We are looking for a Tech Community Facilitator to join our Investigative Tech Team. You will join other members of this team to build bridges between the open-source research community and the open-source software community.

Who We Are

Bellingcat is an independent collective of international researchers using open source and social media investigations to probe conflict, corruption, crimes, disinformation, extremist groups and much, much more. We have received multiple awards for our research and publications that shine a light on wrongdoing. Our community (which includes staff, contributors and volunteers around the world) works in a unique field where technology, forensic research, journalism and the advancement of justice and accountability come together.

Bellingcat’s Investigative Tech Team builds tools, conducts data-intensive investigations and ensures that a global community of diverse open source researchers are able to use new technologies for their investigations.

Who You Are

You have programming experience, have contributed to open-source software projects and have experience working with external volunteers or community members, either professionally or in your free time. This could be as a developer relations engineer, volunteer coordinator, community manager, community group leader or something similar.

You are enthusiastic about working for an international nonprofit organisation that uses publicly available data and open source analysis to investigate a variety of topics that are in the public interest and which advance transparency.

This is a non-standard position that will likely be unique to Bellingcat and the field it inhabits. If you don’t fit every element of the skills and experiences listed below, that’s OK. We’re looking for a combination of skills and experiences that are not particularly common. There will be lots of freedom to define the specific responsibilities of this role together with our team, based on your experience and interest. If you have a non-traditional background but think you would be a good fit for this position, don’t hesitate to apply (however, programming experience is definitely required).

Responsibilities may include:

• Support the open-source community in developing software tools (for example, reaching out to members of Bellingcat’s Discord server who are working on programming-related projects)
• Maintain and grow Bellingcat’s technical volunteer community
• Organise Bellingcat’s Hackathons and increase the diversity of participants’ backgrounds
• Produce video guides and live-coding videos for the community
• Coordinate Bellingcat’s technical outreach on multiple social media platforms, such as Discord, Reddit, and YouTube
• Communicate with maintainers of widely-used open-source software tools
• Help support Bellingcat’s training workshops to include more technical content
• Help develop strategies for promoting tools to a wider audience
• Work with Bellingcat’s Tech Fellows

Skills And Experience

• At least two years of programming experience
• Experience working with external stakeholders, such as volunteers or developers
• Strong interpersonal and relationship building skills
• The desire to regularly communicate with a variety of contributors, including volunteers, fellows, developers and community members
• Full professional English proficiency preferred, proficiency in additional languages is welcome
• Willingness to work independently with colleagues spread across several time zones (remote working is possible in this role)

What We Offer

Bellingcat is a young, innovative and diverse international team with a flat organisational structure and a lot of flexibility. We look at results, not office hours. Our distributed model of work encourages initiative, a high degree of responsibility and ownership of both your successes and challenges. We value and reward the drive for excellence and don’t put up with the bare minimum.

We are open to this position being full-time or part-time, with an initial one-year contract (three months probation period and the possibility for extension or permanent contract subject to performance).

The salary range (based on 1 fte, i.e. full-time employment 40 hours per week) is within the framework of the non-profit sector and is between 52,000 and 55,000 EUR/USD depending on experience and track record.

Additional benefits include 25 (twenty five) days of paid holiday days per year (based on 1 fte), full social security benefits (in case employment is in an EU country) and contribution for health insurance (in case employment is in the US).

How To Apply

Bellingcat is committed to a diverse working environment. Our team is international, from a wide range of backgrounds and we always welcome and appreciate new perspectives and life experiences. All qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to race, colour, origin, religion, age, gender or sexual orientation. Your formal education is less important to us than your previous experience in the field. A specific formal educational background or employment history is not required for this position . We are committed to helping create a diverse, open source researcher and developer community.

Please apply by sending a CV and a cover letter explaining your suitability for this role to jobs@bellingcat.com. Please also note Tech Community Facilitator in the subject line of your email. Please note the job you are applying for in the subject line of your email. We will begin reviewing applications on 15 May 2023. Given we expect to receive a high number of applications, it will not be possible to respond to all applications.