Join the School of Data team: Technical Trainer wanted

Background

The mission of Open Knowledge International is to open up all essential public interest information and see it utilized to create insight that drives change. To this end we work to create a global movement for open knowledge, supporting a network of leaders and local groups around the world; we facilitate coordination and knowledge sharing within the movement; we build collaboration with other change-making organisations both within our space and outside; and, finally, we prototype and provide a home for pioneering products.

A decade after its foundation, Open Knowledge International is ready for its next phase of development. We started as an organisation that led the quest for the opening up of existing data sets – and in today’s world most of the big data portals run on CKAN, an open source software product developed first by us.

Today, it is not only about opening up of data; it is making sure that this data is usable, useful and – most importantly – used, to improve people’s lives. Our current projects (School of Data, OpenSpending, OpenTrials, and many more) all aim towards giving people access to data, the knowledge to understand it, and the power to use it in our everyday lives.

The School of Data is growing in size and scope, and to support this project – alongside our partners – we are looking for an enthusiastic Technical Trainer (flexible location, part time).

School of Data is a network of data literacy practitioners, both organisations and individuals, implementing training and other data literacy activities in their respective countries and regions. Members of the School of Data work to empower civil society organizations (CSOs), journalists, governments and citizens with the skills they need to use data effectively in their efforts to create better, more equitable and more sustainable societies. Over the past four years, School of Data has succeeded in developing and sustaining a thriving and active network of data literacy practitioners in partnership with our implementing partners across Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Our local implementing partners are Social TIC, Code for Africa, Metamorphosis, and several Open Knowledge chapters around the world. Together, we have produced dozens of lessons and hands-on tutorials on how to work with data published online, benefitting thousands of people around the world. Over 4500 people have attended our tailored training events, and our network has mentored dozens of organisations to become tech savvy and data driven. Our methodologies and approach for delivering hands-on data training and data literacy skills – such as the data expedition – have now been replicated in various formats by organisations around the world.

One of our flagship initiatives, the School of Data Fellowship Programme, was first piloted in 2013 and has now successfully supported 26 fellows in 25 countries to provide long-term data support to CSOs in their communities. School of Data coordination team members are also consistently invited to give support locally to fellows in their projects and organisations that want to become more data-savvy.

In order to give fellows a solid point of reference in terms of content development and training resources, and also to have a point person to give capacity building support for our members and partners around the world, School of Data is now hiring an outstanding trainer/consultant who’s familiar with all the steps of the Data Pipeline and School of Data’s innovative training methodology to be the all-things-content-and-training for the School of Data network.

Objectives

The hired professional will have three main objectives:

Technical Trainer & Data Wrangler: represent School of Data in training activities around the world, either supporting local members through our Training Dispatch or delivering the training themselves;
Data Pipeline & Training Consultant: give support for members and fellows regarding training (planning, agenda, content) and curriculum development using School of Data’s Data Pipeline;
Curriculum development: work closely with the Programme Manager & Coordination team to steer School of Data’s curriculum development, updating and refreshing our resources as novel techniques and tools arise.

Terms of Reference

Attend regular (weekly) planning calls with School of Data Coordination Team;
Work with current and future School of Data funders and partners in data-literacy related activities in an assortment of areas: Extractive Industries, Natural Disaster, Health, Transportation, Elections, etc;
Be available to organise and run in person data-literacy training events around the world, sometimes in short notice (agenda, content planning, identifying data sources, etc);
Provide reports of training events and support given to members and partners of School of Data Network;
Work closely with all School of Data Fellows around the world to aid them in their content development and training events planning & delivery;
Write for the School of Data blog about curriculum and training events;
Take ownership of the development of curriculum for School of Data and support training events of the School of Data network;
Work with Fellows and other School of Data Members to design and develop their skillshare curriculum;
Coordinate support for the Fellows when they do their trainings;
Mentor Fellows including monthly point person calls, providing feedback on blog posts and curriculum & general troubleshooting;
The position reports to School of Data’s Programme Manager and will work closely with other members of the project delivery team;
This part-time role is paid by the hour. You will be compensated with a market salary, in line with the parameters of a non-profit-organisation;
We offer employment contracts for residents of the UK with valid permits, and services contracts to overseas residents

Deliverables

A lightweight monthly report of performed activities with Fellows and members of the network;
A final narrative report at the end of the first period (6 months) summarising performed activities;
Map the current School of Data curriculum to diagnose potential areas of improvement and to update;
Plan and suggest a curriculum development & training delivery toolkit for Fellows and members of the network

Requirements

Be self-motivated and autonomous;
Fluency in written and spoken English (Spanish & French are a plus);
Reliable internet connection;
Outstanding presentation and communication skills;
Proven experience running and planning training events;
Proven experience developing curriculum around data-related topics;
Experience working remotely with workmates in multiple timezones is a plus;
Experience in project management;
Major in Journalism, Computer Science, or related field is a plus

We strive for diversity in our team and encourage applicants from the Global South and from minorities.

Duration

Six months to one year: from November 2015 (as soon as possible) to April 2016, with the possibility to extend until October 2016 and beyond, at 10-12 days per month (8 hours/day).

Application Process

Interested? Then send us a motivational letter and a one page CV via https://okfn.org/about/jobs/.

Please indicate your current country of residence, as well as your salary expectations (in GBP) and your earliest availability.

Early application is encouraged, as we are looking to fill the positions as soon as possible. These vacancies will close when we find a suitable candidate.

Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis and may be requested on short notice.

If you have any questions, please direct them to jobs [at] okfn.org.