The project

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) is a disaggregated data collection, analysis, and crisis mapping project. The ACLED team conducts analysis to describe, explore, and test conflict scenarios, and makes both data and analysis open for free use by the public. ACLED material is regularly used to inform journalism, academic research, and public discourse on conflict, and to support the work of practitioners and policymakers. ACLED is the highest quality and most widely used real-time data and analysis source on political violence and protest around the world.

The role:

ACLED is recruiting a full-time Ethiopia Conflict Observatory (ECO) Researcher to contribute to analysis and data collection efforts for an upcoming project focusing on Ethiopia. This position is fully remote and can be done from any location with reliable internet service, although preference will be given to those based in the same timezone as Ethiopia. This is a full-time contractor position. Candidates must be available to start in February 2021.

The ECO Researcher will be supervised by the Africa Research Manager and the Ethiopia Senior Researcher. The ECO Researcher will be responsible for the following:

Specific roles and responsibility:

• Provide expertise on Ethiopia, including but not limited to:
• Contribution to oversight of coverage, including coding data for Ethiopia, per ACLED methodology, as needed
• Identifying useful sources of information, with access to local sources/networks a plus
• Identifying and liaising new partnerships to help further expand the conflict observatory, as required
• Expertise on displacement; measures and analysis of power dimensions at the local level; electoral results; demographic and geographic information; representation at the senior level; architecture of security services; and identification and assessment of violent groups within the state a plus
• Contribute to analysis products on Ethiopia
• These include, but are not limited to:
• A weekly summary of events and armed group activity in conjunction with a map and trend visualization
• A monthly discussion of the violence trends concentrating on the political environment that is producing violent competition, victim and perpetrator profiles, updates to conflicts and their direct and indirect effects and brief prediction scenarios
• Work under the direction of the Ethiopia Senior Researcher, and in close partnership with ACLED’s Ethiopia Conflict Observatory team (Project Officer, Africa Research Manager, Communications team, and Analysis team)
• Provide commentary to media, drawing on ACLED data, as needed

Skills and competencies:

ACLED is seeking applicants who have the following skills and experience (all required unless otherwise noted):

• Familiarity with Excel (essential);
• Fluency in English (essential);
• Fluency in Amharic (essential) and Tigrigna OR Afan Oromo (preferred);
• Expertise in the conflict context, political landscape, and local networks in Ethiopia;
• A degree in Political Science, Journalism, International Relations, or Regional Studies or similar;
• Experience working with media organizations in Ethiopia (preferred);
• Professional experience drafting documents in Amharic (preferred);
• Strong writing and editing skills;
• Strong critical thinking and analysis skills;
• High level of attention to detail and ability to receive and incorporate feedback;
• Ability to work remotely and meet deadlines with limited supervision;
• Familiarity with Tableau data analysis and visualization software (preferred)
• Access to a computer, a reliable internet connection, email, and the Microsoft Office Suite.

Remuneration:

Remuneration for this position is 16 USD per hour.

To apply, please submit a CV and cover letter detailing qualifications and experience. Please submit a writing sample (in both English and Amharic) along with your cover letter (in English) in one document.

Further information on the project is available online at https://acleddata.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=53.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Interested candidates are advised to apply early.