Call for Applicants: Senior Research Manager – EWMI

East-West Management Institute (EWMI), an independent not-for-profit organization founded in New York, USA, has been implementing projects in Cambodia since 2003. EWMI works to strengthen Cambodian society by bringing together government, civil society and the private sector.

As part of the Labor Rights in Cambodia (LRIC) project, funded by USAID, EWMI will conduct research and publish data on the largest investments in Cambodia and their impact on labor rights, trafficking, environmental issues, land rights and other issues affecting vulnerable populations. The project will provide a deeper and up-to-date evidence base for an open-source database supporting existing platforms in the Mekong region. By combining open data, data journalism, and research tools, the initiative will offer one-stop shopping for users seeking relevant and visually compelling data to understand investments and development at a country or regional level. EWMI will promote an evidence-based approach by presenting historical and current data with context, through briefings and data visualizations, but without editorial comment.

The overall goal of the activities is to contribute to increased access to investment data and information in Cambodia and across the Mekong. The initiative aims to build on and strengthen efforts to achieve this by increasing publicly available resources, expanding the network, and improving data literacy to improve story telling.

Scope of Work

The Senior Research Manager will play a key leadership role within EWMI and working with researchers and data specialists among its partners, supervising research and editorial development with national partners, namely Open Development Cambodia. The role will ensure that editorial content on the project websites makes linkages to important issues that have both national and regional interests. This includes curation of research topics and data that could be developed into compelling interactive data stories that are published regularly upon the platforms. The role coordinates local partners in Cambodia and the region and supervise research interns and fellows.

Key responsibilities include;

• Implement systematic protocols for investment research including proper citation with an emphasis upon credible sources;
• Ensure standards operation procedures for updating and editing data within the investment portal developed under this initiative.
• Ensure data collected complies with open data standards for; contracts, procurement, beneficial ownership, politically exposed persons (PEP) and infrastructure;
• Increase the information ecosystem to strengthen existing data flows across the region as well as increase access to information through compelling data story telling through editorial curation;
• Facilitate partnerships and build capacity of key data generating organizations (i.e., academic institutes, researchers, government agencies, think tanks, etc.) to utilize the investment portal and generate advocacy to increase investment transparency in Cambodia and across the Mekong;
• Ensure all content and data products produced are multilingually accessible.

Management duties

• Day-to-day grant management and program monitoring;
• Develop and manage mini-grant program to provide resources for academics, journalists, NGOs and others to carry out research or develop stories using data published by the project;
• Support partners in developing their editorial work plans, which should align with the project work plan;
• Support monitoring and evaluation by writing quarterly and annual reports and analyzing site analytics;
• Manage research fellows and interns as needed.

Qualifications

Key competencies:

• University degree or higher in relevant subject matter;
• Demonstrated expertise in development, land rights, economic and/or environmental issues in Cambodia and across borders and their impact on vulnerable people;
• Experience in researching, writing or editing materials that rely upon fact-checking and literature rigor;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and demonstrated understanding of investment flows across Cambodia and the Mekong region;
• Demonstrated analytical skills;
• Demonstrated organizational skills;
• Strong professional network in relevant research areas in Cambodia and beyond;
• Strong team player;
• Flexible and able to adapt to changing circumstances.

Desirable qualities:

• Grant management experience;
• Demonstrated skills in data analytics and visualizations using standard tools;
• Fluent in Khmer and English, skills in Japanese or Mandarin languages a plus
• University degree in related area
• Other computer skills and computer programming languages (MS office, python, java, html, PHP etc).
• GIS and mapping skills (using standard software; QGIS, mapbox, tableau or datawrapper etc).
• Understanding of open data and data standards such as open contract, open ownership, CoST infrastructure, PEP and Popolo.

Applicants are asked to submit a covering letter and a CV via email to job@ewmi-odi.org. The deadline for submission has been extended to February 28, 2021. The interview phase is anticipated to take place March 1-8, 2021. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.