OD Myanmar Coordinator

Terms of Reference for OD Myanmar Coordinator

About ODI:

The Open Development Initiative (ODI) is an open data and information network developed by East-West Management Institute, Inc. (EWMI) that sheds light on development trends in the Mekong Region. The Mekong Basin is a trans-boundary ecosystem shared by 6 countries providing a central livelihood and food security to 60 million people as the largest inland fishery in the world. ODI’s objective is to increase public awareness, enable individual analysis, improve information sharing, and inform rigorous debate – all contributing to the sustainable development of the region from a social, economic and environmental perspective. By combining open data, data journalism, and research capacities and approaches, the initiative offers one-stop shopping for data on country or regional development for civil society, the private and public sector. Our regional platform (http://www.opendevelopmentmekong.net/) has been established and now has active partners in all countries across the Mekong. 

Objective of the position: 

Open Development Initiative is looking to hire a local Myanmar Coordinator to help manage our OD Myanmar activities. This position will provide program support and technical assistance to the Director and work alongside the lead partner Landesa, their local team and the national Open Development Myanmar platform. 

The role is expected to involve approximately 40 hours per week to perform the following tasks: 

Specific tasks:

• Develop a workplan, schedules and budgets, in line with all project mandates.
• Coordinate field staff for training and mapping support to the local field offices.
• Develop a monitoring system that is in line with Landesa staff system to track and monitor the Land information management system (LIMS) and the Community forest information management system (CFIMS).
• Coordinate national research and data collection within Myanmar to contribute content and data to ODMm.
• Coordinate collaborations with partners to build data partnerships and constituents within Myanmar.
• Provide training and technical backstop support to all of the national partners and teams within Myanmar. 

Reporting requirements:

• Provide monthly progress reports to Pyrou Chung
• Prepare and report on a semi-annual and year basis.
• Contribute to monitoring and evaluation in line with Landesa and ODMM overall program.  

Research, event and project coordination: 

• Contribute to writing data pieces for presentation upon the OD Myanmar platform, including topics, stories and data visual storytelling where necessary.  
• Coordinate and organise the implementation of events along with national, regional and international partners. This includes from inception to execution of events and reporting of event outcomes and lessons learnt.  

Data and data contributions: 

• Coordination assistance with local Myanmar partners and extended data contributor network.
• Assist with uploading documents to CKAN database, entering metadata, and translating metadata (Myanmarese-English)
• Contribute to the shared wiki guides and other documentation to maintain relevance and accuracy for continued users. Provide translation support into Myanmarese when necessary. 
• Source data and create data visualisations when necessary to support editorial content. 

Localisation, social media etc: 

• Maintain and continue to localize the platform into Myanmar where necessary and  coordinate localisation with national partners in Transifex when necessary. 
• Coordinate social media campaigns for OD Myanmar along with team members. 
• Ensure that content in ODMm, social media and other public outlets is appropriate for national sensitivities.  

Knowledge and Skills: 

The candidate should be familiar with development issues affecting Myanmar and in the context from a Mekong regional perspective. She/he should have a strong interest in development and environmental sustainability with in depth understanding of the economic, social and political context of the Lower Mekong Basin and the transboundary issues within the region. Additionally the candidate should possess the following skills and qualifications: 

• Strong project management skills to be able to work autonomously and within a remote team environment. 
• Proven communication skills in English and Myanmar (both spoken and written) to be able to communicate the project and activities within different and diverse settings. 
• Strong research skills to be able to contribute to ongoing research work within Myanmar and contribute to producing stories or content that are well balanced, evidence based and without bias or agenda.
• Ability to curate and synthesise issues on Myanmar within the Mekong region context. 
• Time management and organisational skills are essential to ensure that the projects are implemented in a timely manner and ensure good coordination amongst the national partners and teams. 
• Results driven, to ensure that outcomes and products are produced as a result of all partnership engagements to a high standard. 

Desirable: 

• Good computer skills and knowledge of web user interfaces such as WordPress would be useful. 
• Ability to work within a virtual team environment and from home.
• Previous experience in managing or working on online platforms, ICT projects or other informatic sectors. 
• Understanding of open licensing and open standards is an advantage.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor in Data science, social or political science, computer science or other technology sector.
• Masters or higher level qualifications are desirable. 
• Previous work experience that relates to the Open Development Mekong agenda and goals.  

Terms of the contract: The position is for a full-time posting with on the job training and support. Within the first 3 months of the posting a performance review will be conducted and additional responsibilities and tasks may be asked should the candidate perform well. EWMI-ODI would like to invest in the candidate to build their skills and ability to contribute to the OD Mekong and OD Myanmar site over the longer term. 

How to apply: 

All interested candidates should submit a motivation letter outlining why they would qualify for this posting along with a recent CV, in English, listing two referees to Pyrou Chung at recruitment@opendevmekong.net. 

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted to provide additional supporting documentation and samples of writing. If successful candidates will be invited for an online interview. 

EWMI is an equal opportunity employer complying with equal opportunity laws, guidelines, and policies to ensure that employment practices and contracting arrangements give equal opportunity without regard to race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, age, or disability. Minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Application deadline: February 28, 2024

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