Role: Program Manager
Duration: open immediately – August 2023
Commitment: Part-time (output/task based, but as a guideline, we anticipate a 40% or 2 days per week commitment, depending on the candidate’s experience)
Location: Remote (ideally in an Asian time zone)
Deadline to apply: 3 July, 2022 (11:59pm anywhere on earth)
About Digital Asia Hub:
The Digital Asia Hub (DAH) is a Hong Kong based independent, non-profit Internet and society research think tank with a focus on the Asia Pacific region. Incubated by the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and a diverse group of academic, civil society, and private sector partners, DAH provides a non-partisan, open, and collaborative platform for (i) networked research, (ii) knowledge sharing, and (iii) capacity building related to Internet and society issues.
About the program:
The program “Activating Corporate Accountability Research for Internet Freedom in Local Environments” aims to strengthen capacity among global digital rights advocates to design, conduct, and disseminate research to advance corporate accountability for internet freedom. Through activities carried out under this program, we will promote human rights–based standards set by the research methodology for the Ranking Digital Rights Corporate Accountability Index, which ranks the world’s most powerful digital platforms and telecommunications companies on their commitments and policies affecting users’ freedom of expression, information, and privacy rights. DAH will work with partners across Asia to support research on the human rights commitments of tech companies in three East and Southeast Asian jurisdictions – Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan – which are critical to securing internet freedom in the region, and ultimately, globally. Working closely with RDR, who will develop the research training resources and infrastructure, DAH will be responsible for the Malaysian research, and for coordinating with partners in South Korea and Taiwan who will handle those country studies.
About the role:
We are hiring for the Program Manager, who will be responsible for the following:
- Leading the research design, including company and indicator selection, for the Malaysian research, with support from in-country researchers and other experts
- Managing project deadlines, timetables, resources, and workflows, including research and publication of the RDR Corporate Accountability Index research adaptation in Malaysia and others among partners, in close collaboration with DAH’s Executive Director, other DAH staff, and the RDR team
- Coordinating closely with project partners in Asia to ensure they are aware of project developments, their responsibilities, and that they deliver on time and have channels for communicating challenges and making requests for support
- Organizing virtual and in-person convenings between DAH, RDR and country partners
- Leading the process of testing RDR research training materials and infrastructure, in collaboration with the country partners and providing feedback on a regular basis
- Working with the three country studies to produce a culminating report (highlighting convergences and divergences, trends, and lessons learned from the three jurisdictions, towards adaptation of the RDR Index methodology and promoting corporate accountability research in East and Southeast Asia)
- Working with designers and editors to help shape the report and related media outputs for diverse audiences and stakeholders
- Co-creating the dissemination strategy for the final report and related media, in collaboration with the DAH Executive Director and other staff. Note: The administration and compliance tasks required to report on this grant, including managing DAH’s project budget and quarterly financial reporting, have been hived off and turned into a complementary role within this program team, to enable the research and engagement focus of this role to take precedence.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Demonstrable experience designing and delivering research projects (familiarity with research methods and data-driven initiatives is a plus)
- Closely related subject matter expertise in the digital right field (internet freedom, surveillance, freedom of expression, corporate accountability, human rights, etc.), or in a related field
- Minimum 3-year experience of program/project management; demonstrable experience managing workflows, deadlines, resource allocation
- Experience with conceptualizing and editing reports, especially for multiple stakeholders and audiences
- Superior communication skills in English (oral and written)
- Well-organized, detail-and process-oriented
- Comfortable working in close-knit (but internationally dispersed) teams, with collaborative project management, communications, and remote working tools (Slack, GSuite, Asana, Zoom etc.)
Ideal Qualifications
- Proficiency in one other Asian language (ideally Malay or Mandarin)
- Prior experience working on Malaysian digital rights issues, or collaborating with Malaysian experts on regional/global projects
We are looking to fill this position soon. To apply, please send us the following material by 11:59pm anywhere on earth (AOE) on 3 July to Dev Lewis dlewis@digitalasiahub.org
- A CV/resume
- A cover letter demonstrating your interest in the role, and why you’d be a great fit
- Samples of your work that you deem relevant to the role (maximum of 3)