governance.
In the MENA region, DRI has been accompanying democratic processes in various countries since 2008. With three country offices in Tunisia, Lebanon and Libya, DRI benefits from solid comparative knowledge on governance processes in the region and an extensive network of national experts and partner organisations. Since 2017, DRI has been increasingly active in the field of social media monitoring (SMM), strengthening local capacities to monitor social media during elections, creating evidence in different countries, gathering expert organisations, producing methodologies and informing the public and expert debate.
In the framework of the project “Countering Disinformation and Hate Speech in the MENA”, DRI will seek to contribute to strengthened safeguarding of democratic processes and society’s resilience to disinformation and hate speech in the region. DRI will work with partner organisations from five countries (Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Tunisia), strengthening local capacities to monitor and analyse disinformation and hate speech during key national democratic processes, while building a regional network to allow for comparative analysis and peer learning. The project also seeks to raise awareness of decision makers, tech companies, and civic target groups on the project’s findings, while developing national and regional recommendations (including possible regulation) to combat online disinformation and hate speech.
Under the supervision of the North Africa Representative, and in close collaboration with the Project Coordinators and DRI HQ’s Digital Democracy team, you will be supporting the Social Media Analyst in their work while leading on the technical matters related to social media monitoring (SMM). This includes supporting the capacity strengthening of partners, support of partners in developing SMM methodologies and analysis frameworks, and the production of regional SMM reports.
Your Tasks:
- Contribute to the capacity-development of CSO partners in social media monitoring (trainings, on-going support) in close cooperation with the Social Media Analyst and DRI HQ’s SMM team, including on-site training if the circumstances allow;
- Contribute to the Social Media Analyst’s support to partners in developing of SMM methodologies and analysis frameworks;
- Advise partners on access to social media data, coding, and monitoring of relevant data during SMM monitoring periods, including the development of data classification and coding schemes for relevant research questions and efficient manual data annotation systems; while ensuring data reliability and retention;
- Support the design and production of regional SMM reports, leading on related data visualisation Ensure gender and diversity mainstreaming in the design of methodologies and analysis frameworks, and in the review of reports;
- Assist Project Coordinators and CSO partners to develop data management tools for monitoring and evaluation purposes;
- Contribute to development of public policy recommendations on oversight and regulation of social media;
- Contribute to project reporting, activity planning, coordination with partners, and other related duties as required in close coordination with the Project Coordinators and the Social Media Analyst.
Your Skills and Experience:
Required:
- University degree in statistics, computer science, open-source intelligence (OSINT) or other relevant field. OR: At least three years of relevant training and experience in social media monitoring and analysis, data analytics, or other relevant field can make up for the lack of a formal degree.
- At least 2 years of experience in data analysis for politics or social issues or data journalism;
- Experience working with relevant tools/APIs to collect data from social media;
- Knowledge of a programming language to analyse and produce data visualizations from large, unstructured datasets (Python, R, etc.);
- Native-level fluency in Arabic, working-level fluency in English;
- Willingness to travel to countries of operation, if circumstances and security allow;
- Excellent interpersonal, intercultural, and communication skills.
Preferred:
- Experience in project-based work while working with international organisations, CSOs, tech companies or digital communication agencies;
- Knowledge of MENA political landscape and stakeholders;
- Network encompassing tech companies and other relevant stakeholders in the region are all assets.
What We Offer:
DRI offers you as staff member flexible working hours, travel health insurance, and the opportunity to work as part of an international and diverse team. The competitive remuneration for this position is aligned with DRI’s remuneration range for national employees and consultants.
Applicants may elect to work remotely, provided they can stay at regular intervals in the Tunis office for coordination and training of partners, in addition to several shorter travels to other partner countries.
This position is also open to possible long-term consultancies.
How to Apply:
If you are interested in this position, please submit your application (cover letter and CV, as well as relevant samples of previous work, such as reports, analyses, data visualisation work, etc.) here. Please also include your salary expectations.
This position is subject to funding.
Closing date for applications: 31 March 2021. 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:
Democracy Reporting International gGmbH
Elbestr. 28 / 29
12045 Berlin, Germany
Data processing of personal data in third countries will not take place. We process your data in accordance with the provisions of § 26 German Federal Data Protection Act. More information about processing your personal data: privacy policy .