This is a joint position between Development Initiatives & Open Knowledge Foundation
The Open Knowledge Foundation and Development Initiatives are seeking an Open Development Toolkit Lead to support users of open data about international development. To do this, we will work on curating and developing training materials and oversee production of software tools that help in publishing, accessing and understanding the data.
This role would bring together Development Initiatives’ topic-specific knowledge of the aid and development sector, with the open data, technical and training experience of the Open Knowledge Foundation.
Open Knowledge Foundation and Development Initiatives are working in partnership to appoint a contractor to fulfil this role. This is initially devised as a one year contract, starting as soon as possible, but possibility to extend will be strongly considered.
Background
We are looking for someone to help us close skills and tool gaps which hinder data uptake and use in the development sphere by overseeing the development of an Open Resource Data Toolkit, which provides tools and skills that support users of open resource and development data.
The Role
The job will involve a wide range of diverse activities, and working in a complex environment combining work with colleagues both virtual and in-person communities. The central responsibility of the person will be to manage the production of an Open Resource Data Toolkit – to enable users of data on development to easily work with the data and successfully use it in their advocacy. It will involve:
Training Development:
In the initial phase of work, responsibilities will include:
- Gap analysis of current state of training offerings and reviewing remixable content.
- Producing or commissioning ‘How To’ guides on:
- Publishing and using IATI data
- Using open source tools to answer particular questions;
- Other courses as emerging needs transpire
- Collaborate with others producing training materials in this area to ensure openly-licensed where appropriate and reusable
- Coordinate support to users wishing to access, analyse or use open resource data
- Convening workshops, Data Expeditions, training and skill-sharing activities for data users;
Community Development:
- Blogging about the latest developments in the toolkit;
- Collect and publicise examples of community initiatives, ideas & apps (through aidinfolabs.org, the OKFN blog and other relevant channels)
- Coordinate communications strategy around the project. Liaison point for media enquiries.
Tool Development:
- Working with data users to understand their needs, and to develop the specification for new tools and services;
- Commissioning and managing the development of new software tools and platforms for the Toolkit, or managing the further development of existing tools;
- Overseeing the landscape of who is producing tools to work with this type of data, exploring and supporting opportunities for these tools to be included in the Toolkit.
- Develop a business plan and fundraise for ongoing support for the toolkit
The toolkit development will take place after the initial curating and training phase and pending successful grant funding
Person Specification
The required person is passionate about the potential of open data to provide a mechanism for greater accountability and citizen empowerment, and excited by the prospect of promoting the use and application of data to those ends. They will:
- Be data-savvy and community connected: equally happy communicating the ‘open’ vision to senior policy staff, members of civil society organisations and project implementers in the IT sphere.
- Be a strong facilitator, both at in-person and online meetings and training,
- Bring a user-centred perspective to designing and delivering products.
- Be flexible and willing to learn on the job, working at the forefront of high profile global open data initiatives.
- Be willing to travel to conduct meetings & lead training
- Have excellent communication skills – the ability to explain technical solutions and applications to non-technical audiences, and excellent written English
- Be an effective social networker, with ability to develop and facilitate communities and communicate effectively using social media tools
- Recognize, create and seize opportunities to put ideas into practice
Knowledge/Technical Skills
- (Required) Experience in the delivery and management of IT projects
- (Required) Demonstrable ability to write technical guidance and communications in plain English for non-technical audiences
- (Nice to have) Good understanding of:
- The open data movement and the opportunities / challenges
- Other Multi-stakeholder Transparency Initiatives surrounding financial flows, e.g. Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI), Open Contracting, Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT).
- Understanding of how data standards are developed and used
- Strong data analysis skills including:
- (Required) Advanced knowledge of Excel and similar tools
- (Nice to have) The ability to structure and visualise complex data to make it accessible to different audiences
- (Strongly suggested) Experience of managing and working with databases and XML – particularly with IATI data
- Additional language skills would be an advantage.
- Grantwriting or business-development experience
Salary
Competitive, depending on experience. The role includes a fundraising element to raise funds for future development of the toolkit beyond the preliminary stages.
