Senior/ Programme Officer, Censorship Project – Global Digital Programme

Responsible to: Deputy Head of Digital, Censorship

Key Relationships: Global Digital Programme, Global Law and Policy Programme, UN Programme, Global Gender and Sexuality Programme, Communications and Campaigns, Regional Digital Focal Points

Contract: Permanent

Working Hours: Full-time, 37.5 per week

Salary: USD 59,488 – 63,814 (Programme Officer) / USD 61,620 – 73,386 (Senior Programme Officer) (seniority and salary determined on the basis of a combination of factors, including skills, experience, and location)

Location: U.S.-based (remote/flexible work possible)

Working Language: English

Special Conditions: Travel required, occasionally extended

ABOUT US

Established in 1987, ARTICLE 19 (A19) works for a world where all people everywhere can freely express themselves and actively engage in public life without fear or discrimination. Our mission is to promote and defend the universal human rights of freedom of expression and information around the world, through international advocacy, legal analysis, and regional and national projects. Our Vision is for all people everywhere to be able to freely express themselves and actively engage in public life without fear of discrimination.

A19 has been expanding and strengthening our international reach by consolidating our presence outside the UK, recruiting national or regional staff, and establishing strong and operationally autonomous national or regional offices. Being based in the countries and regions in which we work, we believe we have a better understanding of regional and national realities and local needs and thus have greater impact on freedom of expression developments. We are able to respond more swiftly to opportunities or crises. We are closer to our partners, and thus more capable to respond to their demands and strengthen interactions and capacities.

Under the direction of A19’s organisational strategy, the mandate of the Global Digital Programme is to build and strengthen human rights considerations in the design, development, and deployment of Internet infrastructure technologies. To do so, we carry out a range of tactics in collaboration with other A19 offices and teams, including engaging in research, technical standardisation, multilateral advocacy, law and policy advocacy, business and human rights advocacy, civil society support, and strategic communications. The Global Digital Programme is composed of three projects that work on key issues at the intersection of Internet infrastructure and freedom of expression: Connectivity, Censorship, and Datafication.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Senior/ Programme Officer is responsible for carrying out key aspects of the Censorship Project, which is part of ARTICLE 19’s Global Digital Programme. This role reports to the Deputy Head of Digital for Censorship and works closely with the other roles in the Censorship Project.

The Censorship Project works to ensure that people can exercise their rights to speak and know using Internet infrastructure that is purposefully designed and deployed to enable the free flow of information. As part of the Global Digital Programme’s 2022-2025 strategy, the Censorship Project team works on checking content moderation at the infrastructure level and improving the censorship resilience of telecommunication networks and the domain name system (DNS).

This role primarily focuses on engaging in technical policy development in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN); carrying out research, engaging in law and policy advocacy, writing outputs, primarily related to the DNS; and participating in community-building among small, community-level infrastructure providers. The Programme Officer will also support the Deputy Head of Digital and other programme officers in the Censorship Project in engaging directly with infrastructure providers on improving their human rights due diligence and responding to ad hoc requests for support or carrying out joint activities with other A19 offices and teams on topics relevant to censorship.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Participate in technical policy development relevant to human rights and censorship in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This work includes: reviewing draft standards and other technical documents; preparing and submitting contributions and other interventions; participating directly in ICANN meetings to influence major outputs and outcomes.
• Mentor censorship track fellows of A19’s Internet of Rights Programme. This work includes: selecting and onboarding 1-2 fellows per year who participate in ICANN meetings to address censorship issues; support fellows’ work plan development; provide 1-1 guidance to fellows to help them improve their participation in ICANN.
• Build and participate in civil society coalitions and information-sharing networks. This work includes: coordinating civil society coalitions ahead of major meetings; participating in existing civil society networks and coalitions, such as the Public Interest Technology Group (PITG); and developing information-sharing networks for small, non-profit, and community-level infrastructure providers.
• Represent the work of the Censorship Project, Global Digital Programme, and ARTICLE 19 to internal and external audiences, including at conferences, events, panels, and closed-door meetings.
• Carry out strategic communications and the production of reports for the Censorship Project. This work includes: developing, drafting, reviewing, and publishing a wide range of ARTICLE 19 materials, including blog posts, statements, policy briefs, framing papers, and reports; and engaging through external media outlets, including guest pieces, op-eds, and interviews.
• Support multilateral, regional, and national law and policy advocacy, in collaboration with relevant A19 offices and teams. This work includes: participating in international meetings, conferences, and decision-making processes, including those related to UN human rights mechanisms and procedures; engaging directly with regulators, policymakers, and other public sector decision-makers.
• Carry out research on censorship and human rights issues. This work includes: conducting interviews, desk research, or other investigative methods; analysing data to determine A19 recommendations; and drafting outputs in collaboration with local research consultants, Censorship Project team members, and A19 regional offices.
• Support business and human rights engagement for the Censorship Project. This work includes contributing to the development of human rights impact indicator frameworks, impact assessments and analyses, and relationships with target DNS service providers.
• Keep abreast of developments in the connectivity field at-large to facilitate timely and ad-hoc responses.
• Participate in strategic planning activities for the Censorship Project and Global Digital Programme. This work includes collaborating closely with the Deputy Head to: develop multi-year programme and project strategies; set annual project and cross-programme targets; and prepare activities work plans for project team.
• Support grants management and fundraising, as needed**.**
• Manage key internal and external relationships including with other A19 offices and teams, civil society partners, consultants, and government and industry representatives.
• Support other ARTICLE 19 programmes, offices, and teams, as needed and appropriate.
• Undertake other duties commensurate with the role and reasonably assigned by the Deputy Head of Digital for Censorship.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

