Closing date: 25 Aug 2019
The mission of Translators without Borders is to provide people access to vital knowledge in their language through translation, training of translators, building translation capacity in underserved languages, and raising awareness globally of language barriers.
Contract length: 1 year, with a possibility of extension
Hours: full-time
Location: Home-based
Travel: significant - up to 75% of the time. Non-travel time will be home-based.
Reporting to: TWB Crisis Response Program Manager
Application deadline: 25 August 2019
About Translators without Borders
Translators without Borders (TWB) envisions a world where knowledge knows no language barriers. The US-based non-profit provides people access to vital knowledge in their language by connecting non-profit organizations with a professional community of translators, building local language translation capacity, and raising awareness of language barriers. Originally founded in 1993 in France (as Traducteurs sans Frontières), TWB translates millions of words of life-saving and life-changing information a year.
Background
In 2013, TWB received funding to build the first-ever crisis relief translation network. The only service of its kind it bridges existing language gaps to 1) facilitate two-way communication between humanitarian aid providers and crisis-affected populations, 2) improve access to life-saving information for these populations, and 3) increase the effectiveness of humanitarian response.
Using a combination of human and technological resources and working in partnership with content and dissemination partners, TWB makes vital language support available immediately after sudden-onset crises and throughout protracted responses.
Foundational support from the Humanitarian Innovation Fund and funding from a range of donors for specific crises has enabled language support in crisis response to grow in recent years to become a substantial part of TWB’s work.
The Role
The Global Researcher will support the Crisis Response Team to build an evidence base for language support needs in humanitarian responses.
(S)he will be responsible for designing, coordinating, and delivering research related to language and communication challenges to support the development of TWB’s programs and advocacy efforts.
The Global Researcher will be responsible for coordinating mixed-methods research projects, coordinating the work of other researchers, training TWB staff, supervising research assistants/officers in their daily evidence and impact collection and analysis efforts, writing reports for non-academic audiences, and liaising with various partners and constituents involved in the research process.
The Global Researcher will report to the TWB Crisis Response Program Manager and will work in close partnership with the global TWB MEAL Manager and the TWB teams in country offices.
The role will evolve during the course of the deployment as projects and activities develop, so flexibility and the willingness to adapt to changing circumstances is important.
Responsibilities
Research design
Develop mixed-methods research frameworks in coordination with TWB’s global crisis response team, TWB’s country teams, and other humanitarian partners.
Conduct secondary research related to language and communication challenges in humanitarian environments.
Design sampling frameworks for both qualitative and quantitative research activities.
Liaise with a wide-range of organizations to discover and gather information that relates to the provision and effectiveness of language support.
Contribute or lead as needed on project proposal writing.
Research coordination
Manage other researchers, enumerators, etc, contributing to the projects, coordinate and collate their outputs as needed.
Recruit, train, and supervise research assistants and enumerators to support with various research activities.
Conduct semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with humanitarian workers and affected populations.
Administer remote surveys related to language and communication to humanitarian organizations working across different responses.
Design and coordinate quantitative comprehension research to field-test the effectiveness of various written, audio, and video communication products.
Analyze quantitative and qualitative data.
Reporting
Produce, and support other researchers and team members to produce, research reports for external publication.
Produce and disseminate evidence-based recommendations and guidelines related to communication and language to support other humanitarian agencies.
Produce and present findings in presentation format to various humanitarian agencies and donors.
MEAL support cover when necessary in the absence of the MEAL Manager
Support the program teams to ensure that:
results-based planning is integrated into program design;
research is used to inform and improve the provision of language services throughout a given humanitarianresponse.
Support impact measurement, documentation, and dissemination of lessons learnt with the intention of improving communication practices in humanitarian organizations across a given humanitarian response.
Build the capacity of the program teams to monitor, learn from, and research the outcomes and impact of TWB’s work in an effective and innovative way.
Qualifications
The Global Researcher should be a creative self-starter with a strong sense of initiative and enthusiastic about the importance of increasing access to knowledge through language. The right candidate is an energetic team player who agrees with TWB´s core values and can work in field locations and virtually to collaborate with team members based throughout the world.
Requirements
Master’s degree in a relevant subject
5+ years of program and/or research experience in humanitarian contexts; experience of Communicating with Communities (CwC) programming a plus
Experience designing, coordinating, and implementing field-based research projects utilizing qualitative or mixed methodologies
Proven team management and team leadership capacity, ideally in insecure environments
Ability to analyze and graphically represent quantitative data using Excel or Google Sheets
Ability to communicate scientific data to communities, program staff, and partners in a simple and clear manner
Verbal and written fluency in English; strong written communication skills
Experience and competency working with SPSS, ARCgis, Tableau, or other specialised software a plus
Experience designing and conducting surveys using Kobo DataCollect a plus
Verbal or written fluency in French, Bangla, Chittagonian, Rohingya, and/or Burmese a plus
Experience working in Bangladesh and/or other countries in South or Southeast Asia a plus
Essential aptitudes
Demonstrated initiative, persistence, ability to problem solve, and enthusiasm for learning
Adaptability and flexibility; demonstrated ability to innovate
Willingness to live and work in a volatile security context
Strong diplomatic, negotiation, and leadership skills
Active listening skills, and focus on solutions
Strong ability to multitask, prioritize, and work independently with minimal supervision
Attention to detail, thoroughness, accuracy, ability to meet deadlines under time pressure, and to work quickly and steadily in a focused manner
Ability to deal with frequent changes, delays, interruptions, and unexpected events; flexibility and can-do attitude
Good interpersonal skills; able to work well in a team-oriented, collaborative, cross-functional environment
Ability to mediate, negotiate, and resolve conflicts constructively
Ability to innovate to find creative solutions; willing to explore new technologies
Resourcefulness, capacity to get more out of small budgets
Core Values
Translators without Borders employees and volunteers are people who believe passionately about the value of this work and take personal responsibility for achieving the mission. Translators without Borders’ mission and organizational spirit embody the core values established in its strategic framework:
Excellence: As the leading voice for communicating humanitarian information in the right language, Translators without Borders is a leader in the translation industry and in the non-profit sector.
Integrity: Translators without Borders believes that every person, whether it is the people who we serve, our volunteers or our staff, has value, deserves respect and has inherent dignity.
Empowerment: Translators without Borders believes in using language to empower people around the world to control their own development and destiny.
Innovation: Translators without Borders recognizes and celebrates the power of innovation to address humanitarian and crisis issues around the world.
Sustainability: Translators without Borders recognizes that meeting our mission necessitates establishment and maintenance of a solid financial and organizational infrastructure.
Tolerance: Our staff and volunteers are highly knowledgeable and skilled; value each other, our partner and our recipients; create a supportive work environment; and, conduct themselves professionally at all times.
How to apply: