2023 Pollicy Fellowship
SUMMARY
Pollicy’s fellowship programme aims to introduce students and young professionals to civic tech and research initiatives, while also allowing these fellows to contribute to the field’s knowledge base using their data skills. The 6-month fellowship includes opportunities to collaborate with civic tech innovators, conduct exploratory research on topics related to using data and civic tech to improve government services, and strengthen their capacity in using equitable data.
Fellows are expected to use their time to conduct final research, create multimedia products, blog posts, training curricula, and host events both online and offline, while collaborating with the Pollicy team and partners in the civic tech community.
Pollicy aims to recruit and empower four fellows to support its various data initiatives for the 2022 fellowship programme, which will include:
- Research Fellow, Anglophone (Remote or Kampala),
- Research Fellow, Francophone (Remote or Kampala),
- Communications Fellow (Kampala), and
- Community Engagement Fellow (Kampala).
For more information on the positions, see the details of various fellow role responsibilities and the application form below.
RESEARCH FELLOW, ANGLOPHONE (REMOTE OR KAMPALA) 1 POSITION.
The fellow will work with the research team to imagine and create more just, equitable, and representative futures for technology and research. During their fellowship, the fellow will identify and challenge injustices emerging from new technologies, such as the restriction of women’s access and use of tech platforms, and identify solutions that advance social, political, and economic rights, which could include developing a final body of research, collaborating with the team to design tech products such as chat bots, algorithmic functions, meta-analysis, data visualisation, and or conducting skilling training.
Key Roles and Responsibilities
- Conduct secondary research on topics related to our work with the assistance of the research team in order to inform our reach and creative content development.
- Collaborate with the research team to collect programme data, interviews, and quotes for research purposes.
- Collaborate with the team and participate in facilitated design thinking workshops to develop cutting-edge products such as dashboards, chat bots, algorithmic functions, meta-analysis, and data visualisation.
- Perform related duties as assigned by the supervisor; and Adhere to all organisational policies and procedures.
RESEARCH FELLOW, FRANCOPHONE (REMOTE OR KAMPALA) 1 POSITION.
They will foster and maintain positive relationships with local stakeholders and implementation partners in Francophone West Africa. She or he will work with our remote research team to complete tasks such as designing survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative research, conducting extensive piloting exercises, refining surveying instruments, managing survey teams, and checking and analysing data.
Since this is a bilingual fellowship position, it is essential that you are fluent in both English and French.
Key Roles and Responsibilities
- Create and test survey instruments; oversee translation into local languages.
- Conduct research interviews in either English or French
- Manage data entry and ensure the smooth operation of daily data quality checks.
- Ensure that data quality protocols are followed, which includes auditing enumerators, monitoring data collection, and conducting data quality audits.
- Establish relationships and partnerships with local community organisations that are aligned with the Pollicy focus areas of work in research, data, and civic technology.
- Perform related duties as assigned by the supervisor; and Adhere to all organisational policies and procedures.
COMMUNICATIONS FELLOW (KAMPALA) 1 POSITION.
The Communications Fellow will be responsible for writing, designing, and developing online and mainstream content, as well as publishing data-related stories, under the supervision of the communications and advocacy lead and Research Team, to assist in telling stories of our amazing work, inspiring and engaging the public through sharing our data and research work through various communications channels, including mainstream and social media. We’re looking for final-year journalism students or early-career professionals who want to work on civic technology issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. The communication fellow will work with the communication team and will report directly to the communications and advocacy lead. The fellowship position is only available to Uganda residents and will take place in Kampala, Uganda.
Key Roles and Responsibilities
- Produce engaging materials to communicate success stories and research engagement opportunities to the public, including through social media, blogs, web content and the podcast series
- Lead digital documentation of Pollicy work through photography and videography, building and organizing resource libraries using Google Drive.
- Contribute to the drafting, editing and design of Op-Eds, blogs, company website, news articles, press releases, guides, presentations, fact sheets and infographics/data visualization, as needed
- Support the development of data-driven media outreach activities such as press releases, key messaging, radio interviews, social media, events for community building both online and offline such as webinars, Tweetchats, WhatsApp chats, happy hours, and so on.
- Conduct digital campaign and communications needs assessments for Pollicy and partner organizations to identify gaps and opportunities for growth
- Organize and engage in creative, knowledge-sharing and skill-building activities and resources, which contribute to the Community of Practice and overall culture of learning
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FELLOW (KAMPALA) 1 POSITION.
As a Community Engagement fellow, the ideal applicant will be responsible for planning, organising, marketing, and event management of organisation gatherings both online and offline, as well as assisting in the development of a community networking and convening culture putting in mind the Covid epidemic restrictions.
Key Roles and Responsibilities
- Assist in the proactive planning, and scheduling of a wide range of events, such as annual events, networking events, and special interest group meetings.
- collaborate with the communications and programmes team to plan and carry out all communication and marketing activities required for successful events.
- Assist in the development of event programme content, solicit partners, create and coordinate the drafting/distribution of promotional materials, ticket sales, and mobilise participants through registrations or invitations.