About the organisations
Development Initiatives
Development Initiatives is a not for profit organisation with offices in the UK and Kenya, working to build a global consensus to end poverty, to improve the prioritisation and allocation of resources and to look at the role of access to information in ending poverty. We seek to make information on poverty and resources transparent, accessible and useful, through research, analysis, training and collaborative projects.
The Open Knowledge Foundation
The Open Knowledge Foundation is a multi-award winning community-based, not-for-profit organisation. The Foundation now has projects and partnerships throughout the world and is especially active in Europe. We build tools and communities to create, use and share open knowledge – content and data that everyone can use, share and build on. We believe that by creating an open knowledge commons and developing tools and communities around this we can make a significant contribution to improving governance, research and the economy.
Location
This is a flexible, tele-commuting contract. We have a strong preference for candidates within 3 timezones of UTC:
We will consider applicants located near to one of the Open Knowledge Foundation Hubs or Development Initiatives offices (UK, Germany, Kenya) particularly favourably.
How to apply
To apply please send the following to jobs [at] okfn.org by 11th December :
- a cover letter highlighting relevant experience
- your CV / Resume
School of Data is hiring a Workshop and Project Coordinator! See below for details about the role and how to apply.
About School of Data
School of Data ( https://schoolofdata.org/ ) works to empower civil society organizations, journalists and citizens with the skills they need to use data effectively in their efforts to create fairer and more sustainable societies.
Audience
School of Data focuses on supporting and working with:
- Data-oriented staff at NGOs & NGOs (as a whole)
- Potential or actual data-journalists
- “data geeks who care”
Fundamentally, we care most about people who use data “for good”. While we work globally, we have a particular focus at the present on Latin America and Africa.
About the role
Duties are negotiable, but projected to include tasks such as:
- Representing the School of Data Project and its various projects and activities at events around the world
- Working with and supporting our local partners
- Taking charge of the communications and outreach
- Organising and facilitating events, workshops and training
- Soliciting for guest tutorials and blog posts for the school of data blog
- Writing posts and copy for the website
- Building the School of Data network around the world, starting in Latin America and Africa
- Developing processes and systems to help support local School of Data Initiatives, including handbooks and governance structures
- Doing unexpected stuff spontaneously!
This role sits within the Knowledge unit of the the Open Knowledge Foundation.
## Person specification
We are looking for someone self-driven, organised and a good communicator. This person should be comfortable running a number of projects at the same time, speaking at events and travelling – sometimes at short notice. We need a gregarious, tech-translator, who can empathise with the needs of NGOs, journalists and engaged citizens and translate the tech to human in order to allow them to start learning.
Experience in working in data-driven projects is essential, and topics such as government spending, procurement, extractive industries etc would be especially welcome.
Candidates with a background in online community management, facilitation or campaigning will be looked upon favourably. Grant-writing, project management and contract-handling experience will be valued.
Location
We will consider applicants based anywhere in the world; however a mild preference is given to those close to one of our hubs in London, Berlin or Cambridge.
Pay & closing date
The rate is negotiable based on experience. This full-time position is available immediately. The closing date for applications is 15th May 2013.
How to apply
To apply please send a cover letter highlighting relevant experience, your CV and a 30-second video explaining your interest in the role to [email protected].
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Data Storyteller
We’re looking for a data storyteller who is excited to tell stories through data, independently of whether they come from a coding, visualization, journalistic or statistical background. You will work on various datasets, trying to understand them and to tell their story to a broader audience. You will also be involved in training efforts, creating and teaching courses in data analysis to technical and non-technical audiences.
You’ll be working both on independent research for the new data blog and together with some of our other projects, such as the the School of Data and the OpenSpending project.
Skills we’re looking for:
- Experience in data analysis and statistical methods
- Experience with data cleansing, and extraction techniques
- Good written communication skills
- Basic skills in information/data visualization
- Experience with R/Stata/SPSS is a plus
- Energy, enthusiasm, and a willingness to be creative and flexible
- Preference for candidates located close to London or Berlin
This role reports to the Head of Knowledge, who coordinates activities like School of Data, training, handbooks, and so on.
