Trainer at Code for Africa (CfA)

Code for Africa is the continent’s largest federation of independent civic technology and data journalism laboratories, which build digital democracy solutions giving citizens unfettered access to actionable information that empowers them to make informed decisions and that strengthen civic engagement for improved public governance and accountability.

We are recruiting to fill the position of:

Job Title: Trainer

Location: Nigeria
Employment Type: Full Time

Description

• The successful candidate will have demonstrable experience in peer training/mentoring, preferably in fact-checking or analytical journalism organisations, and will also have a talent for community management.
• Fluency in English is essential, but candidates with additional proficiency in Arabic and/or French as international languages, as well as major African languages like Fula/Fulani, Hausa, Kiswahili or Yoruba will have an advantage.
• PesaCheck is the continent’s largest indigenous fact-checking initiative, with teams in 13 African countries, and a network of partner CheckDesks at media across the continent. PesaCheck researches and debunks misinformation published both online and elsewhere in more traditional media, resulting in platforms like Facebook labelling/removing over five million harmful posts per year. It also tracks promises by public officials and shines a light on public finances to ensure the public is not misled.
• PesaCheck is part of a wider CfA network of digital democracy initiatives, which also includes the African Fact-Checking Alliance (AFCA) that currently supports 144 newsrooms in 16 African countries, providing technical training, hands-on mentoring and digital tools for combating toxic content.
• The successful candidate will work with PesaCheck’s training editor and CfA’s Academy experts, as well as a larger multinational and multilingual team using digital collaboration tools to grow this work even further.

About the Role

• The successful candidate will join CfA’s PesaCheck team, which is responsible for helping the public separate fact from fiction by using a range of journalistic techniques and digital verification tools.
• You will work closely with PesaCheck’s Training Editor and Special Projects Editor, with support from CfA’s Academy team, to develop practical conceptualise and develop training materials and course content for CfA’s MOOC platform that are customised to the African countries where CfA operates.
• You will use this course ware to spearhead workshops for partner newsrooms across the continent, and to mentor individual trainees so that they can use their new skills to fact-check misinformation in the real world. You will also, from time to time, conduct internal training to up-skill staff both at PesaCheck and across CfA’s other programmes. Training and mentorship will take place online and in-person, and will be structured as both group and individual sessions.
• The ideal candidate will have strong training skills and be a knowledgeable journalist with an understanding of the mis-/disinformation space, a political or financial background, and a deep knowledge of the media landscape in your country and/or region.
• We operate in a fast-paced environment, so you will need to quickly understand and learn new things. You will also need to possess a keen attention to detail. You should be comfortable handling multiple tasks with multiple ongoing deadlines and should have previous experience working on the digital collaboration tools that CfA uses, such as Slack, Google Drive, and Trello.

Responsibilities
Your daily responsibilities will include:

• Assist the Training Editor to understand the journalistic fact-checking training needs both with partner organisations and internal CfA teams.
• Assist with developing experiential (learn-by-doing) training materials and class exercises on fact-checking skills, as well as on the technical research/data tools used by fact-checking teams in newsrooms.
• Assist partners to develop realistic training or mentorship schedules and training targets, to ensure that mid-career journalists are able to accommodate their training with their other newsroom duties.
• Assist in project managing the resulting training partnerships, including vetting/selecting participants, assisting with pre-/post training surveys and skills tests and tracking other impact metrics.
• Actively mentor and motivate training participants to help implement their new skills/tools, and to help ensure timely submission of assignments or other course deliverables.
• Assist with monitoring participants’s progress and compiling regular progress reports that highlight outcomes and insights about the training’s effectiveness.
• Work proactively with the wider CfA strategy teams to think critically about ways to update and improve training methodology and materials using evaluation data from the participants as well as international best practices and trends.

Requirements
Minimum Requirements include:

• Bachelor’s Degree or significant real-world experience in Journalism, Communications, Media Studies, Political Studies, or a related field.
• At least two years of experience as a trainer, technical skills coach, journalism mentor or related position.
• Experience developing training programme schedules and presentations
• Experience in delivery of training across multiple platforms, including but not limited to, in-person, one-on-one and online trainings, as well as in individual mentorship
• Able to get across complex details in an understandable and accurate way.
• Able to multitask, prioritise, and manage time efficiently.
• Able to work creatively and accurately under pressure with excellent attention to detail.
• Organised and able to create, manage and oversee multiple timelines and schedules.

Preferred:
Candidates who are able to demonstrate the following will have an advantage:

• Demonstrable experience in fact-checking, OSINT (open source intelligence) investigations or investigative/analytical journalism.
• 4+ years of experience as a trainer, technical skills coach , or related position.
• Experience and/or certification in training in adult learning methods, facilitation, and/or instructional design
• Experience developing and compiling training programme curricula
• Possess the sensitivity to understand cross-cultural dynamics
• Relationships with universities, statistics organisations and media houses
• Experience working with international partners and team members.

Language and Location Requirements:

• Location: CfA’s major hub offices are in Nairobi (Kenya), Lagos (Nigeria), Cape Town (South Africa), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), and Kampala (Uganda). CfA also has in-country teams in 14 other African countries.
• PesaCheck’s current focal countries are: Bénin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda.
• While applicants from these territories are preferred, the role can be performed remotely, and applicants across Africa will therefore be considered.
• Languages: English AND French
• Preferred but not required: Any official/major language spoken in any African country where CfA operates.

What We Offer

• A competitive salary, subject to experience, with opportunities for performance-based growth, both in terms of career path and public stature.
• A dynamic workplace, with a transnational team, occasional international travel, and generous vacation benefits.
• Ongoing opportunities to learn new cutting-edge skills and techniques/technologies to future-proof yourself in a rapidly evolving industry.
• A chance to shine on a global stage, writing for international audiences and interacting with colleagues around the world.

Application Closing Date
28th January, 2022.