ESSENTIAL

Education and Knowledge:

• Educated to degree-level or equivalent experience.
• Expertise in censorship issues. Strong knowledge of and previous experience working on issues related to Internet censorship at the infrastructure level.
• Knowledge of human rights and technology. Working knowledge of the human rights framework, particularly freedom of expression and/or privacy; ability to understand how Internet infrastructure technologies work and make the case for their relevance to human rights.

Experience:

• Research experience. Demonstrated understanding of how to design and carry out research with policy-oriented impact.
• Policy experience, including in advocating for policies, laws, or regulation or developing policy agendas and positions to effectively engage policymakers and/or regulators.

Skills and abilities:

• Strong reading comprehension and analysis of technical legal and policy documentation related to DNS operations, such as registry and registrar agreements, ICANN reports, and ICANN Board recommendations.
• Ability to work effectively in multi-stakeholder organisations such as ICANN; ability to work with different stakeholders across government, industry, academia, and civil society toward a consensus outcome.
• Strategic thinking skills. Ability to ‘zoom out’ and understand how activities relate to long-term strategy outcomes and impacts; ability to identify and create opportunities that have clear strategic value; ability to develop effective responses to relevant developments that may threaten human rights; commitment to achieving meaningful impact.
• Critical and innovative thinking skills. Knowledge of current activities and approaches being deployed by civil society in the field; ability to identify problems or gaps in the field and develop novel or unique responses to effectively address them.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. Ability to communicate both complex technological and human rights concepts in a clear and compelling way, taking into account different audiences across government, academia, civil society, industry, and the general public.

DESIRABLE

• Previous experience working on issues related to human rights and the DNS.
• Previous experience engaging with businesses on improving human rights due diligence.
• Coalition-building experience, particularly across civil society advocates.

Other requirements:

• Ability to successfully work in global, diverse teams as part of a fully remote programme.
• Commitment to equal opportunities and non-discrimination.
• Commitment to excellence, and ability to bring this quality out in others.
• Grit and determination: interest in sticking with and working through hard problems, even when there aren’t clear or easy answers.
• A growth mindset: strong interest in learning more about Internet infrastructure technologies and human rights; interest in continuing to improve and learn new skills.
• Commitment to the aims and objectives of ARTICLE 19 and a human-rights-based approach.
• Willingness and availability for regular international travel, and occasional evening and weekend work.

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive staff at ARTICLE 19. If you don’t have all of the experience or expertise set out in this JD, but still believe that you would be a good candidate for the role, we strongly encourage you to submit your application.

We are committed to finding the best candidate across both early and mid-career professional levels; as such, this role may be offered as a Programme Officer or Senior Programme Officer, depending on the candidate’s demonstrated skills and experience. If you wish to be considered exclusively for the Senior Programme Officer level, please indicate this preference in your cover letter and provide a justification.

How to apply

To apply, please click here

Closing date: Monday 1st January 2024

Interviews: week commencing Monday 8th January 2024