Strategic Technologist

  • Remote
  • TBD USD / Year

Internews Network

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY

The Strategic Technologist (ST) will lead efforts to strengthen, coordinate, and advance the use of technology across Internews’ Internet freedom & Resilience (IFR) programs, as well as support Internews’ technical and programmatic staff. The ST will serve as a critical Internews connection to the global Internet freedom (IF) community, ensuring that Internews’ IFR program design and implementation reflect current thinking and trends, as well as evolving threat environments, and incorporate innovative tools and technology that shape digital rights and digital security programming. They will work closely with the Director for IFR programs to develop and operationalize the IFR team’s strategic plan and identify opportunities to grow and diversify the funding and program types that comprise the IFR portfolio.

The ST will coordinate, mentor, and advise IFR team technologists in their programmatic work as well as support them to proactively collaborate to build and strengthen an internal community of technical and like-minded program staff across Internews. This will include collaborating and coordinating with representatives from Internews’ Technical Leadership Unit.

The ideal candidate will have an understanding of key Internet freedom-related technical concepts, enthusiasm for supporting innovative, systems-level interventions that respond to digital threats to human rights, and an interest in supporting others as they expand and refine specialized technical expertise.

LOGISTICS

This is a remote-based position, and candidates may be based in any of the following locations: the United States of America; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Lithuania; Tajikistan; Kenya; or Liberia. Candidates must have work authorization in one of the above locations that does not require sponsorship from Internews.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so candidates are encouraged to apply soon.

This is a limited duration position, with an expected term of twelve months.

OUR COMMITMENT TO FOSTERING A CULTURE OF BELONGING

We are an organization of dynamic, mission-driven individuals who are passionate about our core values and about supporting positive change in the world. We pride ourselves on our commitment to innovation and flexibility. We believe that diverse teams are strong teams and work to support an ethic of belonging, dignity, and justice for all people. Our current team includes a mix of genders, parents and non-parents, and people of multiple races, nationalities, ages, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic backgrounds. We are an EEO employer and encourage candidates of all races, genders, ages, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply, and welcome those with alternative backgrounds and experiences.

DAY-TO-DAY TASKS will include:

Leadership

  • Coordinate and ensure Internews’ technical representation in relevant global Internet freedom events and communities, encouraging and facilitating other IFR team members’ effective participation in private and public conferences, events, and online community gatherings.
  • Work closely with the Director of Internet freedom & Resilience to develop the IFR Portfolio Strategy, including identifying new trends and technical areas of interest for Internews’ IFR programming.
  • Serve as a focal point within Intenrews for IFR technologists and liaise on IF technology issues with other Internews programs or units.
  • Create content, such as blog posts or white papers, for internal and external distribution on topics that advance Internews’ IFR work and strengthen the organization’s reputation as an implementer of high-quality, human-rights-focused programming.
  • Support Internews’ emergency/rapid response in closing or closed civic spaces.
  • In all duties, uphold Internews’ Core Values and demonstrate commitment to fostering a culture of Belonging, Dignity, and Justice.

Project Implementation and Support

  • Coordinate with technologists and relevant methodologies on the IFR team with Internews’ regional or other programmatic teams.
  • Advise and support IFR technologists and project leads on technical components of project implementation (i.e., advising on scopes of work for subgrantees, assisting with partner recruitment, suggesting tools, conducting rapid threat modeling, etc.). See the Qualifications section (below) for expertise areas.
  • Support the recruitment and onboarding of new IFR technologists.
  • As needed, serve as a backstop for IFR technologists (i.e., during scheduled leave, periods of staffing transitions, etc.).

Community Building and Coordination

  • Proactively engage with other technologists across the organization to build a community of IFR technologists within Internews.
  • Track technical programming across the IFR team and help ensure the continuity of project concepts.

Business Development

  • Support proposal processes, including brainstorming, writing, and reviewing proposals within the IFR team and across the organization.
  • Identify new areas of growth for programming.

QUALIFICATIONS WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Required

  • University degree or equivalent lived/professional experience.
  • A minimum of 7 years prior relevant experience.
  • Proven experience working on relevant technologies or technical expertise, ideally related to Internet freedom. Preferably, the candidate should have experience in at least one of the following fields:
    • Circumvention technologies and/or anti-censorship services (such as DDOS prevention, I2P, Tor, etc.);
    • Network measurement and circumvention technology tool providers and platforms (such as Tor, Psiphon, Lntern, OONI, Censored Planet, etc.);
    • Delivering trainings and building training methodologies on digital safety;
    • Organizational security (including assessments and long-term support of at-risk organizations or communities);
    • System administration or DevOps, utilizing open-source tools;
    • Threat analysis and threat sharing;
    • Software development, with contributions or previous knowledge of opensource tools;
    • Civic tech, privacy enhancing tools, cybersecurity;
    • Peer-to-peer communication tools (such as Briar);
    • Other technical topics related to Internet freedom.
  • Prior experience working with at-risk or marginalized communities and/or with the Internet freedom community.
  • Understanding of the Internet’s building blocks: DNS, SSL/TLS, IP, etc.
  • Native-level fluency in English (written and spoken).
  • Ability to explain complex technical subjects in lay language to less technically experienced persons.
  • Commitment to sustainable, transparent, and open tools and solutions in Internet freedom programming.
  • Excellent communication and networking skills, both written and oral.
  • Proven ability to operate in a multicultural and remote work environment, with a globally distributed team.
  • Proven ability to work both independently and collaboratively; demonstrated leadership skills.
  • Flexibility to accommodate periodic workload and work hours shifts.

Preferred

Note: Candidates who do not have these preferred qualifications, but are interested and willing to learn, are encouraged to apply.

  • Prior experience working in the nonprofit sector.
  • Program design and proposal development experience.

How to apply

To apply, please submit CV and optionally a cover letter via our Careers page.


Deadline: 7 Apr 2023