RVI Job Description – South Sudan Programme Officer Page 1 of 4 Rift Valley Institute Terms of Reference South Sudan Programme Officer (Archives Project) GENERAL Title South Sudan Programme Officer (Archives Project) Employment type Full-‐time Duration 12 month contract, with possibility of renewal to permanent contract subject to funding. Provisional Start date September 2014 Location Juba, South Sudan, with the possibility of travel within South Sudan and in Eastern and Central Africa. Salary US $32,000 – $37,000 a year Other provisions 28 days annual paid leave plus public holidays, medical insurance, employer pension contribution, training allowance, annual flight to home country and staff canteen. The South Sudan Programme Officer position is an unaccompanied post. SUMMARY The Rift Valley Institute (RVI), working in Eastern and Central Africa, seeks an enterprising and resilient programme officer for our office in Juba, South Sudan. This post involves active supervision and development of a long-‐term project conducted by the RVI with the Ministry of Culture to conserve and digitise the National Archive of South Sudan and the development of archive projects in Sudan and South Sudan and elsewhere in the Eastern and Central African region. In South Sudan you will be working closely with a team from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and providing support, training and supervision in the RVI office and other locations. You will be working under pressure and to deadlines in a frequently challenging environment. This could be an entry-‐level post for an outstanding candidate with the right background. The application deadline is 4 August 2014. RVI Job Description – South Sudan Programme Officer Page 2 of 4 BACKGROUND About the Rift Valley Institute (RVI) The Rift Valley Institute (riftvalley.net) is a small, expanding, independent non-‐profit organization specializing in Eastern and Central Africa. The Institute works at the interface between research, policy and education, with the aim of advancing useful knowledge of the region and its diverse communities and bringing a better understanding of local realities to bear on social and political action. RVI activities are designed to have long-‐term impact – to shape aid interventions, expand space for public participation in policy, support local research capacity, preserve communal histories, promote social justice and extend freedom of information. The Institute’s programmes include action-‐oriented research, field-‐based training, public information, collaboration with research and educational institutions in the region, conservation and digitization of archives, distance learning initiatives and open-‐access publishing of a wide range of technical, general and literary work. There are RVI offices in the UK (London), in Kenya (Nairobi), in South Sudan (Juba) and in the United States (Annandale-‐on-‐Hudson). The Institute is registered as a charity in England and Wales. Outline of RVI’s archive and digital libraries programme Over the past decade, the Institute has pioneered field-‐based digitisation of endangered archives and the creation of open-‐access digital libraries. In 2004 RVI created the Sudan Open Archive (sudanarchive.net) to preserve the records of Operation Lifeline Sudan. The Archive has since grown to include more than 10,000 documents related to Sudanese and South Sudanese history, culture and politics. RVI’s second flagship digital archive project, begun in 2008, is a multi-‐phase programme–conducted in in partnership with the staff of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports–to support the conservation, cataloguing and digitisation of the endangered National Archives of South Sudan. The documents in the Archive, which number tens of thousands, date from the colonial era to the 1980s. Many documents were destroyed or lost during the second civil war (1983-‐2005) and those that remain are at risk of further damage from termites and damp. For further details of RVI’s work in areas of archives and digital libraries see riftvalley.net. JOB OVERVIEW The purpose of this entry-‐level position is to provide hands-‐on management support to RVI’s ongoing work with the National Archives of South Sudan in Juba, and to develop new archive and digital library projects in Sudan and South Sudan and elsewhere in Eastern and Central Africa. The RVI seeks a candidate with a research background, a strong interest in developing the skills necessary for archive work and a commitment to expanding access to public information. The successful candidate must be willing to work long-‐hours and work to deadline in challenging conditions, working alongside archive staff in various locations in Juba. RVI Job Description – South Sudan Programme Officer Page 3 of 4 Specifically the consultancy involves the following: Coordination of the National Archives of South Sudan Conservation Project • Assisting staff of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in the work of document preservation and ordering, sorting , cataloguing and moving Archive documents. • Organising training on archive-‐related subjects for staff of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. • Procuring necessary equipment and materials for conservation. • Organising working visits by RVI staff, historians of South Sudan and experts on the National Archives of South Sudan. • Providing guided tours of the Archive to funders, dignitaries, researchers, local NGOs, South Sudanese students and others with an interest in the work of the Archive. • Drafting narrative progress reports for submission to funder/s; and regular internal reports to RVI senior management. RVI Digitization Training Centre in Juba • Overseeing the National Archives of South Sudan Digitisation Programme, assistance to digitisation staff, ensuring that documents are scanned to archival standards and that accompanying metadata is complete and correct. • Providing digitisation training to staff of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (and other ministries and NGOs on request). • Ensuring secure data management, including coordinating off-‐site and cloud data backup. • Preparing documents scanned for upload to pilot digital archive. Programme Development • Identifying calls for proposals and other funding opportunities relevant to endangered archives and digital libraries; draft and assist in the development of grant applications for the same. • Developing funding proposals, with support from RVI senior staff, for RVI digital archives on the model of the Institute’s existing Sudan Open Archive (sudanarchive.net) and multimedia projects. • Developing relationships with possible partners for future projects. Sudan Open Archive (sudanarchive.net) and other digital libraries • Establishing procedures and written guides for the prioritisation, ordering, scanning, and meta-‐ tagging of documents to be uploaded to RVI digital archives. • Preparing new content for upload to RVI digital archives. • Managing relations with IT consultant firm that hosts and maintains RVI digital archives, and with other specialist consultants. RVI Job Description – South Sudan Programme Officer Page 4 of 4 REQUIREMENTS AND HOW TO APPLY Required experience and abilities • Knowledge of political, social, economic and development issues in South Sudan and the wider Eastern and Central African region. • Fluency in spoken and written English. • Demonstrable computer skills, specifically MS Office (Word and Excel), understanding of the principles of database software and rapid acquisition of competence in other areas of IT. • Resourcefulness and ability to work independently. • Experience of working in small-‐to-‐medium teams in an inter-‐cultural context. • Proven interpersonal skills and ability to work in difficult situations. Desired experience and qualifications • Experience using and/or working in physical archives or maintaining digital libraries. • Experience in South Sudan and/or elsewhere in the region. How to apply Application forms can be found on the RVI website. The deadline for applications is 17:00 GMT on 4 August 2014. Only applicants invited for interview will be contacted. For further information see riftvalley.net or write to [email protected]. The Rift Valley Institute is an equal opportunities employer
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 21:05:47 +0000
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