How to apply
If you’d like to apply, please email [email protected] with the subject line “Data Storyteller” before 7th Jan. For bonus points, suggest a Data Expedition you would be interested in leading yourself and how you would do it. For more info, see: https://schoolofdata.org/data-expeditions/
Civic Developer
We’re looking for a civic developer who is excited to tell stories through data and focus on using data to solve real-world problems. Working primarily with and NGO and journalist audience, you will work on various datasets, trying to understand them and to tell their story to a broader audience. You will also be involved in training efforts, creating and teaching courses in data analysis to technical and non-technical audiences.
You’ll present the results of your work via the new data blog as well as through some of our other projects, such as the the School of Data and the OpenSpending project.
Skills we’re looking for:
- Strong coder in JavaScript, Python or other script languages
- Developed open source tools or libraries, web applications (include links to sites and code repositories)
- Experience with data cleansing, ETL patterns
- Good written communication skills
- Basic skills in information/data visualization
- Energy, enthusiasm, and a willingness to be creative and flexible
- Preference for candidates located close to London or Berlin
This role reports to the Head of Knowledge, who coordinates activities like School of Data & civic activities of the OKFN.
How to apply
If you’d like to apply, please email [email protected] with the subject line “Civic Developer” before 7th Jan including a link to your portfolio of work.
Please note: the recruitment process for a Project Coordinator has now closed. If you are interested in working for the Open Knowledge Foundation, please see our jobs page for more details.
[Project Coordinator – Job Description] – Position now closed
The School of Data is a project to teach data wrangling skills to an international audience. We aim to enable and inspire e.g. NGOs, civil society organisations, journalists and citizens to use, analyse and interpret data more effectively.
The School of Data collaboration is led by the Open Knowledge Foundation and P2PU. The new Project Coordinator will be part of the Open Knowledge Foundation team, and will be responsible for liaising between stakeholders and coordinating the overall activities of the School.
The successful candidate will be bright, articulate and confident, with excellent written and verbal communication skills. Strong organisational and administrative skills are essential, as is the ability to build relationships, develop new opportunities, and provide positive leadership for this distributed team.
Prior experience of working with data – particularly for journalism / an NGO – would be a bonus, but more important is dedication and the ability to learn. This role could suit an exceptional young graduate, as well as someone with previous experience.
Areas of Responsibility
Team Coordinator/Lead
- Liaising with stakeholders – including funding bodies, partners, volunteers and the School of Data team.
- Reaching out to new audiences, engaging the community and providing support.
- Acting as a public face for the School of Data, responding to incoming inquiries.
- Coordinating events, leading workshops, networking.
- Taking responsibility for budget oversight and planning.
Project Development
- Spotting opportunities for collaboration.
- Developing & maintaining relationships with relevant organisations and initiatives.
- Overseeing (and writing) funding proposals, press releases, MoUs etc.
Project management
- Managing budget and resources.
- Internal & external reporting.
- Leading meetings, coordinating workflows, taking responsibility for progress towards deliverables.
Essential Skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Fluency in English, plus the ability to communicate with people for whom English is not their first language, particularly via email and Skype.
- Organisational and administrative skills, including e.g. time management & event coordination.
- Some experience of budget & project management.
- Competency in maths; basic familiarity with statistics and data analysis.
- The flexibility and pragmatism to turn a vision into a living product.
Other Qualities
- Willingness to travel.
- A willingness to occasionally work outside ‘office hours’ – usually in order to attend an event or to coordinate across time zones.
- Experience of working with a distributed global team.
- Optimally, experience of working in journalism, research and/or with an NGO.
- Familiarity with organisations such as the Open Knowledge Foundation, P2PU, Tactical Tech, Creative Commons, MySociety, Wikimedia etc. would be a bonus.
- ‘Data Wrangling’ skills would be a distinct advantage.
Location: We are flexible about where you are located, and there is the possibility to work remotely from anywhere in the world. If you are close to one of the OKFN’s existing hubs in London, Cambridge (UK) or Berlin, that would be an advantage. The School of Data team are currently also based in Vienna and San Francisco. No-one should feel discouraged from applying based on location – but be aware that office hours may need to be adapted depending on your timezone.
Salary: Negotiable, dependent on experience.
To Apply
Please send a CV and covering letter to [email protected]. Please include a short (1 minute) video explaining why you are interested in this role.
Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis; please apply as early as possible.